One of the things that interests me the most in our arranger keyboards, is the way or the techniques that we use to make the accompaniment of a song. In other words, what we do with our left hand when playing a song.

Most of the time I play in split mode, with the automatic accompaniment using three or four fingers to trigger the chord, and let the arranger play the automatic bass line.

That is quite enough for most of my entertainment acts, that do not require significant variations of this basic technique. But at home I like to experiment other playing styles that allow me to be less automatic/canned ("human" bass lines, left hand comping...) and practice richer harmonies. Therefore I'm willing to know how do you guys use the LH when you deviate from this simple technique. And what are the advantages over the basic scheme?

I'm also interested in knowing if different brands of arrangers allow different playing techniques. I only seriously explored Ketron keyboards, and I'm primarily interested in the top of the line models. My present Ketron (X4) has limitations regarding rootless chord recognition (improved in newer models) and manual bass lines (also improved with the bassist feature in newer models). The variety of playing styles allowed, will be my #1 priority in my next keyboard purchase.

Just to give an example of a precise question, when you want to play a measure of a song with D7/A (D7 chord with A bass) how do you achieve it with your keyboard? In the Ketron I use the feature "To Lowest" that makes the automatic bass play the bass line around the lowest note of the chord and not around the root the chord. So choosing the right inversion of a chord allows me to get the right effect... unless the bass note is not IN the chord. How do approach this in your instruments?

Thanks in advance for your input on this subject!

-- José.

Yamaha has a mode in which the lowest note of the chord is the bass note.
DonM

My Technics board has a Pianist Mode feature which will allow me to play various over-chords (if that's the correct term ) like D7/A, Fm/G etc. However, this works well for real-time play mostly when I am using piano as the lead - that's why it's called Pianist Mode .

For split-mode play, I am still exploring how to contruct those over-chords using the LH with Fingered Mode only. When I want to experiment further with other instruments as lead, I would usually record the accomp parts with Pianist Mode (to create all the other chords).

Interested to know too how do you all (ze experts) handle over-chords.

Hello,
Roland has bass root recognition.
Zuki

José, I am afraid that all these electronic keyboards have limitations; you know already about Ketron (the SD1 is more or less like the X4). On the 9000 pro I am currently using the fingered pro advanced mode, which requires that you play at least three notes to trigger a chord. This way I can play little fills with my left hand without affecting the chord the arranger is playing:; however, the chord recognition is sometimes less than perfect; for example, in my last song (Desafinado) there is a chord progression (Am7-D7b9) that I usually voice

A-C-E-G
A-C-Eb-F#,

but the 9000 pro recognizes the second chord as Adim7 and this drives me crazy. I have tried different voicings, but the only way to have the right chord is to press five notes (A-C-D-Eb-F# !)
You are right that adding a little comping with the left hand spices the song a lot, but comping behind a song is an art in itself: choising the right sound (that does not interfere with the flow of the song) and -most important- do not overdo. I remember reading an interview with Joes Pass about his work with Ella Fitzgerald; he said that the most important thing, when you comp behind a singer, is not to get in his/her way. Like you wrote about Desafinado, you have to wait and fill those empty spaces.



[This message has been edited by Dreamer (edited 03-09-2003).]

One thing I'm finding is the timing of the left hand needs varying depending on the style used. Usually you can hit the chord on the beat, but with some styles this can cause clipping of bass or piano parts of the style which I find annoying (unless I'm doing something wrong?

Ron

Andrea

7b9, dim, dim7,sus4, 7sus4,aug, m7b5,69,13 chords must be played in the fundamental state (without inversions).
If you play this chords with inversions, in
SOME progressions, 9000Pro can read something wrong.
Chico

Chico,
if I voice the D7b9 this way
D F# A Eb
the 9000 pro reads: EbmMaj7b5 !!!
Help!!

Ron, have you tried to use the fingered pro advanced mode? I have seen that this mode is more forgiving of timing imprecisions in my left hand.

Andrea

The chord D7 is D-Gb-A-C, right?
You can omit the 5th grade(A)
So,try to play D-Gb-C
ok ?
Good.
now,add the 9th b (Eb)
try to play D-Eb-Gb-C
OK?
Chico

[This message has been edited by ChicoBrasil (edited 03-10-2003).]

Chico, wow!
Now I have to revoice all the other chords as well...hmmm...I think I will learn a lot of things in Belo Horizonte: maybe I should stay longer...