Transcribing,Playing with Others
When you are listening to albums, try to sing along with the solos and rhythm parts, and visualize the fingerings and techniques you would use to achieve the sounds you are hearing. Write down anything you really like, or anything you can’t immediately transfer from your ear to the keyboard. This is called transcribing. All the great players have done lots of it. Transcribing helps you to understand and absorb the music and before long, it starts to come out in your own playing. It is also valuable to play along with albums, sometimes imitating what you are hearing and other times improvising. This is great ear training and is lots of fun.
It is essential to play with other musicians as much as possible. This helps you use everything you learn in real musical situations. Playing with others is also the only way to develop the interaction which is essential for any musician.
Amplification
When playing with a band, it is often difficult to hear an acoustic piano without amplification. There are microphones such as PZM’s which are good for picking up the sound of a piano. The microphone can then be put through a PA system in a similar way to a vocal microphone. When using an electronic keyboard, it is much more common to plug it into an amplifier. Bass or guitar amplifiers can be used for keyboards, but it is usually better to use an amp specially designed for keyboards. If you are uncertain about an amp, it is always better to consult a professional before deciding what to buy.
