Hello, need advice.

[Forced_Exposure]

Hello everyone! My name is Michael I am 19 years old. I have some basic experience in music, I was in band for a few years during grade-school.
I have watched numerous videos of the minikorg being played and I would like to be able to do that myself.
I'm just in a delima as I ponder how to go about this.. Do I buy a korg and pick up the skill by playing with it for hours and hours, learn to play piano, pray to satan...jk

What did you all do when you were in the learning phase?
I'm just not sure how to take off on this adventure....

[Synthoid]

Welcome to the forum. Just a few questions for you.....

1.) Do you have any keyboard training at all?

2.) What instrument did you play in the band at school?

3.) What is your budget for a keyboard?

4.) Do you want to play live or compose/record music at home with a computer?


When I started playing synths, I already had several years of keyboard experience. My first synthesizer was very basic, but it had a built-in sequencer for recording...a great learning tool. After adding a couple more keyboards to the arsenal, I joined a small band.

The Micro Korg isn't the best keyboard to start with due to its mini keys. I would recommend visiting your local music store and playing various keyboards including the Roland SH-201, which is more expensive but a better beginner's synth.

[Forced_Exposure]

1) I have no real piano/keyboard experience.
2) I played a trombone :[ damn you base clef! I was suggesting band as it gave me a good concept of half / whole notes along with following a beat.
3) I can handle any reasonable cost right now, I'm living at home and working.
4) I would like to play live, join a band sometime.

Thank you for your quick response Synthoid.
I should add that I am very tech savvy

I'll check out the music store sometime this week and have a chat with them.
Thank you for your recommendation of the Roland, it looks awesome!

[Stephen]

I taught myself to play keys, one song at a time at first, with my friend telling me what chords I was playing, and since I already knew music from being a long time guitarist, it came rather quickly.
A keyboard is laid out with such logic, it's not difficult to learn it, and of course, practice does make a difference.
Good luck, music is a wonderful thing.

[Synthoid]

4) I would like to play live, join a band sometime.

Great experience! I used 3 synths with the first band I was in.....it was a lot of lugging around, especially with 2 stands--but we really had loads of fun.

That was ages ago, but I often think about getting together with the lead singer and doing one more gig (or two or three).

[Voltan]

Playing live with a band is the best thing ever ;]

[RiotNrrd]

When I started with synths, I had had some piano lessons years earlier, but none of it had really stuck except some basic info about chords and scales (which, if you want to write music, is absolutely necessary, but not really very difficult to learn).

I just started messing around. I didn't try to learn songs written by anyone else, as I wanted to both learn to play AND write at the same time. I still cannot read music or play any pieces not written by myself, and I've been playing keyboards now for almost 30 years.

I found it to be difficult at first, as most skills are, but it gets easier the more you play.

[Forced_Exposure]

Yes, as with any skills really, this will mostly take hours of practice and dedication. I'll just have to find my own niche in the world of keyboards.
I would still greatly appreciate suggestions for beginners hardware along with some pieces that are pretty basic, but sound good :]
I'm currently working on John Lennon's "Imagine".

[Voltan]

basic info about chords and scales (which, if you want to write music, is absolutely necessary, but not really very difficult to learn).

True as hell

I just started messing around. I didn't try to learn songs written by anyone else, as I wanted to both learn to play AND write at the same time. I still cannot read music or play any pieces not written by myself, and I've been playing keyboards now for almost 30 years.

I've been playing for about 10 years (4 years with my band) and I've never been much interested in learning other people's music either. I don't think there's a single song not written by me or my bandmates (except for a few of cover songs we do with the band but that's really like 5 songs or something in 4 years ) that I can play from the beginning to the end. I can read music though, but I've learned that before I even started learning to play keys (music lessons in elementary school).

There's one thing you need to keep in mind - playing specific pieces of music might make you learn certain techniques faster than just "messing around". Especialy if those pieces are just keyboard/piano excersises. Those are really useful even if some may seem boring

[RiotNrrd]

I would still greatly appreciate suggestions for beginners hardware...

