I play in a band and I have a lot of piano playing experience but I just don't know how to play with our band. Right now I just hold down the chords and just play with my right hand some solo's that acts like a 3rd voice. I want some ideas on how to play with a rock band.

If you have rhythm guitars in your band..you probably should just chord, and play turn-arounds and leading chords..Then when your solo time is on..do your thing and let the guitars follow you.

Is there a bass player, or do you play left hand bass..If you play bass than the guitars should get use to following you.

I am taking for granted that you are not using an arranger in the band..

The best thing to do is listen to other performances and how the kb player put's fills , solo's and rhythm into songs. You don't want to play full triads when you play. You really want the 3rd and 5th notes usually in the 3rd or 4th octave range depending on the song. Playing the root note will conflict with either the bass or guitar. Try to fill in with some tasty fills, arps, and what I call twinkles between quiet parts. If the guitar solos, try to hold down the basic chords so the song stays grounded. Don't play left hand bass at all if you have a bass player, and be careful on your strumming to keep the beat with the drummer.

And don't be afraid to use your horns, strings, flutes, and synths.

Good Luck
Al

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Al Giordano
www.al-giordano.com

Tyros 2, Yamaha P-250, Korg Triton Extreme 76, Roland VK8-M, DW Collectors Series Drums

Our band of consists of the following:
1 bass
1 drummer
3 guitarists (one of the guitarists is my dad who is helping us start out, but we have been playing with him for a long time now, he loves playing and I can see he doesn't want to leave, he is kinda out leader)
1 keyboard (me)

I don't play the left hand bass as we already have a bass, but sometimes we are just playing somewhere without him and I just start playing the left hand bass.

Thanks for the advice, keep it coming, I need all I can get.

Great forum by the way.

And I am using a Roland VA-76 arranger...

Best advice is listen.......

Listen to CDs, and learn the parts off them....

Listen to other, local bands and watch what the keyboard player does

Listen to the rest of your bandmates, and don't step on what they play

Listen to board tapes of your rehearsals, figure out what works, what doesn't

Listen to a teacher, it'll be the best money you ever spend (if they play rock!)

Listen, even (especially!) when you think you already know enough!

If you are playing left hand piano, be SURE that what you play compliments or duplicates what the bass player plays. Otherwise it will just be mush.
DonM

[All the above is great advice – for me it always came down to feel. I listen and add what I feel – nothing prepared, just listen to what’s happening and add what YOU FEEL. It doesn’t get better.

John C.

I also am wondering if you guys think playing chords with 2 hands sounds better, specifically the "string" sounds.

Don't go overboard with fingers for string sounds or you may enter the mush zone.

Playing in a band, or indeed accompanying a singer, is all about space, each player should have their own "zone" within a song, be that in terms of the note range used or in terms of where to add fills or riffs. Otherwise it sounds like an argument!

Uh, seems like a contradiction, amigo. Should you ever duplicate what the bass player is doing? Beats me, I'm no piano player.

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Bill,
If the piano plays a different bass line than the bass drummer, it sounds terrible. He can play single notes, but they must be the same as the bass. If the bass is on the root and the piano bass is on the third or something else it ruins both.
I have a friend that has played piano in bands for years, including a stint with Ray Price. He is a superb technician, in addition to having a great ear, and most of what I know about piano playing with a band I learned from him. I mentioned him to you yesterday.
Also, ask HankB about the Rockabilly band he's playing with. It's based around a Jerry Lee Lewis type performer, and Hank plays bass.
DonM

Try to get someone to teach you about 'open' chord voicing. For string, brass and many other sounds, dividing the chord up between hands allows a wider voicing, greater separation of the notes, and a far clearer, less 'muddy' sound to the chord (it is also good on piano!)

You've got a long road ahead of you, filled with wonderful discoveries and dangerous traps. The modern keyboard player is not just expected to play all keyboard sounds (B3, Piano, Rhodes, Clavinets, etc.) but to also play just about ANY other instrument sound well, and idiomatically. Strings, brass, woodwinds, guitars, you name it.....

A good teacher now, before you've developed too many bad habits, will speed up the learning curve enormously.

Do not overplay ,know your range.

careful with them in rock solos/backings.

[This message has been edited by jamman (edited 11-14-2006).]