Hi Scott,

How are you my friend? Guess I'll be the one to resurrect this thread. I just dropped in from the Technics Forum to browse and discovered the thread you initiated some time ago. I have enjoyed reading all of the responses. They are so interesting.

As you know, Scott, I am in my 70s now and am trying to learn to play an arranger keyboard. While I am pleased with the progress I've made in slightly more than a year, I know that I will never be able to play as well as I would like.

I am a reader. My musical training began at age 7 when my parents encouraged me to play a trombone. I studied the instrument formally for almost 12 years and played it well. Sadly, I stopped playing when I enlisted in the Air Force. I say "sadly" in retrospect of course.

I taught myself to play a little guitar over the years (haven't played for many years now) and was playing guitar in a small combo in Saudi Arabia in the 80s. That is where I acquired my desire to learn to play a keyboard (I always tinkered around with our piano player's Roland when taking a break during rehearsals). So I bought a little Casio board (it was the only keyboard available in the village market shop) and began to teach myself to play. Our piano player was an ear player. I bought the usual "teach yourself" tutors but never progressed very far.

Now I have the KN6000, a teacher, and I am finally realizing my dream of being able to play the music I love. But I'm still a reader. I use the chord symbol/melody line type of music notation. I envy those who can play by ear. One contributor remarked that ear players seem to be able to improvise more easily than readers. I would agree. It is certainly true in my case. Improvisation is hard for me although I am improving little by little. I do believe improvisation is an acquired skill whether you hear it naturally and practice it or whether you are taught to improvise. I also believe one has to be a good listener and listen a lot to musicians improvising in order to "pick up their licks", then practice them until they become a natural part of one's improvisation repertoire/skill.

All of you who have contributed to this thread have given me a great read. Thanks a lot.

Most Sincerely, Chuck