How many of you guys have keys players?

[8Painting]

I don't know if its just me, but it seems like its nearly impossible to find a keyboard player/b3 player in bands nowadays.

Is it the lack of players?

Is the music you're playing not call for it?

Any other reasons you can think of?


I play keys/B3 In the band I'm in and I know I'm a minority when it comes to this kind of stuff.

 

[greggorypeccary]

Here it's the lack of players. Keyboard players thus don't feel the need to rehearse with bands, they just assume they can show up, play, and collect the dough.

I love some good B3/Rhodes?piano, but I'd rather do without than have someone basically "sitting in."

 

[devinb]

I pretty much just record these days, I'm finishing up an album, and I think 5 of the 11 songs have Rhodes as the driving rhythmic instrument, 2 vibraphone, and the rest guitar. Then again, I've never been very good at writing really riff based guitar stuff, so part of the reason is just a change of pace.

 

[Aldo]

It took awhile for us to get that spot set. He plays in 3 bands so we have a descent guy most of the time. Same w/the sax player. I hear you about the "sitting in" stuff but just I don't sweat that stuff anymore. (Besides we sound better w/them because our gtr player ain't that great!) Gigs of course keeps the lineup stable. I know he started playing keys because when he played gtr he hated looking for keys.

B3/Rhoads/Piano- If you can get them to stick to those 3 its sweet ain't it? And tie there left hand behind their back too! Keys are in the same eq spot as a gtr. Its easy to step on each other. Now if he was in just one damn band he'd remember what we worked on!....Easy. I'm not gonna sweat it...

 

[re-animator]

I'm a keys guy as well. Basically there are few pure keyboarders out there.... most of them are converted guitarists/bassists that see how supply is being killed by demand.

 

[shngn7]

We did occasionally in one of my bands. I love having some keys to fill in some sound space since we are a one guitarist, bassist, and drummer group. We met him in high school (he is a year younger than the rest of us) but had real strict parents so he would only jam with use maybe once a month. I loved the way it sounded when he jammed with us. He is extremely talented but ever since he started college we haven't seen him. I would love to have a permanent keyboardist in a band.

 

[The Golden Boy]

For more than 10 years I never was in a band with a keys player. I didn't want one. When one of my bands recorded, I was vehemently opposed to having someone come in and play keys- in my mind it wasn't a part of the band.

Around 8 years ago the band I was in wanted to hire a guy to play keys, and again, I was vehemently opposed. I don't know how long it was before I figured out just how incredibly awesome it was to have a guy that really knew and understood music like the guy we got playing keys. Any project I've been in has always had that guy as a part of the band- not just because he's a friend, but because of how much he rules and how much he brings to the table.

 

[Calloway]

I play in a band with keys and I love the sound. He tends to be a real tempermental asshole, but it is really nice to have another soloist. My singer plays a lot of harmonica (at least in his mind) but having the keys allows me to keep my ideas fresh.

 

[ken budd]

I am blessed to be in a band with the finest keyboard player in the area. B-3, synth., piano you name it, he kills on all. Above all he's a great guy. I steal from him all the time and he's very generous with his vast knowledge. I consider it an honor to work with him.

 

[clarkram]

I recently lucked out and joined a band with keys. This guy is a music teacher in the local school system and he can play some serious keys.

A good keyboard can add sooooo much.

I enjoy it a lot more than a 2 guitar band, but I know this is a fluke. Its next to impossible to find keys in this area so I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[GCDEF]

I play guitar and keys in my band. I love the B3 sound, but you don't hear it too much in modern music. Unless you're playing blues or 60s and some 70s classic rock, you're not going to need that sound.

 

[stephenT]

Sure do, how about 82 year old Eddie Tigner and keys and vocals?

 

[Celticdave]

I want one - does that count?

 

[GovernorSilver]

I am in a band that is currently a duo. We both play keys in addition to other instruments (she does vocals and guitar, I play guitar and and cello - and we're adding the start of a small electronic drum kit to our band room).

My first music lessons were on piano.

As to why keys players are hard to find, I think there are just so few of them compared to guitarists who only play guitar.

 

[Broken Cord]

I played keyboards in bands in the late 70's early 80's and a big part of not keeping with it is: The expense of keeping good keyboards; real B3's are too heavy and worth too much, and unless your touring in a big production band and you have roadies to schlep your gear around, other wise you’ll end up throwing your back out, and that’s a biotch.

I took up guitar a couple of years after my son was born in 2001, and I’ve hardly touched the keys since. I can play'em if I have to but I hardly look back unless I have to work through a tough transition/passage that I just can't get on guitar. Then again I don’t play in a band at this point.

 

[derekd]

We have a really good keys player. Good theory knowledge, good ability, great ear. He likes putting together lead sheets for us with new tunes.

 

[cheetah77]

My wife plays Farfisa in our band, she is classically trained and has been playing since she was a child. She can play anything from any genre, but prefers to bang it out in our little garage band. Alan Price from The Animals is her biggest influence in rock music. I am truly lucky to have found her! check out our vids on youtube to see her in action.

 

[Tripower455]

My friend is the keyboardist in our band. He and I are the originating members. I love having keys in the band for all the reasons mentioned above. It really fills out the sound, injects a different perspective to soloing etc.

I can't imagine doing a lot of our covers without keys!

 

[8Painting]

Hey broken cord!

I dig what youre saying about schlepping B's around

There's a lot of new B3 emulators.

I use a roland Vk-8 for hauling around from gig to gig.

Nord makes a C1 - Probably the best i've ever heard/seen

Hammonds got some Xk's

Korg makes a mediocre board...bleh...

 

[cameron]

You see keys players in garage and surf bands sometimes, but real players are rare.

Matt DeSilva, who used to run the guitar department at Manny's on 48th St. told me once that the whole time he worked there, only one guy who worked in the keyboard department could actually play keys. All the other guys were sequencer programmers and other devotees of electronic music who had minimal actual keyboard skills.

Generally the only people you meet who can really play keyboards are people with jazz or classical backgrounds, who have little inclination to play rock, and if they do have any such inclination, they're more likely to be into doing electronic one-man-band home studio work than dealing with the hassles of live music and human drummers.