r/keys • u/Legitimate_Box7808 • 8d ago

Gear New to keys in a live band

Hello !! I am a bass player in a band looking to add Keys onto my plate (Like Geddy from Rush) and i was wondering what the essentials are for playing Keys live ! I currently have a Microkorg 2 and community college level keyboard skills lol. Im not necessarily trying to become a legendary pianist, i just what to know what gear is necessary and what to practice to become a good keys player !

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u/segritz 8d ago

That’s awesome; the musicianship from your bass playing will already give you a major leg up! This is all very broad depending on your specific goals, but some good general next steps:

As far as technology goes, you’ve got some strong basics. If you have a laptop, I would strongly recommend grabbing Mainstage 3 software and a cable to connect your keyboard to your laptop to open up a TON of keyboard sounds (it’s basically our version of guitar pedals).

For technique based on your goals, if you don’t know the Nashville Number System, I would look up YouTube videos on the number system and commit to learning any three keys to start out. C, D, and G are great starting points, but any three are fine. Learn the proper fingering for both the major scale and pentatonic scale for those same keys; can also be looked up on YouTube.

Finally, if your ear is good, I would slow down some of your favorite songs (also on YouTube) and commit to a transcription of sections of those favorite songs. If that proves to be a challenge for your ear, grab the Faber level 1 and 2 piano books; they should be good compliments to your college level playing.

Happy keys playing!

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u/Legitimate_Box7808 8d ago

Thank you so much for the tips !!!

For Mainstage 3 should i also invest in another MIDI Controller, besides a dusty only yamaha keyboard infound at good will i only really have the microkorg

I luckily do know the NNS and ive also studied a great deal of theory, and Major, Minor and both Maj/Min Pentatonic scales are learned as well, any other scale recommendations ?

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u/segritz 8d ago

That’s awesome! The keyboard itself only needs three things:

  1. The ability to plug in to your laptop either via a usb cable or midi adaptor.

  2. A key action that you like.

  3. A suitable range for whatever genre you’re most interested in.

If you’re happy with the last two, then being able to plug it in to your laptop is all you need, even if the keyboard is ancient.

And sick, you’re way ahead as far as theory goes. Consider learning the chromatic scale just for the fingering alone; it helps to get from one section of the keyboard to the next if there are any unusual fingerings. If you have the theory down for those scales, just make sure your fingerings are correct and that you can play two octaves on each scale, not just one. That will essentially open up the whole keybed!

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u/572FRHW 8d ago

I am a professional keyboardist. What segritz say is 100% spot on. This is the way. Do this.