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I’ve long been a multi-instrumentalist in rock and pop music. I’ve always dug jazz, and have been working on upright bass and on guitar for the past couple years. So I recently cleaned my studio, and have been going thru the RealBook on piano. I’m NOT a natural keyboardist, even though I’ve done some cool stuff (ELP, Yes, Tull, Purple etc) on keys.
Anyway, over the past few weeks I’m going thru the RealBook on piano. Not melody, just LH bass and RH chords. And chord movement with which I struggle on guitar turns out to be sorta easy on piano! And I’m finding that once I grasp it on piano, moving it to guitar is far easier. That is, having non-static chords. So that if I’m playing a D6, there are three different ‘suspensions’ that can be played within that chord so that it’s not just four strokes of the same chord in the measure. On piano, they just fall easily under my fingers.
Obviously this is nothing new to some of you. But if you’re having difficulty hashing out chord voicings and you have a piano handy, do them there. It might help you figure out how to do them on guitar.
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10-16-2024 07:58 PM
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I have a feeling... in 5 years I'll be sitting at a piano saying "I wish I'd done this sooner"
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This is pretty much me. All the notes are laid out in front of me, unencumbered by torturous guitar fingerings!
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But…I thought piano, around here, was blasphemous.
Everyone should know some piano. Miles, Dexter, Dizzy, so many of the greats also played piano.
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only if you are terrible at playing it...
Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
But…I thought piano, around here, was blasphemous.
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Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
But…I thought piano, around here, was blasphemous.People get mad at me here for being a pianist and I'm pretty sure I'm not terrible. :P Originally Posted by supersoul
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Well, it’s mostly those that are rightfully upset by pianists they’ve played with who overplay on gigs. Originally Posted by Bobby Timmons
But you have to understand that not all pianists play that way. In fact most know what it means to ‘lay out.’
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My sitch is that technical skills are my biggest weakness so I don't want to divide them between different instruments, I want to develop them the best I can on 1 instrument. I only dick around with drum practice pad to practice rhythm and develop technique in my hands. I chose piano as my main instrument because it's good for jazz, playing solo, playing every part including being easiest for harmony, and it's my best instrument. So I wouldn't recommend functional piano to everyone.
It also becomes addicting, then you aren't able to keep it as just a side thing and it will take up more of your time. Then it's like what's the point in having 2 instruments that you're less good at. And if guitar is your main instrument, then why can't you work out harmony easily on it? :P My first instrument was bass and I decided to do some piano to work out harmony and then I got addicted. But whatever works for you, it can obviously be helpful.
The advantage is that you don't necessarily have to work it up to a very advanced degree or do it forever to benefit from it. I only focused on bass in the 00s, basically quit after that, but it has been a great foundation. I have it going in my head as a guide while I play piano and only outline the changes that I need for being musical, rather than smashing out every change.
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There's tremendous variation in musical minds. I had 6 years of classical piano lessons and never felt like I understood how the thing really worked as a musical instrument. The first time I played a guitar I knew it was my instrument, knew I would teach myself easily to play by ear. The piano is still with me and every once in a while I pull out some books or sheet music and play for a few days... some day I may decide to play it every day and see what happens, maybe discover or create conceptual connections between my mind and the instrument. I'm pretty sure that the musical connection I have with the guitar is totally alien to the nature of the piano...
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Use your classical training to learn jazz. You don’t have to be Oscar Peterson, a classically trained pianist, to play jazz on piano.
The guitar player Prince played piano as if it was as natural as drinking a glass of water..
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I was sitting outside a pub with colleagues last night to celebrate a birthday and it got a bit later than planned. So I didn't have a guitar with me when I stopped by the blues session around the corner from me shortly before the end. When the intro to While My Guitar Gently Weeps sounded in the final set of the musicians, who I now know well, I spontaneously jumped on stage and sat behind the keyboard. The seat was free because the actual keyboard player hadn't been feeling well and had left early. I then faked my way through Amy Winehouse's Valerie (Eb, Holy Moses LOL), Little Wing and Moon Dance. I decided to leave the stage when Kansas City was called LOL. I didn't play any solos, but considering that IIRC I hadn't sat at a keyboard for four years, I am quite satisfied
Prince is a different planet of course.
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Most of my favourite guitarists also seem to be pretty creditable pianists.
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