Korg Forums

[QuiRobinez]

I use the Korg Pa5X a lot as practice tool for my boring Jazz / Neo Soul / improvisation exercises. It's so much more fun to practice on a style then just practicing it on the piano alone.

For instance for Neo Soul I use the factory style Bluey Groove a lot, I always start on 80 BPM and speed up the speed once I mastered the melody licks and chord progressions on that speed in any key.

It's also a perfect way to build up your muscle memory, for instance playing minor 11 chords (in a neo soul / jazz voicing) in any key on a style, builds up your muscle memory and you will notice that whatever you play afterwards you can instantly play that chord in any song you play in any key. It's very rewarding to learn it this way because the styles makes the practice a lot of fun.

My practice routine is most of the time:
- Scale practice (10 minutes)
- one specific chord voicing in any key (20 minutes)
- new chord progression with a melody lick (20 minutes)
- improvising freely over that new chord progression (10 minutes)
- and when there is time left then I play some classical tunes from musescore on my piano (to keep up with scoresheet reading)

I do this almost every day and because I use a style for most of these practices it's so much fun and it doesn't feel as practice.

Do you use your arranger also as a practice tool for these purposes?

[AntonySharmman]

[QuiRobinez]

[kbrkr]

I agree Qui. Using the Pa5x is like using the Kronos, but with a style engine built in. I use the Pa5x for the pianos and practice all the time.
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Pa5x, Yamaha Genos, ForeScore

[AntonySharmman]

[mstodola]

I agree Qui, I've been using my arrangers this way since I first got one. I used to use a drum machine for the same purposes. It's way better than a metrenome.

So you like learning songs in all the keys too. What a great practice tool. I think the styles in the Pa5x are the best so far. I still use my Pa4x and I've really noticed the improvement in the styles for those right out of the box. They seem to be closer to what I desire when I'm playing different songs which means I get to use the styles more often when I'm playing. Normally if I can't find something when I'm doing something on the fly, I just play without a style or just play the drums in the style. So with the Pa5x I seem to be able to find a style and play using both drums, bass, and the style parts. Big improvement.
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Pa4x, Oasys 76, K2000, PC3K7, Montage 8, Pa5x

[mstodola]

And thank you Antony for the style.KST package you put together. I'm able to look for styles in the package for the Pa4x, find the styles that work, then go to the Pa4x at church and find and play the same styles for the songs that I practiced at home on my Pa5x. Very convenient.
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Pa4x, Oasys 76, K2000, PC3K7, Montage 8, Pa5x

[duby2]

QuiRobinez

you do great work ,love the videos and you play excellent But
do you play in a band or are you a solo person .
Just wondering keep up the good work.
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The Gold Standard OS 2.2
Pa4X, Pa 1000, Pa3x, Pa800, Pa80, i3

[rubenwalters]

Thank you Qui for your helping inputs here and on your youtube channel. very nice that you share this to us.

i use Pa5x in combination with a Nord Stage 4 witch is a very good combination for improvisations.
after last update of my Pa5x i don‘t recognize any errors. i use only standard features and for me it is perfect.
one single thing is that the Nord Keybed fits better for me. but everyone has another feeling …
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Pa5x-88, Korg Pa Manager, PaMagic
Nord Stage 4, Presonus Sphere StudioOne, Ujam

[chelsea4023]

Hi,

I was interested in this Thread from Qui Robinez and understand most of what he is saying, but for me any keyboard would be a good practice tool ?

I find a weighted 88 note keyboard more preferable to a non-weighted 61 note (especially for practice). I think it's easier to learn on a weighted keyboard and then play a non weighted keyboard rather than the other way around.

I prefer my Nautilus 88 to my PA5X 61 with piano pieces due to the extended range of the keyboard and the fact the keys are weighted.
Both keyboards have a drum section of sorts (as would most Workstations) so creating a beat would be fairly easy.

Piano pieces on an 88 note weighted just sound better to me. I often read players of arrangers (both Pa and Genos) complaining about the quality of the piano samples, but in reality I think it's down to the keyboard range, not the quality of the sample.

My main issue (as I'm just an amateur home player) is that rather than practising and learning pieces, I tend to play stuff I already know because that's more fun !!

Chris

[QuiRobinez]

[QuiRobinez]