First of all I just have to say,
guitar players have it easy. They can sling
a guitar on their back and go. Acoustic
guitar with no amplification sounds great in many settings. When needed, an amplifier and a microphone
can get the job done. It is kind of
difficult to sling a piano on your back.
We piano players are forced to use a keyboard when the venue does not
have a piano. Since keyboards are
electronic instruments, we are also forced to bring some type of amplification
(no such thing as an acoustic keyboard).
Now it depends on what kind of
piano parts you play in your songs.
Keyboard players in bands often play background synth and organ
parts. This type of playing can be accomplished
on 61 key keyboards with unweighted keys.
However, singer/songwriters who sing from the piano are usually not
playing parts like this. We write our
songs on the piano, so the instrument tends to take on a fundamental role in
the song. Whether we are performing with
just piano and voice, adding background tracks to the mix or have a band to
back us the piano/keyboard still is in the forefront. The performance styles of Billy Joel, Sara
Bareilles, Michael W. Smith and Mark Schultz all exhibit this (to name a few
examples).
Artists like this do not sing and
play from a 61 key, unweighted keyboard.
They usually perform from a grand piano.
When that is not available they play an 88 key, fully weighted, top of
the line keyboard. We piano playing
singer/songwriters want to feel like we are playing an expressive instrument
while we perform.
You see music is all about
expression and experience. Musical
performers are attempting to express emotions, feelings and ideas through their
music. The ideal situation occurs when
the performer creates a musical experience that automatically shares these
emotions, feelings and ideas with the audience.
To do so, we need an instrument at our fingers that does not inhibit our
expression.
Guitar players can perform with the
very instrument that they originally wrote the song with because it is portable. Every feeling and expression that they
experienced while writing the song is still at their fingers while
performing. People who write on their
piano always have to perform on something else (unless they have the money to
ship their piano to each performance). I
have never played a keyboard that exactly matches the experience of playing a
real piano. Sound resonating from the
soundboard of a piano is an experience that speakers cannot replicate. The vibration of the strings traveling
through the keys is a sensation that no keyboard replicates. The responsiveness to dynamics and expression
found in a great piano cannot be replicated through the midi data expression range
of 0 - 120 (although they try to come close).
The only solution is to try to use
a keyboard with the best action and sound possible. This solution is often offset by your budget
and the strength of your back (plus size of your car). These types of keyboard tend to be more
expensive. In addition these instruments
tend to be larger and heavier than their less expressive counterparts. Plus, a keyboard will only sound as good as
the system that is amplifying it. The connection
between the size and weight of a sound system and the quality of sound it
produces is a topic for another week (probably next week). However, even with the information already
discussed I think you will agree that guitar players have it easier when it
comes to being a singer/songwriter.
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