Hello,

Still new to this board (this is like my third post).

I started acoustic piano lessons when I was 10 (this was 39 years ago) and after 6 months I could see the direction the lessons were taking me was purely classical. I finally quit because I wanted to play pop music (or whatever passed for pop at the time).

I learned basic chord changes by having someone teach me how to play Cole Porter's, "More", found I could play almost any song I heard using the chords from that same song, and then pretty much figured out the rest from there over the years.

I got into songwriting in 1975, and one of the big things about it is producing an acceptable demo to send out to publishers/producers, etc. Most other writers have demos that sound like records, although at a cost of $250-$300 and produced in professional studios. I could not afford that, yet needed to remain competitive, and finally discovered arranger keyboards.

I went by the local Yamaha store one day where I had bought one of their acoustic pianos a few months prior, and the guy showed me the new PSR5xx line with the latest auto accompaniments. I was blown away, did not know such a thing existed up till then. So I plunked down $550 for a new PSR510 (didn't want the disk drive, what a mistake that was) and I was on my way.

I still have the 510 today, still plays perfectly, still looks new (never left the house), and just got a new 740 a few weeks ago.

Thank God for arranger kbs.


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Regards and Aloha,

Charlie