Keyboard players please assist thanks!

[Rock Rocky]

Hey guys,
I have a question for keyboard players...
How do you follow a singer if you don't know the song? What is the secrete behind this? by listening and accompanying a singer that's amazing but it has always been a question that I would need the response for. Is this by listening and knowing the raags? Can anyone please share your knowledge and experience with me please? that's really appreciated guys...

 

[Biggles]

You don’t unless you are World class.

Even a very experienced Pro Gigging keyboard player will have the Setlist well before rehearsals.

Then they will listen to each song and after printing out the lyrics they will then listen again and mark the chord changes, then they will work out the chords.

Then they will compare what they have produced with online sources such as Ultimate Guitar.

From the chords found the progression can be worked out which makes a key change that the vocalist may want easier to calculate.

Plus Google is your friend

 

[anotherscott]

raags are a specific kind of music style (Indian), so I'm not sure, it may have its own rules from which you could possibly divine what to play based on what the singer is singing...? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raga

For western pop music, yeah, you can't figure it out on the fly from the singer. You can also often figure out something to play in a song you don't know by picking up on what the guitarist and bassist are doing, and having a sense of typical pop song structure... I've done that when playing in the backing band for an open mic night, where you never know what you're going to have to play! But a vocal line would not be enough to follow. Though a singer can help by indicating major transitions and such.

 

[Rock Rocky]

Thanks guys!

I have done a bit of research and off course if you know the rag you could possibly play and accompany the song even if you don't know the song. What ever you play you would be accompanying the singer provided you're not breaking the rag rules, however I would still be more interested should there be any other tips and tricks.