Three weeks in...
More and more surprised at how much i enjoy this.
I really wasn't too much of a believer in arranger keyboards myself, with memories of very mechanical and repetitive, low-quality sound. And concerned with the lack of creativity that may result from using canned music. I was so clueless.
Again this was originally intended for my 12-y old. I'm surprised to see how as a pianist, and has stuck to his piano ways, and is exploring this intrument in very different ways i do. Well he has not even cared to open the user's manual either, which may be related
He probably is a bit overwhelmed by the amount of possibilities and has not the rigor needed to make his way through it.
My 9-y old, who otherwise plays cello, has listened to a couple tricks i told her, and enjoys playing every tune she can with a saxophone and the 3 chords i taught her...
Thanks to the simplified 'AI' fingering at left hand, i have made tremendous progress. That function is excellent for (late) beginners, that have a hard time with the dexterity and automatic positioning of finger needed for accompaniment. Not only it makes possible and extremely rewarding what used to be super painful, but it does also helps to memorize the chords, and then port back these learnings to the piano.
So, what about the music i play ? So far, I'm using alot the jazz/big band styles, brass and woodwind, and a bit of guitar (they sound really nice). Playing the 1st page of Strauss's
Blue Danube in a mixed Classical/jazz ways was my first challenge. There are still some glitches here and there, but it's getting in.
I then (re-)created a brass tune based on the intro of one of the Beetles hits, with big band style, and i love that energy.
(experiencing posting issues beyond this point, so the rest is below)