Keyboard, October 2000

Master Class

Having the right keyboards for the job is one thing, having the right approach for each is another. T Lavitz shows you how to change gears when you change gear.
By T Lavitz

When I'm touring with the Dregs, I'm constantly shifting between keyboards, styles, grooves, and textures. I like to think that as a band we cover a lot of genres pretty damn well, and part of that success is due to how each of us approaches a particular style at a particular moment. Of course, the other guys have it easy: They get to keep their hands on the same instrument as we blast through sections of a tune.

I used to haul around a whole pile of synths. But one day, Steve Morse (Dregs guitarist) pointed out to me that it's the notes you play and the way you play them that counts. They're way more important than the actual sound you use. So I pared my rig down to my B-3 and Leslie speaker, a Generalmusic SK-760 for synth sounds, and a Generalmusic Pro 2 for piano and electric piano sounds. Even with a smaller rig, as I switch from B-3 to Rhodes, or even between sounds on the same synthesizer, I change the way I think. A thick voicing I love on one instrument might sound crappy on another. Some sounds are great for playing percussive comping parts, others are best for a more sustained approach. As you know, you can sustain a piano or electric piano sound just by using the sustain pedal, but on an organ, you get sustain through the fingering you use. I might use one sound for two different styles, where one of those styles might demand that I stick to a tonal, root-position kind of groove and the other might let me be as free and wild as I want.

Play through these examples to see what I do in different grooves with different instruments. The keyboards I cover are your meat-and-potatoes variety: Clavinet, B-3, electric piano, and acoustic piano. You can download the MIDI files and audio files above and play along with my drum and bass parts, too. I hope you find this useful, and keep on playing!

Ex. 1. This is a funk comping groove for Clavinet. Keep the subdivisions even (straight eighths and sixteenths). In the right hand, I emphasize the seventh of the E7. I'm only playing the root in the left hand, but it offsets the rhythm of the right hand, helps me keep time, and lays down a good tonal foundation.

Ex. 2. Similar to Example 1 in style, this Clav groove leaves room at the end of each bar so you can interact with your guitar player. Playing off each other creates a balance of instrumental colors and gives the groove a solid rhythmic foundation.

Ex. 3. Let's move to the B-3. Over a one-chord groove such as this, I like to combine a little chop with a bit of sustain. My favorite dominant voicing is in the last bar, suspended and then resolved.

Ex. 4. Here's how to get sustain on a B-3: Glue your right-hand pinky to the root or fifth, then work some inner motion underneath it with your index and third fingers. In this example, I use my left hand in sync with the right-hand motion. Alternatively, you could hold the upper note with your left hand, freeing your right hand to grab any chords you wish.

Ex. 5. Sometimes a groove dictates that I play the B-3 more melodically, and avoid comping underneath. On this fast swing blues, I concentrate on the voice leading to make the lines really musical. I also let myself go for longer lines, as opposed to shorter phrases that I might use over a rock or funk blues.

Ex. 6. This is also a blues, but a slow one in 12/8, which seems to sound better with a more chordal approach on the B-3. This gives you a fatter sound, which on the B-3 is a beautiful thing. Note that I vary the "double stop" chords in my right hand: Sometimes the bottom note moves, sometimes the top, sometimes neither.

Ex. 7. Here's a very simple blues progression, which I think sounds great when approached with an equally simple acoustic piano part. The left hand sticks to a basic boogie-woogie pattern, and I keep the right-hand solo within the tonality, with a couple of octave tremolos for effect. Personally, I don't like hearing too much harmonic tension over a pattern like this.

Ex. 8. Though it's still a blues for acoustic piano, I take a very different approach to this example. With an up-tempo swing feel, I tend to want to get a little bit adventuresome with the piano part. Note how I superimpose an E major triad over the Bb in bar 6, giving a nice quick side-step with a resolution.

Ex. 9. Over a funk groove, I like to keep my electric piano or Rhodes parts sparse. I toss in chords as well as short melodic phrases. Notice how I use the suspended (fourth) voicings and other color tones to bring out the color of the Rhodes.

Ex. 10. Playing Rhodes over a 12/8 groove, I sometimes like to use thicker textures, adding a little zing now and then with suspended voicings or substitutions.

Ex. 11. When the tempo gets bumped up on a swing blues, I take a variety of melodic approaches on Rhodes. Here I vary the melodic line quite a bit, even going totally chordal over the IV chord.

Ex. 12. Here's another approach to a swing blues using the Rhodes. Since this groove is slower, I have time to use nice voice leading to get from one chord to the next. This line is different than what I'd play on a funk or rock groove, however. Mostly, I'm working within the Mixolydian mode in this example.

Photo © 2000 Randi Anglin