Gary,

Don't give a toss what folks think about a laptop if you can't see the dots you can't play, I need an MPP A4 size to read.

Tony

Wasn't those big guns that did your eyes in hey....

Or you can memorize music and lyrics...?.

Unfortunately, for some strange reason, I just can't seem to remember all the chords and lyrics to a couple thousand songs. Guess I'm just gettin' old!

Gary

There's only so many chords and combinations to most songs....I just feel it and play!

ONLY a couple of THOUSAND, Gary? Ha ha!

I always take my music with me, and never look at it, except very rarely.

With me, it's a "security blanket" thing.

I also like the Easy Fake Books, as I can add my own more complex chords to the simple ones provided...and the notes are bigger and easier to read.

Ian

PS...only time I don't take music is when I do demos/clinics...I have the material memorized for those.

There is really memorizing the songs...and make believe you remember

If you can turn off the arranger and comp with melody in original keys...then you really remember the song....If you 2-5 your way through a tune with the arranger on..you are make believe

Performers with strong vocals, can get away with lazy play...filling in spots and basic chords....Not mentioning names ..but I have a couple friends in this category

I can remember most of the tunes I learned in original keys, and as Ian...I use substitute chords when I can.....but lyrics is another bag...I need them..I am getting better...maybe if I sang for all the years I played..I would be okay, but I liked the way I did it...surround my self with talented girl singers

Many people are just too lazy to memorize music and lyrics....I see many readers that sound to robotic with no soul.....because their mind is buried in the charts......I've said it many times on SZ...to rehearse blindfold yourself and play and sing....learn one song at a time....playing and singing should be Secondary when you perfom...close those books and just play!!

Not having the luxury of being a vocalist, I have to rely on making the arrangements interesting...mmmm...surrounding oneself with talented girl singers is certainly one way of raising the attention level of the audience...and maybe a little distracting to the player (in a good way, of course).

I know of several arranger performers who do hundreds of songs (thousands even!) and it seems that many who rely predominantly on their vocals tend to get really lazy and end up basically singing over SMF and rarely playing any keyboard parts...if it works for them, that's great, but, I'm primarily a player and I get off on playing...in other words, it's not just for the money, and, since I can't fall back on vocals, I tend to try and put as much of myself into the music as I can within the limits of arranger style play.

It seems to be working, although I've decided to take a break from personal gigging this past year and have only been doing Yamaha clinics/demos....and, when I play at home, I still like having the music there for security reasons...however, I am not tied to it and many times stray from the written notes, adding my own phrasing and chord substitutions.

I'm sure you know what I mean, Fran...personalizing a tune, without taking away it's core meaning, is made quite easy with a tool like an arranger keyboard...whether you've got cuties singing for you or not.

Ian

Fran can't afford "to own a Audya , Korg PA3X, or Tyros4" and I can't afford to hire the good-looking gals that sing for him. I guess I spent too much on the sailboat.

Today, I performed for 70 minutes, non-stop, and loaded 3 lyrics pages on the Netbook. I can't read the dots, but I have tabs for some songs - just in case. So I guess I'm in the slightly to moderately impaired category.

Cheers,

Gary

Maybe we should start another forum for impaired arranger players ... Can someone point me to a post that will tell me how to post photos ... Thanks.
Ciao,
Jerry

... Hello, my name is Jerry and I'm impaired ...