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- Dec 13, 2010
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I've read Skipp's material re one's first keyboard, & understood it as best I can, with the ignorance of a current non-keyboardist.
My questions lean more toward the type of keyboard to buy, trying to plan ahead for future possible use; for those who may reply, I would ask that you think back to the time when you knew as little as I do now. If I read Skipp's article and grasped all the points and terminology correctly, it seems that I want a workstation - I think.
I've played guitar and drums and started guitar again; recently while listening again to "Wildfire" by Michael Murphy I was struck by the beauty of the piano, notably at the start and the end of that song. Next thing I knew I found myself looking at, and being amazed by, what today's portable keyboards can do. It was what I hoped for, really. As you may guess my eyes got big like
Wiley E. Coyote's, in the old RoadRunner cartoons, just before the dynamite goes off. Young Master Luke here has now gone over to the dark side, and become one of you, and I'm now looking for a first keyboard for two reasons.
1) I think that both I, and my brother, would like to try to learn music on a keyboard.
2) In my case, I have it in mind to (later) round up others "of a certain age" or a certain mind-set like myself, who love 60s-70s music and form a weekend garage band, and play just for the pleasure of playing again with others. And, yes, there may even later come a time to play out somewhere... but that's speculation on my part and remains to be seen, of course.
If an informal band comes about and there's someone else in the group who can (better) play a keyboard that I buy, fine, as I also want to play some guitar and perhaps even try drums again. Some of this, some of that - keeps the brain functional I think.
With some songs there are brass or strings parts; I envision something like a left handed chord or chords keyboard part with one or more parts such as string or brass, and notes with the right hand (with possibly one or more musical elements) to suggest the melody line
as an intro for instance. That means that I should focus on workstation models?
To paraphrase Skipp's article, one can be a keyboardist or one with "technical skills" and I would at first settle for the latter; if I begin a keyboard at age 59, I feel that I am behind, and in a hurry to get from point a to point b while I'm still on the right side of the grass. Being a technician, as it were, in my view means learning some chords/some notes, enought to suggest a melody line. * For those of
you who spent the time and money, to master your craft and skills - don't be offended by that, please. If a boy and his first keyboard play nice together, and if I find that I love it, I would sign up for formal lessons. And in my case, I work then go home and I am happy to be home which means that I indeed would have time to practice as I often stay up later than I should. Further, since the old
man here still has a ponytail and I'm too old for "that sort of thing," only thing I can do is play hippie rock and roll, and have fun. Worse yet, I do remember the 60s - and, man, I loved that music, so...
Now, bearing in mind that I am not at this moment a keyboardist, I am trying to fully grasp what's fine for the start of playing and also trying to best cover as far as one can what may arise at some later point. If I buy a keyboard, I will buy something decent at the start;
no models of anything with first letter "C" arose on the list of what to perhaps buy. (And as to mix, sample, sequence, ROMpler etc., I am dazed and confused about that - no idea if it will arise, or how crucial it may be).
Here, in Waterloo/Cedar Falls Iowa area, I haven't checked yet but I don't think that I will find much or a wide variety of keyboards to look at much less try, so I read reviews, watch demo videos on YouTube - or, join a forum, and seek help from The Wise Ones on how to properly get started. ;-) I can, however, see how all this will likely lead to having more than one keyboard.
The other "issue" is this: right now, I can't speculate on type of keybeds - what does, doesn't, feel right as I don't play now so I know nothing intelligent about that. Your thoughts on that would be welcomed, of course. (At my age, and having been away from tools and heavy lifting about 10 yrs. now from a past job - and, getting older, I would say the ol' hands aren't as strong as they once were. I mention that, in reference to any advice offered on keyboard type, to perhaps look for in a first model).
Along the way I have looked at, and agonized over, feautures of The Big Three. At a guess, whatever I buy... will perhaps take a chance with Sweetwater, as they allow one to split payments over 3 mos., thus upping the buying power a bit. And, if you have negative comments on
that website, please let me know, before I buy anything.
A final thought would be: learning to play will be enough to do, so I hope to not become a rocket scientist in white lab coat with 9 million buttons/choices, and not a lot of lights flashing in one's face, as I think that would be quite distracting. I do tend to agree with Skipp, about how a button to push would be better or "safer" rather than pushing a touch face screen. And, for we elders (even with our glasses), a decent screen on the keyboard would be a big plus.
I thank one and all, kindly, who may offer any thoughts or advice to the new kid on the block.
