any guitar players here who play keyboards too?

[mbengs1]

I wrote one riff that seemed to simple sounding on guitar, so i opt to play it on keyboards instead. anybody else have an experience like this? what brand of keyboard would you recommend?

[1001gear]

This kind of stuff will happen. For example, two handed tapping is a joke on keys while simple strumming can be beyond even professionally skilled pianists. Articulation and dynamics are part of the territory for wind and strings but guitar and keys need expression pedals and often extensive programming.

And as usual you have asked a question that is too general and needs more definition.

[Anderton]

I double on guitar (primary instrument) and keys. They influence each other a lot. On my "Forward Motion," I used MIDI guitar for guitar as well as keys. Listening back, it sounded like the guitar parts were keyboards, and the keyboard parts were played on guitar. For example with keyboards, I don't use an LFO for vibrato, I wiggle the mod wheel so it sounds more like finger vibrato on guitar.

 

With guitar you get those big, wide voicings and with keyboard, you have those clusters with the right and left hand. I'd recommend that anyone learn different instruments. I'll never be as good on keyboard player as I am on guitar, but I'm good enough for MIDI and playing keyboard has greatly improved my guitar playing.

[thankyou]

There's good reason that songwriters often play one or both instruments - you can play both chords and melody at the same time. What Craig said about voicing is a subtle but important difference between the two instruments. It gets even more interesting when using a capo. Now, if I only had a capo for my harmonicas...

[Vito Corleone]

I play both. When I'm writing---or sometimes even just trying to figure out the chords to a song I'm going to cover---I usually sit in front of the keyboard with a guitar on my lap, or very close by. Often while playing a riff in my head on one instrument , I'll suddenly realize it is more suited for another.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I wrote one riff that seemed to simple sounding on guitar, so i opt to play it on keyboards instead. anybody else have an experience like this?

 

Arranging. If it doesn't sound good with one instrument, try a different one.

 

what brand of keyboard would you recommend?

 

That's like asking what kind of motor vehicle someone should get. What do you want to do with it? Are you looking for a synth, or do you need acoustic piano sounds?

[ggm1960]

Piano was my original instrument. My Mother had us taking lessons when I was five and we still lived in North Hollywood. I continued taking lessons after we moved to IA up until about 6th grade but I'd always wanted to play guitar and finally got one. I was off and on with that for many years but eventually it was with guitar that I learned to play by ear and pick up on music theory. Later as I began playing in working bands I was primarily a guitarist who would switch to keys for a few well rehearsed songs. In more recent years I began to get more serious about my keyboard studying again and now do mostly that in the band I'm currently in (I was actually hired to be the keyboardist). It may take a while yet but I believe I can get my keyboard skills equal to where I'm at with my guitar ability.

 

Greg

[Iamthesky]

"Keyboard for guitar player" seems have to have been thoroughly settled on the keyboard forum years ago:

 

Guitar Player: What synth should I get?

 

A1: MicroKORG

A2: Alesis Micron

 

Guitar Player: But what about,,,

A (interrupting): No.

 

 

Caveat: The only instruments I can play with strings are ones like the piano, harpsichord, that kind of thing.

[Mark L]

I can't play piano. I'm not that great on guitar, either. My songs consist of simple parts layered on top of each other. I think I've got away with it so far....

[blue2blue]

I play mostly guitar but I have, at some points, played a fair bit of keyboards. I have a hammer action 88 key controller as well as a couple of 'synth weighted' (ie, light, springy) keyboard synths. My right hand has, at times, been quick and fairly certain. My left... [sigh]

[UstadKhanAli]

I wrote one riff that seemed to simple sounding on guitar, so i opt to play it on keyboards instead. anybody else have an experience like this? what brand of keyboard would you recommend?

 

I play keyboards and some guitar, so the other way around. And I sometimes come up with stuff on keyboards, and switch it to guitar. Or the other way around.

 

I don't get hung up on brands. Go to a store and play something that inspires you. Who cares about the brand. Does it give you song ideas? Does it make you smile and go, "Yeeeeeeaaaaahhhhhh........"? Does it make you want to play it all the time?

 

THAT'S a good keyboard. Who cares how many oscillators or this or that or whatever.

 

I like a Korg MS-20 analog patchbay synth. I like a Baldwin or Yamaha piano. I like an Hammond organ. I like a Fender Rhodes electric piano. I like a Moog Sub 37 or a Voyager.

 

But that's me. And you're you.

[philboking]

I play both, plus bass, drums, voice, slide (which is different enough from guitar to be considered a separate instrument) and harmonica. I never had any musical training except for the magical chords from my Beatle songbook I got from my sister when I was 10. When I first had a chance to play keys it was a buddy's Hammond B3 when I was 17 or so. I already knew the notes, it was just a matter of moving them from one instrument to the other.

