That wouldn't have been much of an advantage, since he was deaf for a great portion of his life. Besides that, a musical genius like Beethoven never needed anything like that. Composers like him had the supernatural gift of "hearing" an entire orchestra play while he wrote it. This also explains how he could go on composing even without hearing a thing later in his life.

Skills like the one Beethoven posessed, are gone forever. There are no composers around anymore that could write music the way the "old guys" did, often not even using a piano but "just" a harpsichord.

Well, it may be clear that I have a deep respect for people like Beethoven. And of course you meant it as a joke, but really, there is no arranger in this world, nor will there ever be one, that will turn anyone into Beethoven. Far from that, even. Since playing an arranger may be "serious business" for some of us here, to me it's nothing more -and- nothing less(!) than playing along with a precooked backing band. WHICH IS FINE, and hard enough as it is, but don't let anyone ever think that playing an arranger keyboard will make you a great composer

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Roland EXR-5 user - http://www.exr5.tk

In about 1957 I owned an old beat up upright for a month or so. I had been playing the sax for about 2 years. My band teacher taught me the concept of picking the 1st 3rd and 5th note of the scale to make a chord adding 7ths and so forth.

We had a piano in the band room. One day I was playing the simple Fats Domino intro to "Blueberry Hill" and also the triplet rhythm, when the vocalist teacher was passing in the hall. I was in the band room alone.

She walked up amazed and asked me to do that again. After watching she wanted to try and could not play the triplet chords with the right hand and a simple bass pattern with the left hand. She was a super, let me repeat that, a super stride pianist.

She stopped by a week or two later and made me do it again and she still couldn't do it. She had been a piano player and vocalist teacher for 20 years or more. I had been fooling with the piano for 2 months. She just couldn't get the triplet rhythm and left handed bass lick going which I thought was simple. If it were difficult, I wouldn't be able to do it. She just couldn't feel it.

Everybody's different. That's why you see 10 year olds playing difficult classical piano and yet we have people playing for 30 years and still play everything on the guitar in E, A, D and have never gotten past strumming.

With me, it's trying to learn all of the tech stuff with recording etc, it's taking it's toll.

We all have certain things we can do. For example Gary and I can out cook and out fish all you guys put together with our eyes closed. Donny can out eat all of us. Fran's the ugliest guy here, but he's got the best looking women hanging around him and Dave can carry more buckets than we can.

Got em' again!!

Where's my laptop? Don't forget the soft synth, OK buddy? I'm polishing up the i5s. Boy it cleanded up like new when I put that Muratic Acid on it that I use to clean bricks. Acid doesn't hurt plastic, but I can't figure out why all that fizz and smoke came from inside of it. There may have been some extra dirt in side or maybe some cement.

Got em' again. That's twice in the same post! That's a record. Boy this is still a great day.

Boo can you post a recent pic of yourself, if not email it to me....I gotta see who's writing all hese ineresting posts...I enjoy reading them!

Donny I don't have pic for the internet. That's more high tech. Maybe I can get my friend at the coffee shop to do a pic.

Burkels: Yes, of course I meant what I said as: " ONLY a joke!" Btw, I was playing my arranger kb today and came up with a new song for my friend Elise. Wonder if it's destined to become a hit. - Scott

Scott,
You didn't say that. You couldn't have. Naw...


Boo,this laptop is hummin' YOUR tunes, baby !

Well, there are of course a lot of lovesongs around already. You got to make sure it stands out... Maybe giving it a German title will make it different enough for people to notice it?



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Roland EXR-5 user - http://www.exr5.tk

Scott "the piano guy" Huston says that if you want to play classical music then you should learn to read music (treble & bass clef). If you want to play pop music, you only have to learn the treble clef and chord symbols, and don't even bother with bass clef. He says, most people don't have trouble playing the piano, they have trouble transcribing the written notes. I can identify with that. I'm not saying to stop taking music lessons, theory is important, and what other lessons are there? There is no such thing as organ or keyboard lessons. Sigh.
Starkeeper

I couldn't disagree more. As if there is no such thing as bass patterns in popmusic. As if there is no such thing as bass-inversion.

No? It's quite common here... Every music-school in this country offers keyboardlessons, you can even do it at home, through mailorder courses (you send your homework via the net -MP3- or by mail -tapes-)



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Roland EXR-5 user - http://www.exr5.tk

1) I was quoting Scott Houston. His point is that the bass clef is a creation of the arranger (person, not the keyboard) and not necessarily the arrangement of the orignal artist. Therefore, you can substitute your own bass clef pattern. Learning to play EXACtly like the arrangement takes the fun and ease out of playing.
2) I don't see any organ/keyboard lessons/courses on the web or in Canada. Lots of piano courses though.
Burkels,
You have new mail re. your EXR-5.
Starkeeper


[This message has been edited by Starkeeper (edited 02-16-2004).]