# So my band just got a keyboardist



## Metalus (Mar 5, 2011)

We're really excited about all the possibilities she can bring to our sound. I plan on writing a lot of keyboard parts because i've wanted a keyboard player for a very long time. 

Anyone got any advice on how I should utilize keyboards in the writing? I dont want to think of it as a just a "3rd guitar". Ive thought of a few things already such as inverting the chords she plays in comparison with us to avoid unisons, building triads and chords using both guitars and keyboards, and also trying counterpoint melodies (I haven't been very successful at that yet )

I would love some tips from anyone in a band with a keyboardist who helps write their parts. If you write in guitar pro even better  

Thanks in advance everyone


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## Varcolac (Mar 5, 2011)

I write all keyboard parts for Prometheus except the solos. I do all my writing in GP5. I use the keyboard more as a rhythmic counter to the guitar than a harmonic counterpoint. For instance if on guitar I'm playing a single-note trem-picked sixteenth-note riff, the keys will likely be playing triad accents on particular points, or putting out a different rhythm. Like uh... I dunno... here. 







If I can't come up with a good keyboard part that enhances the guitar riff, I just put it in unison or harmonise. If there's accented chords in the guitar part I extend them upwards on the keyboard. If the guitar's doing a really interesting rhythm I sometimes just have the keyboards "float" over the top in whole or half notes exploring the chord's possibilities. I also like to take advantage of the dense tone clusters you can produce on a keyboard when compared to the guitar. A chord progression like this would be either impossible or finger-bendingly horrible on the guitar, but it works fine on the keyboard. 






These two examples were what I presented to our previous keyboard player. He added his own flourishes to them. We recently got a new keyboard player and she's been a lot more harmonically inventive with the second progression; to me it sounds fantastic. The person who actually knows how to play the keys can usually make a better hash of it than myself plugging notes into Guitar Pro. I should note that we only have one guitar player (myself) so the keys are in many places filling a role that another guitar could, so this take on keyboard writing might not be entirely useful to you.

Apologies for the terrible quality, live recording and all that, but here's an example of us using a bunch of my ideas on keyboard writing in one song.

Conquest (Live) by Prometheus | Song | Free Music, Listen Now

Yeah, I guff the guitar solo in a million places. Deal with it.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Mar 5, 2011)

My band had a keyboardist. But he never came to practice, so we don't really have a keyboardist. 
Varcolac has some good pointers: you can have the instrument in harmony or doubling another instrument, you can have it filling out a harmony, you can have it doing rhythmic stuff, or you can create counterpoint. You also don't have to have everything going at once. Feel free to give one phrase to the keyboard, then another to the guitar, or have the keyboard doing melody while the guitar's doing harmony. Another thing that Varcolac brought up was writing idiomatically for the instrument; he pointed out that a keyboard can play secundal harmonies far easier than a guitar, and I'd like to add that there are many other things that are unique to the keyboard. Just try to make it sound like you have multiple instruments, you know?


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## E1iA5 (Mar 6, 2011)

There are so many different options to the kinds of atmospheres a keyboardist can add to you sound. Having the keyboadist play something to your rift can completly alter the mood it brings. Plus there is alot you can do to seperate the sound of the keyboard from the other guitarists and bassist so it doesn't sound like there's to much going on. Just try to play around with what you can do and try to make it completly unique.


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## Waelstrum (Mar 7, 2011)

Depends what style. For e.g. if you're a black metal band, cluster chords like mad.  Or if you're into a certain genre based on a certain technique, you could have the right hand quite high playing ambient chords with the left hand around the middle to fill up the gap that is often present there. Or if you're a death metal band, you could use the keyboard in a renaissance organ style, with modal melodies with fifths the whole way.

These are just suggestions. Keyboards add a lot of possibilities. You could also use the keyboard in a completely other way, like for triggering backing tracks of choirs singing in latin, or a circus fire (whoever gets that reference shall receive one imaginary biscuit).

EDIT: I'm assuming some sort of metal, because that's the predominant genre around here, also it seems to have more trouble adapting instrumentation than other genres like jazz, or indie.


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## Metalus (Mar 7, 2011)

Thanks a bunch for the replies guys.

As far as our genre goes, we're trying to blend, progressive metal, jazz, neo-classical, death metal, metalcore, and deathcore into one giant cornucopia of music  Born Of Osiris is one good example of where we would like to go as well as say Between The Buried and Me and/or The Human Abstract

Special thanks to Varcolac for that extensive explanation


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## Waelstrum (Mar 7, 2011)

Metalus said:


> progressive metal, jazz, neo-classical, death metal, metalcore, and deathcore



One guitarist does progressive death metal rhythm riffs, the other does neo-classical shredding, and the keyboard does jazz chords. Every now and then, breakdown.  

Actually, if you can get all that going at the same time without it being a total cacophony, I think I'd really be into that.


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## Metalus (Mar 7, 2011)

Waelstrum said:


> One guitarist does progressive death metal rhythm riffs, the other does neo-classical shredding, and the keyboard does jazz chords. Every now and then, breakdown.
> 
> Actually, if you can get all that going at the same time without it being a total cacophony, I think I'd really be into that.



I think im gonna give that a shot


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## Varcolac (Mar 7, 2011)

Metalus said:


> Thanks a bunch for the replies guys.
> 
> As far as our genre goes, we're trying to blend, progressive metal, jazz, neo-classical, death metal, metalcore, and deathcore into one giant cornucopia of music  Born Of Osiris is one good example of where we would like to go as well as say Between The Buried and Me and/or The Human Abstract
> 
> Special thanks to Varcolac for that extensive explanation



Don't try and do it all in one song. Unless you feel like either A) sounding like iwrestledabearonce or B) playing a fugue through the circle of fifths over a breakdown in 21/16. 

Actually, option B sounds pretty good to me...


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## epsylon (Mar 8, 2011)

What can you do with a keyboardist in the band ? If that's a she, I've got a pretty good idea 

I'm more of a black metal person but a keyboardist can fullfill a lot of roles. Adding an athmosphere (think Emperor), or being something like the main instrument (think Arcturus), or things in between (think prog bands like Opeth or Leprous).
It really depends on your musical style and how you want your band to sound.


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## Xodus (Mar 9, 2011)

Waelstrum said:


> Or if you're a death metal band, you could use the keyboard in a renaissance organ style, with modal melodies with fifths the whole way.


This sounds really interesting, would you mind elaborating a bit?


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## Waelstrum (Mar 9, 2011)

Xodus said:


> This sounds really interesting, would you mind elaborating a bit?



Well, I figure power chords on a guitar would go well with organum style organ. Especially if you're in phrygian mode (not phrygian dominant). Phrygian because I notice a lot of (using D phrygian as an example) D5 Eb5 D5 sort of riffs, and if you have that going on an organ sound (probably slower than it would be on guitar) whilst the guitar does a more melodic riff in an octave other than the lowest one (possibly harmonised in perfect intervals either by itself or with another guitar). That could make for a good section in between outright chugging sections. Or perhaps in a more chug-chug style riff the organ could double the power chords an octave up and/or down in half time. Or the left hand could do a drone whilst the right hand doubles the rhythm guitar's power chord riffs and the lead guitar solos. Or other.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Mar 9, 2011)

Renaissancecore... chugga chugga on theorbo.


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## Metalus (Mar 9, 2011)




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## Varcolac (Mar 9, 2011)

SchecterWhore said:


> Renaissancecore... chugga chugga on theorbo.



It's not djent. It's chugga continuoso.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Mar 9, 2011)

Varcolac said:


> It's not djent. It's chugga continuoso.





I officially want your baby.


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