Best, 60s70sMusic
(Pat)
My questions lean more toward the type of keyboard to buy, trying to plan ahead for future possible use; for those who may reply, I would ask that you think back to the time when you knew as little as I do now. If I read Skipp's article and grasped all the points and terminology correctly, it seems that I want a workstation - I think.
I've played guitar and drums and started guitar again; recently while listening again to "Wildfire" by Michael Murphy I was struck by the beauty of the piano, notably at the start and the end of that song. Next thing I knew I found myself looking at, and being amazed by, what today's portable keyboards can do. It was what I hoped for, really. As you may guess my eyes got big like
Wiley E. Coyote's, in the old RoadRunner cartoons, just before the dynamite goes off. Young Master Luke here has now gone over to the dark side, and become one of you, and I'm now looking for a first keyboard for two reasons.
1) I think that both I, and my brother, would like to try to learn music on a keyboard.
2) In my case, I have it in mind to (later) round up others "of a certain age" or a certain mind-set like myself, who love 60s-70s music and form a weekend garage band, and play just for the pleasure of playing again with others. And, yes, there may even later come a time to play out somewhere... but that's speculation on my part and remains to be seen, of course.
If an informal band comes about and there's someone else in the group who can (better) play a keyboard that I buy, fine, as I also want to play some guitar and perhaps even try drums again. Some of this, some of that - keeps the brain functional I think.
With some songs there are brass or strings parts; I envision something like a left handed chord or chords keyboard part with one or more parts such as string or brass, and notes with the right hand (with possibly one or more musical elements) to suggest the melody line
as an intro for instance. That means that I should focus on workstation models?
To paraphrase Skipp's article, one can be a keyboardist or one with "technical skills" and I would at first settle for the latter; if I begin a keyboard at age 59, I feel that I am behind, and in a hurry to get from point a to point b while I'm still on the right side of the grass. Being a technician, as it were, in my view means learning some chords/some notes, enought to suggest a melody line. * For those of
you who spent the time and money, to master your craft and skills - don't be offended by that, please. If a boy and his first keyboard play nice together, and if I find that I love it, I would sign up for formal lessons. And in my case, I work then go home and I am happy to be home which means that I indeed would have time to practice as I often stay up later than I should. Further, since the old
man here still has a ponytail and I'm too old for "that sort of thing," only thing I can do is play hippie rock and roll, and have fun. Worse yet, I do remember the 60s - and, man, I loved that music, so...
Now, bearing in mind that I am not at this moment a keyboardist, I am trying to fully grasp what's fine for the start of playing and also trying to best cover as far as one can what may arise at some later point. If I buy a keyboard, I will buy something decent at the start;
no models of anything with first letter "C" arose on the list of what to perhaps buy. (And as to mix, sample, sequence, ROMpler etc., I am dazed and confused about that - no idea if it will arise, or how crucial it may be).
Here, in Waterloo/Cedar Falls Iowa area, I haven't checked yet but I don't think that I will find much or a wide variety of keyboards to look at much less try, so I read reviews, watch demo videos on YouTube - or, join a forum, and seek help from The Wise Ones on how to properly get started. ;-) I can, however, see how all this will likely lead to having more than one keyboard.
The other "issue" is this: right now, I can't speculate on type of keybeds - what does, doesn't, feel right as I don't play now so I know nothing intelligent about that. Your thoughts on that would be welcomed, of course. (At my age, and having been away from tools and heavy lifting about 10 yrs. now from a past job - and, getting older, I would say the ol' hands aren't as strong as they once were. I mention that, in reference to any advice offered on keyboard type, to perhaps look for in a first model).
Along the way I have looked at, and agonized over, feautures of The Big Three. At a guess, whatever I buy... will perhaps take a chance with Sweetwater, as they allow one to split payments over 3 mos., thus upping the buying power a bit. And, if you have negative comments on
that website, please let me know, before I buy anything.
A final thought would be: learning to play will be enough to do, so I hope to not become a rocket scientist in white lab coat with 9 million buttons/choices, and not a lot of lights flashing in one's face, as I think that would be quite distracting. I do tend to agree with Skipp, about how a button to push would be better or "safer" rather than pushing a touch face screen. And, for we elders (even with our glasses), a decent screen on the keyboard would be a big plus.
I thank one and all, kindly, who may offer any thoughts or advice to the new kid on the block.
Best, 60s70sMusic
(Pat)
