Jerry Kovarsky

Playing keyboards takes you on a journey that goes far beyond just playing the music. You have to keep up on a lot of tech talk and sift through a wide variety of gear and manufacturers.Common keyboard terms and abbreviations Keyboard manuals use all sorts of abbreviations and terms you may not be familiar with.

Many of the keyboards have pretty advanced features — some that you would’ve thought you needed a computer to do. Keyboards now commonly include some form of recording so that you can play and then listen back to yourself. Two forms of recording are available today: Step into the virtual recording studio Each format has its own terms, capabilities, and benefits, and musicians at every level use each of them.

Many brands offer entertaining ways to allow the novice player to have fun with music. Learning to play doesn’t allow for shortcuts; that’s why a good teacher can make all the difference in whether students (of any age) stick with their lessons. Here are some of the ways that certain models add to the enjoyment of playing a keyboard.

Knowing a bit about the keyboard manufacturing landscape while keyboard shopping gives you an idea of all the instruments available. The following list of keyboard companies is a helpful introduction to major manufacturers; use the key to determine which type(s) of instrument each company produces. Key: A = a

Keyboard manuals use all sorts of abbreviations and terms you may not be familiar with. Understanding this common keyboard terminology can help you make the most of your electronic keyboard. Here are some common abbreviations/terms you may encounter: Action: The mechanical design of the keys themselves. Used when describing the feel or touch of a keyboard.

When you unpack your new keyboard, you'll have the basic accessories you need to operate and play it. But adding other cool accessories can improve and enhance your keyboard playing experience; some accessories are more essential than others. Here are the must-haves: Keyboard stand: Only home digital pianos come with stands or legs built-in.

Put a few keyboard notes together and you have a chord. Basic chords (called triads) are built on three notes: the root (the name of the chord), the third, and the fifth. These names refer to the note's step location in the scale of the same name (the third note of the scale, the fifth note of the scale, and so on).

MIDI is a digital language developed in 1983 that allows instruments and devices to talk to each other by sending various messages back and forth. These messages include performance gestures, such as what notes you play, how you play them, whether you move any sort of controller, and so on. In 1996, the music products industry agreed on a set of standardized sounds, effects, and controller message response called General MIDI (GM) so that MIDI songs could be shared between devices and always play back sounding more or less the same.