One can play keyboards for years and
still not develop decent and versatile "chops" (I am a good case in
point). The first misconception I had to get out of my head was that
that lessons are needed to develop these skills (as long as we're not
talking about Classical). There are a number of very good books out
there that, when practiced carefully and regularly, can improve your
playing dramatically. Here are a few suggestions that you may find
helpful (in the order in which I have been attacking them):
- If you are an absolute beginner, then start with a very basic book
that covers the area(s) of music you are most interested in playing and
the barebones of theory. I recommend starting with "Contemporary
Keyboard Styles for the Absolute Beginner" by Andrew Gordon; it covers
different styles including blues, rock, and country.
-
Then build on your fundamental skills with "The Pop Piano Book" by Mark
Harrison (available at Harrison
Music). This book begins with a very good exploration of all types
of chords and leads into common "licks" for various pop styles (e.g.,
pop ballads, pop rock, new age, funk, country, and gospel). It's a very
good and complete text and I recommend the MIDI files or accompanying CD
set. My pet peeve: no fingerings, although the appendix does offer some
fingering suggestions.
-
Enter Novello. At the same time you
are working through Harrison's text, you can complement your study with
"The Contemporary Keyboardist" by John Novello (available at Hal Leonard Publications). This
500+ page tomb is laden with theory and will lead you through the
mechanics of harmony, scales and chords, improvisation, rhythm, voicings
and comping, modality, and more. Even though there is some overlap
between this text and Harrison's, I think the focus on theory, the
fingerings, and the different music examples serve only to deepen your
skills. They should definately be worked through together though! To
be concrete for a plan on how to attack Harrison/Novello, I would
suggest: (1) Novello ch. 1-5 which talks about practice principles and
such, (2) Harrison ch. 1 and Novello ch. 7, chords and scales and all
the associated drills, (3) Novello ch. 6 and Harrison ch. 2 on rhythm
and those associated drills, and finally (4) Harrison ch. 3-10.
-
Now you are ready to further your skills
(actually, I suggest doing these lessons concurrently with the above so
that you don't get bored just practicing drills). Section 2 of Harrison
will give you a good survey of a wide swath of playing styles (that's
ch. 11-18). "Stylistic Etudes" by John Novello (available at Hal Leonard Publications) is an
excellent set of etudes that leads you through 86 studies and covers 17
contemporary keyboard styles (jazz, rock, funk, latin, country, stride,
blues, pop, gospel, and more). It comes bundled with an audio CD and
MIDI files. I would also suggest "Classic Keyboard Riffs and Rhythms"
by Andrew Gordon.
- Now concentrate on a specific style. Here it doesn't so much matter
which book you choose (because you already have a good foundation
underneath you). For blues, some of the books I have tried are "Basic
Blues for Piano" (with CD) by Ron Payne which takes you through a whole
course of techniques. It's a different approach to the audio CD (it's
really poor recordings of actual lessons with his students), but an
excellent resource nonetheless. Another is "Nothing But the Blues" by
Bert Konowitz. Finally, but certainly not least, are Andrew Gordon's
texts (all with CD and/or MIDI files): "100 Ultimate Blues Riffs", "60
Of The Funkiest Keyboard Riffs Known To Mankind", "12 Bar Blues Bible
for Piano/Keyboards", and "Funky Organ Grooves".
- Improvisation. This is tricky, because improvisation is
non-intuitive for the keyboardist that tries to transcribe the sheet
music to the keys on the keyboard. That whole concept goes out the
window. Hopefully, you have become so comfortable with the licks you
have learned above, that you have been able to do some improvisation.
The rest of Novello (ch. 11-17 mainly) perhaps will perhaps inspire you
in this area. I never made it through these chapters, but be my
guest. Maybe some day I will have the motivation (and time) to see where
it leads me.
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