The description of the YamahaYPG-235 includes this statement:
I don’t understand. In the first place, how could any keyboard “require” you to chord in a particular part of the keyboard? As long as it’s capable of playing at least three keys at a time, why wouldn’t you be able to hold down any three keys anywhere, and thus play whatever chord anywhere?
Second, chording on the left is “foreign to most piano players”? I’m a beginner, so forgive me if I’m missing something obvious, but I thought it was typical to play chords with the left hand and melody with the right.
By the way, I already bought this keyboard, so my question here is not for a buying-decision, but for curiosity and trying to expand my knowledge. It’s a really nice keyboard, at least by my beginner standards.
Typically, auto-accompaniment features determine what chords to use based on the chords you play in a specific range of the keyboard (usually the lower octave and a half). This. Piano’s ‘brain’ can read the chord structure across the whole keyboard and add the appropriate accompaniment.
As to the left hand chording statement, while it is definitely an exageration, most music for piano is not written the way beginner’s music is written; chords in the left hand and melody in the right. You’re more likely to have chords and melody in the right hand, with a bass line (and some chords as well) in the left.
To expand on that, this is only relevant for auto-accompaniment. The keyboard has built-in drum beats and accompaniment styles. I had a Yamaha PSR-something something probably 20 years ago and assuming things haven’t changed much, if you wanted to use the auto-accompaniment you’d get a drum beat going and then choose either “fingered chord” mode or the other one (maybe “single finger”). In the latter, if you hit a “C” note on the left half of the keyboard (actually just left-most octave and a half I think) you’d get a full accompaniment pattern in C major complete with bass line, some chord patterns, and maybe a riff. If you hit a note and a white key to the left of it together the harmony would be a dominant 7th. If you hit a black note to the left you’d get a minor 7th harmony, and if you hit both (e.g. C, B, and Bb) you’d get a minor 7th harmony.
With “fingered” you could finger the chords yourself. (C, E, and G would give you a C major harmony). This was cool because the keyboard in this mode was also capable of doing other harmonies like m7b5, dim, aug, maybe others.
As to your other question, I typically play just the bass, or a 1-5 pattern in the left hand and the extended chord in my right hand. I think most jazz players think this way.
Re-reading my response before, I meant that the advertisement’s comment was an exaggeration, not anything that you said, Roadfood; my phrasing was not quite clear.
I had a Yahama PSR whatever back in the day too. On mine, full keyboard was the whole keyboard, fingered only, one voice. When I’d try to do fingering on split voice, not all of the notes would play.
I’m not sure if that’s the case with the newer ones, but it’s one of the reasons that I got rid of it, even if it was just a practice instrument.
Thanks for the replies, that clears things up a lot. A “duh” to me, I apparently missed that that paragraph was talking about “When using the accompaniment feature”. (Which, by the way, I don’t really plan to use; it may sound good, but it doesn’t help you learn to actually play.)
And Eonwe, no worries, On first reading, I took it the way you meant it.
And as I read what you said about a bass line, a light bulb went on. You’re referring to things like the E-B-G-B-E-A-C#-A that goes through most of “Riders on the Storm”, right? I’ve been working on that, and somehow the notion that that was what was meant by a bass line just never clicked in my head. Ok, two “duhs” in one post.
Of course, by “working on”, I mean just the left hand. If I try to simultaneously play even a few right hand notes, it all gets completely messed up. In my more realistic practicing, I struggle trying to get both hands doing the right thing at the same time in the trivially simple “Silent Night” with simple C, G,and F chords on the left hand and single melody notes on the right. <sigh> how many years do I have to go before I start to feel like I’m actually playing?
Hah. Good comments. Seems like a fun instrument as well – I think you can do a lot with that board. Good call on “Riders on the Storm” – good one for working on the Rhodes tone and trying out an arrangement for solo. “Sheep” by Pink Floyd is another one good for getting some voicings down on the Rhodes – Rick Wright was not fucking around, even though it’s not a difficult tune to play technically.
You can most likely change the “split” of the keyboard – if you want more room for RH, you can probably restrict the “bass” (LH) region to a smaller number of keys. Good luck. Yamaha manuals are not that good at explaining shit, from what I’ve seen – pretty much the industry standard seems to be Engrish.
What kind of stand are you using? Onboard speakers/home stereo/PA/keyboard amp? Getting good yet?
Stupid fingers. I would like to get the upgrade where I can split my brain like a blackjack hand, please. And then there’s crap you have to do with your foot, too!
(If you really want to see something, watch an organist on an energetic piece. They look like marionettes, limbs flying in all directions.)
I’m just using the onboard speakers and sometimes headphones (stupid Yamaha, why did they put the headphone jack in the back?!?!? My previous, 30-year old keyboard, had the jack on the front, making it easy to plug in and out.) I sure don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere close to good. Seems years away.
Yeah, I know about the odd places designers try to put shit. You might try using a professional keyboard stand – at least you won’t curse whenever you have to move the keys a few inches in any direction. A good stand makes a big difference IMO – a good stand is designed to be eminently portable.
You’ll get it, man – just keep playing what you like and keep listening. You don’t have to be Liberace, you know? Just keep trying to play what you hear.
Jesus christ – do you want to give somebody a heart attack? Organists should never be observed. That’s why they’re all hid away up in that thing in the churches. Fuckers are crazy what they do – that’s like suicide and boner-kill that a novice keyboardist should watch some of what the legit cats can do.
A long way from copping some Manzarek or Rick Wright on piano – whole different thing, man.