Wow, a lot of stuff here, it’s good to know there are other views.

My View: When playing full left-hand chords.
Much of this is based on my guitar when playing rhythm chords. There were times when it was a duo, Sax and Guitar.

1-Turn the rhythm off.

2-Assign an instrument that will add to my right-hand instrument.

3-Set the velocity to sensitive, so you can play soft and louder with the same volume setting.

4-Play the chord progression. The chord progression should be telling a story of their own – with only one thought, supporting the vocal, or solo.

5-Play both together –how does I sound?

6-Turn the rhythm and play.

Because our keyboards are limited in some areas we have to work around those problems.

Rikki, if you are using full left-hand chords the is my suggestion.
Learn the most used chords in the key your are playing.

Key of Cmajor --- In order of importance. C G7 F play them all in the same position. In some cases the instrument you are using is too low, too muddy – raise it one octave.

Key of Gmajor --- G D7 C For G I use D G B
For D7 I use D F# A C (same position)
For C I use C E G

My left-hand sound is important, so I am not concerned with the bass line normally.

If you want more on this subject, let me know, John C.