For starters, I’m older than dirt, a self taught piano player, long time US citizen, originally from the Netherlands. Most of my playing over the years has been with small groups, Shakey’s pizza parlors, a banjo band, some non-famous trad jazz bands, in the Twin Cities and later in the Seattle area. My last gig was four years with a dixieland jazz band in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area.
I owned a Hammond spinet (M-102) for awhile, and I dabble at playing rhythm guitar but, sadly, didn’t develop the latter. Musically, I live in the past. I play by ear. I do not read music. I listened to the popular piano players of my era, and I learned to like barrelhouse style on out of tune pianos, after listening to the likes of Crazy Otto, Joe Fingers Carr and Winnifred Atwell.
I’ve been retired for quite some time. I have a Yamaha P-90 which I play most every day. But, age is catching up with me. I used to play stride style piano. But my left hand ain’t what it used to be. So I’ve recently started studying arranger keyboards.
My big question - can I, at age 88, still learn the OS and complexities of an arranger keyboard like a PSR, a Genos, or a Korg? I am a big fan of Peter Baartmans, as well as the German Alois Müller, who plays and demonstrates both the Genos and the Pa5x every day with a new sample. Unfortunately, unlike in Europe, I find that, especially in the Southwestern US, I haven’t been able to find a Genos or a Pa5x to try out. Or a PSR-SX900. Although 61 keys seems to me like playing piano while handcuffed. 76 keys, maybe.
I hope that, by joining this forum, I may learn enough to make a decision and acquire an arranger keyboard. Then comes the learning and fun part.
Strideplayer