Well, I personally am strongly software oriented, although I do have a Triton Classic and a Karma. But I don't think I've even turned them on in a couple of years.

My own advice is to get a decent MIDI controller and a copy of Propellerheads Reason.

My own MIDI controller is a StudioLogic SL-990 Pro, with 88 weighted keys. I cannot personally tell the difference between that particular controller and an actual piano, as far as feel goes. I think I paid around $400 for it. But there are plenty of other controllers which are as good as or better than what I have.

Reason contains software emulations of just about any kind of synthesizer oriented hardware you would want. Drum machines, sample players, three different kinds of synthesizers, effects units, mastering modules, a sequencer, etc. And none of the modules are difficult to learn to use. As a broad electronic music learning platform, Reason is difficult to beat in terms of flexibility and price. A well put together Reason patch (typically involving the "Combinator" module) sounds as good to my ears as anything I've heard coming out of my Triton or Karma. When you first see the price of Reason, it might seem expensive, but if you compare it to the prices of even budget hardware boards, it's actually quite inexpensive.

If you MUST have hardware, though, you have LOTS of choices. But the only way to really know what will fit you is to head down to a music store and try a bunch of synths out. What some people love, other people hate - picking the right synth is a very personal affair, and so it's hard to make really good suggestions. Hardware will also tend to be much more expensive than software, usually not as flexible, but also quite a bit more portable.

Software and hardware both have their pros and cons, and I honestly don't think one way is "better" than the other. It all boils down to individual tastes.

[Synthoid]

My own advice is to get a decent MIDI controller and a copy of Propellerheads Reason.

That's good for a home studio, but he wants to play live. Dragging a computer around on stage isn't the best way to go.

[georgeinar]

I think that how a person learns to play depends largely on what kind of natural talent they start with. I was born with a strong ear so I could imitate and figure out songs and practice them at a young age without using any music sheets. However, this prevented me from being able to read music down the road and now that holds me back. People without a good ear can learn by taking "piano lessons" or some such method to learn music as it's written. I think some kind of formal training when you're young is very important. Especially with a great teacher who knows the type of music you want to play.

[RiotNrrd]

That's good for a home studio, but he wants to play live. Dragging a computer around on stage isn't the best way to go.

Agreed, although the impression I got from the post was that he wants to play live "someday", but at this point just wants to learn to play. So, the near future will probably be a home studio. Although I recommend Reason pretty much for everything, in this case I am recommending it as an educational platform, as it provides experience with nearly all areas of synthesis.

[RiotNrrd]

I was born with a strong ear so I could imitate and figure out songs and practice them at a young age without using any music sheets. However, this prevented me from being able to read music down the road and now that holds me back.

Yeah, I'm in pretty much the same boat. I was able to avoid learning how to read music because I also have a pretty good ear.

Technically, I did "learn" to read music back in school band, but my ability to memorize songs is really excellent - one or two times through a piece and I no longer needed the written music, even if it was sitting right in front of me. So, I would, with a lot of difficulty, figure out what the written music wanted me to play, and then after I'd worked it out, no longer bother to look at the score.

After I quit band, I quickly forgot pretty much everything I ever did know about all those little black dots. And, like you, do feel that to some extent this has held me back somewhat.

[Giner]

Okay, move over in the boat there, RiotNrrd.

This is the odd thing about this whole scenario - 'ear' players such as myself, you, georgeinar, and, no doubt, more than a few others on here, I believe are more flexible in any given situation.

Much as I was pestered, never driven, by my parents to learn to read music as a youngster, I never did go the formal training route - although many times I wish I had.

Thing is, how many times have we run into people who can sightread and yet, when the music is taken away, are completely at a loss. Whereas, we fortunate ones can usually make a fairly competent attempt at most things that come our way.

So, to young Forced_Exposure, if you don't have a particularly 'strong ear', as georginar puts it, I would recommend you get yourself a really good teacher. I think it will prove to be a quicker route to your goals than stumbling along blindly by yourself. Good luck and work at it.