Salsafy Your Sound!

May 16 2013 3:00PM
Salsa (Spanish for “sauce”) is a broad commercial term used to describe danceable Latin music. There are no specific chord voicings or progressions that give you a Salsa sound; it’s all about feeling the rhythm in chunks of More...

Jazz Arranging for Keyboardists

May 16 2013 3:00PM
Keyboard players are naturally good arrangers. We do it every day while we’re writing, tracking, putting chords to melodies, and mixing our music. All of these activities involve selecting textures, achieving balance, and More...

Add Impact to Your B3 Bass Lines with Percussive Pedal Techniques

Apr 26 2013 12:48PM
A powerful technique used by most modern B-3 organists is to tap rhythmically on a bass pedal while playing the actual bass line on the lower manual using the left hand. Only occasionally do they play actual bass notes on the More...

Erik Norlander: Keeper of the Prog Flame

Mar 21 2013 6:00PM
If anyone says that prog is passé, don’t believe it. New players have emerged from every decade since the heyday of Yes, ELP, King Crimson, and early Genesis. One of the most prolific is Erik Norlander. Beginning in 1999 More...

5 Ways To Play Like Donald Fagen

Mar 21 2013 5:00PM
For over 40 years, Donald Fagen has had a monumental impact on modern music.  His jazz-tinged songwriting and funky keyboard work helped define the sound of a generation. Largely self-taught, Fagen regularly went to More...

Booker T Video Repost

Oct 12 2011 12:00AM
We've been meaning to catch up with Booker T. Jones since his Grammy win for the 2009 album Potato Hole--for which we interviewed him back in August '09. If you haven't heard his latest, The Road From Memphis, you're missing out, More...

Welcome to Keyboard's November 2011 Links Page

Oct 10 2011 12:00AM
Exclusive interview with the Flaming Lips! Evan Bogart talks songwriting, keyboards, and production. Miss our Summer NAMM gear wrap? It's online?     More...

Daniel Mintseris On Creative Wurly Comping

Jun 1 2010 1:00AM
The Wurlitzer Electronic Piano is loved the world over for its vintage sound. Songs like Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say,” Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” and Beck’s “Where It’s At” are just three of the countless More...

Moog On

Mar 3 2010 12:00AM
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, synthesizers like the Minimoog Voyager add a whole new dimension to your sound. Here are a four of my favorite licks and tricks to get you started on the More...

Chester Thompson B-3 Master Class

Feb 11 2010 9:41PM
In this web-only video master class, original Tower of Power keyboardist Chester Thompson--who more recently played with Santana--explains some of the secrets behind his unique, bubbling, rhythmic Hammond B-3 style on such TOP More...

Ten Minute Technique - Warming Up Under the Gun

Jan 22 2010 8:10AM
by Josh DodesFinding time to practice is difficult for all of us. Whether you’re on the road, running from one gig to the next, or dealing with distractions at home, it can be daunting to keep your chops up. Whether at sound More...

Get Funky on the Rhodes

Jan 22 2010 7:05AM
Influential recordings from the late 1960s by pioneering keyboardists (such as those by Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea with Miles Davis, and Billy Preston with the Beatles) brought the Rhodes electric piano to the forefront of modern More...

Rock The Piano Glissando

Dec 1 2009 12:10PM
It’s part comedy and part drama. Early rockers, Broadway rehearsal pianists, and Jersey rockers alike have used and abused the piano glissando. It’s dramatic, cool, and aggressive, but it’s also a tad clichéd — which could More...

Michael Jacksons “Billie Jean”

Dec 1 2009 12:00PM
Michael Jackson created some of the most universally memorable — and downright funky — music of the last century. His hit “Billie Jean,” from the best-selling album of all time, Thriller, makes great use of synth bass and More...

Boogie Down

Nov 1 2009 10:15PM
by Scott Healy Before rock ’n’ roll, there was boogie-woogie. Without boogie, we wouldn’t have Little Richard, Johnnie Johnson, or Jerry Lee Lewis — or half of New Orleans piano music and most of blues. If you play a lot More...