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Synth Sense

Article from Making Music, May 1986

More keyboard tips, useful exercises, and a chord of the month.


Better keyboard playing with Andy Honeybone

FLAMENCO synthesiser player needed for highly influenced band... all right, not quite, but the age of the rhythm keyboard player has come. Not surprisingly, the main source of influence has been the guitar. As this series is aimed at converting our fine fretted friends to the ivory joys, it is quaint that we have come full circle so soon.

But first let us digress for an historical note.

It used to be quoted most emphatically, that the polyphonic synthesiser had no place in a rock band. The argument was that the monophonic synth gave the keyboard player a voice to cut through the backing and compete with the lead guitarist. By this logic, a poly synth would only sound muddled and the keyboard player would be back to square one.

Of course the flaw in the argument was in the belief that all bands must have a lead guitarist - which as time has proven isn't so and is, perhaps, the reason for you reading this column.

Examples of rhythm keyboard playing can be found, for example, on many of the cuts from Alison Moyet's "Alf" album. On tracks like Debarge's 'Rhythm of the Night', the intro to 'Winning' by 5 Star and 'Axel F', the chordal rhythm dominates the melodic content of the hook. Less obtrusively, the steady keyboard pulse in Nik Kershaw's 'Wide Boys' also qualified for a rhythm nomination.

So guitar to keyboard can be strum for strum. What other six-string textures can we transfer? How about rhythm patterns on the bass strings. You know the type of thing, Status Quo and that - open bass E, finger B on the adjacent A string, give a couple of plectrum strokes, then move the B up to a C sharp and keep the rhythm going, back down to B, rock backwards and forwards etc. R&B at its best.

The keyboard equivalent is a direct copy but there are three important differences. Firstly it can sound wimpy in comparison with the guitar. Secondly it takes a frustratingly large amount of application (ie determination and practice) to achieve an even rhythm without pounding or pausing. Thirdly you'll find that you have your right hand free, and unless you wear a baseball cap and become a Pet Shop Boy you'll find that there is a certain pressure to do something musical with it. This is not easy as it requires coordination and something of a split personality.

We have hit a fundamental difference in performance detail which is blindingly obvious but easy to overlook if we concentrate too hard on transferring guitar knowlege to the keyboard - the keyboard give us two handfulls of polyphony.

Now before you all write in to tell me about Stanley Jordan and the other 'tappers', let me save you the trouble. My sweeping generalisations are intended to cover the capabilities of mortals. Anyway, in short the keyboard gives us an uncomfortable amount of scope for multi-dexterity, and some time spent picking out improvised lines over a steady boogie woogie bass as described above, will provide a useful foundation for hand independence.

But for the novice guitar player, acquiring a good even strum is a milestone. No sooner has this been reached than the urge to pick becomes paramount. So in time honoured tradition, 'House Of The Rising Sun' is attacked with the old 6,5,4,3,1,2,3. That's the order in which you pluck the strings while holding down the basic E minor shape, starting with the 6 as the bottom E and speeding up briefly across 5 (A string) and 4 CD string) to produce the rhythm dum dada dum dum dum dum.

On the keyboard we hit a problem. For guitar picking, the right hand maintains a constant sequence of events while the left frets the different chord shapes. Not so at the ivories. First we split the guitar chord into two hands' worth. The left hand takes the E, B and octave E. We'd suggest the little finger for the first E, the middle of index finger (whatever the most comfortable) for the B, and thumb for the octave E. Next the right hand G, B and final octave E; again the thumb for the G, the middle or index for the B and little finger for that ultimate E. OK, pick away in the aforementioned rhythm - that's an E minor (see diagram).

E MINOR


Next bar is G major G, D, G, B, D, G spread across the hands as before. The following bar, A major, is not just a case of sliding the pattern up a few more white notes but requires the use of a black note - C sharp: A, E, A, C sharp, E, A. Final bar of the phrase is C major which you should be able to suss for yourselves.

A MAJOR


Two things to note: the patterns described above are termed broken chords or arpeggios (strictly, arpeggios just go up and down without diddling around on the way). Secondly, observe that the left hand was playing the same shape for all four chords. Technically, the notes are related as the root, fifth and octave root but for now take it that these notes form the shell of a chord without forcing it into a major, minor or whatever. When in doubt for something to occupy the left hand, try the shape and see. If it sounds too heavy, leave out the middle note.

Now you can 'pick' on the keyboard, let me set a long term objective for you to chip away at every time you sit down to practise.

Try to play that broken chord pattern with just the left hand (a sustain pedal will help, but don't overdo it).

Going back to the E minor example, play the beginning E, B and E notes as usual (little finger, middle or index finger, and thumb). Now bring the index finger over the thumb for the fourth note, the G. Next, shift your whole hand to the right, so your thumb lands on that final and furthest E, then play back down the keyboard with the middle and little finger for the B and E - that's your 6, 5, 4, 3, 1, 2, 3 picking rhythm.

When the action becomes automatic, keep it going and have a stab at the melody with the right hand... I'm still trying.

You must have heard these jazz guitarists playing solos in octaves using the first and third strings. Strong hands are needed otherwise the octave tends to slip with rapid repositioning. Anyway, octave passages are also very effective on the keyboard. First person to be associated with right hand soloing in octaves was probably Earl 'Fatha' Hines. Like so many inventions, the style resulted from the pianist wanting to be heard above the polyphonic ramblings of multiple brass front line. If the fifth of the chord added (ie C, G, octave C) and the notes played tremolo we're on the way to some of the highly stylised techniques of people like Erroll Garner. You should aim to be able to feel an octave span automatically and be able to play fast passages including plenty of grace notes (quickly fingered notes one semitone higher or lower than the main note).

Octaves can also be shared across the hands and it is considered chic amongst the big names to play Charlie Parker themes such as Au Privave in this manner with a two octave separation. Try it. As with all practice, an even tempo is more important than rushing through the easy bits then slowing down when the going gets tough. Sounds like a cue for a song.


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Technically Speaking

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Chord of the Month


Publisher: Making Music - Track Record Publishing Ltd, Nexus Media Ltd.

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Making Music - May 1986

Feature by Andy Honeybone

Previous article in this issue:

> Technically Speaking

Next article in this issue:

> Chord of the Month


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