I’m more interested improving my playing versus playing to adjust sounds on a keyboard. Don’t get me wrong I’ve spent plenty of time doing that but I’ve got an upcoming 2 month weekly piano solo gig so a lot of my time is brushing up on some tunes I haven’t played in quite a few years.
Stephen.
You are very right of course about practising your playing, and it is something that a lot
of us should concentrate on.
An Arranger is the great equaliser, for those who always wanted to play music but
never had the opportunity to learn or maybe never took the time to learn.
Anybody with a basic knowledge of a 3 fingered or 4 fingered (maybe even single fingered) chord
will be able to press that chord with their left hand, push the Intro button, and presto, sound like
an accomplished musician, but only up to a point.
Once the intro has run it's course, as well as the first few bars of the style, then comes the
moment of truth that separates those who have practised playing from those who have not.
I've been playing since I was a young kid but feel that there's always room for improvement.
It's important to practice, as much as possible, the actual playing of any instrument.
A good keyboard in the hands of an unpracticed player will disguise the poor playing
skills a little bit, but in the end the poor playing will show.
This is probably one of the reasons why we are seeing an ever expanding proliferation of
Midi Files.
In other words, mastering your playing skills is essential in any circumstance, but more so
when performing in public.
In the months when gigs are scarce I try to put in at least 4 hours of playing practice every day.
That means just piano practice, on my Kawai MP11.
No arranger, no tweaking of styles and voices, and no particular song either.
Just imagining a scale or chord sequence and playing away.
I'm a very competitive musician and have an insatiable need to play better than
whoever came before me in the venues where I perform.
That can only be achieved by constant practice.
My audiences find it amusing when I sometimes am simultaneously able to chat with
a person while holding my glass of water in my left hand and furiously playing away on
the piano with the right hand without missing a beat.
Like so many things, it takes a lot of practice.
I'm performing 6 nights a week now so I unfortunately have little time to practice at
home, even though the gigs themselves are a form of daily practice.
On the one day that I'm free of gigging commitments however, I don't want to come within 10
feet of any instrument. I generally just chill out until my exhausted and aching body
recovers enough to go out and do battle again the next day.
There are different types of gigging though.
There are the gigs where you go twice a month and play a few tunes, then there are
the gigs where you have to go out 180 days in a row, often playing 3 to 4 hours nonstop.
In the case of the latter, there are days you just don't feel like going but you know that
you have to, because of contractual obligations and the need to pay your bills.
I understand that this is off topic but I wanted to respond to Stephen's comments, and also
because somebody, Babette I think, wanted to know what it's like to gig professionally.
Best Regards.
Abby.