Quote:
Originally posted by Fran Carango:


I think the "arranger" keyboard has become a crutch for so many...causing them to lose skills that they may have had before...and others do need the arranger to aid them because of lacking skills..

All of these scenarios are fine, but maybe we need to look at our own positions, and see if the "crutches " are holding us back , or causing us to deteriorate as players..

If you want to test yourself..turn off the arranger stuff, and turn off the mic....and play...see if you can hold your own..



Good post Fran. Piano was always my instrument I always played solo. Once I bought my first arranger ( a clavinova cvp 107) I about dropped playing piano solo. That was a bit of a mistake, since then my chops have really diminished. It gets frustrating playing a piece that I once had a pretty good command of with all the dynamics that should go along with a good piano solo. I play a number of piano solo cocktail hours, when playing a NH gig there's usually a pretty decent grand piano in the rooms I play. I usually wind up playing a 10 minute segment of solos. I have recently cracked open the Hanon series to get some of the left hand strength back, can't let those skills disappear completely. Not only that I find there's no arranger that allows me to play as expressively as I can with acoustic piano.

Bottom line no matter what it's the arranger that brings lots of entertainment to the table. It's a tool not a crutch. Now my vocals are a different story I need all the crutches available.