 

Here's a tune where I play both. The horn/sax parts were all done on a keyboard, as was the piano. It was my first expedition into jazz territory...

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=496945

The keyboard is an Alesis QS8 synth.

[nice keetee]

I wrote one riff that seemed to simple sounding on guitar, so i opt to play it on keyboards instead. anybody else have an experience like this? what brand of keyboard would you recommend?

 

Yes. Do you know anyone with a keyboard or more? If not go to a Music Store and play a couple of keyboards.

[Folder]

I took piano lessons as a child. When I was in high school I took up the guitar and I'd be hard pressed to say which is my main instrument. I also can't really imagine what it would be like to play the guitar without knowing how to play the piano.

 

I can understand music theory much better from the perspective of a piano keyboard. On the piano you can see all the notes laid out from left to right and there is only one of each note. By contrast the guitar is just a big jumble of frets and wires and there are two middle Cs.

 

Having said that I think guitar is an overall easier and more fun instrument to play. The fingerings are the same for each key on the guitar. On the piano each key has different fingerings and some keys are much harder to play in.

[nice keetee]

I took piano lessons as a child. When I was in high school I took up the guitar and I'd be hard pressed to say which is my main instrument. I also can't really imagine what it would be like to play the guitar without knowing how to play the piano.

 

I can understand music theory much better from the perspective of a piano keyboard. On the piano you can see all the notes laid out from left to right and there is only one of each note. By contrast the guitar is just a big jumble of frets and wires and there are two middle Cs.

 

Having said that I think guitar is an overall easier and more fun instrument to play. The fingerings are the same for each key on the guitar. On the piano each key has different fingerings and some keys are much harder to play in.

 

Excellent post. I'd also add... pick up any instrument that happens to be close and try to make some music/noise..

[Anderton]

There's good reason that songwriters often play one or both instruments - you can play both chords and melody at the same time. What Craig said about voicing is a subtle but important difference between the two instruments.

 

Found an article I wrote that shows this graphically. Check out Fig. 1.

[nice keetee]

Any of you remember a hardware device with actual strings that was a midi controller, alas, strum the strings ?

[Anderton]

Any of you remember a hardware device with actual strings that was a midi controller, alas, strum the strings ?

 

Are you thinking of the YouRock guitar, which has ersatz frets but real strings? It's still being made, and AFAIC, it's the best answer yet for MIDI guitar.

[WRGKMC]

I wrote one riff that seemed to simple sounding on guitar, so i opt to play it on keyboards instead. anybody else have an experience like this? what brand of keyboard would you recommend?

 

I was formally trained and a bit and grew up with a Baby Grand at the folks house. I can do all the chords and I'm pretty good doing some simpler stuff. I have a harder time with my left hand because the notes are backwards from a guitar. I'd probably be better off with one of those guitar pianos. I'll go long stretches without playing which makes it more difficult to get back in shape.

 

I've done some stuff live. I'd to set up a keyboard so I can play it standing and can walk over and play some stuff with a guitar strapped on. They are handy for recording because you can make them sound like many different instruments and if you're into midi you don't even have to play it. You can compose it all with a mouse and just play it back.

 

Not sure what instrument you have now or what experience level you're at. I own several portable Yamaha and Casio keyboards and an old analog mini Moog. I can do everything I need to with them. They have midi and analog stereo outputs. I mostly just use the analog and record live parts. Some of your higher end keyboards are phenomenal. They not only let you compose music to the internal memory but you can connect directly to a computer, access virtual instruments, record midi, record analog, update the keyboard and load preset voices and all kinds of stuff.

 

 

Of course all those features come at a price so having some clue other then "What brand of keyboard do you recommend" is so vague, it would be impossible to judge what you need vs what your want vs what you can afford. If its mainly for recording you can get a midi keyboard and use all virtual instruments within the DAW program so it may be a good way to go. I have plenty of friends who have Midi keyboards with weighted touch sensitive keys.

 

If they use the keyboard live they can either use a laptop for virtual voices or use a midi rack unit that provides the voices. The keyboard itself is just a dumb midi signal generator with some additional knobs which allow some control over the sound. This way you save allot of money over a keyboard packed with tone generators and firmware.

 

The other option is to get something like a good used keyboard with midi. You can use its own internal voices for some stuff and when recording you can simply use its midi ports to access all the virtual instruments available. I'm not expert in all the possibilities because I am mainly a guitarist. You may want to post a thread in the keyboard forum and get the best advice from guys more experienced, but be sure you refine your questions. Dig a little goggling and give them some options to work with and you'll likely get a better answer that fits your needs.