If you own a Jupiter-80 & can't play...

Forum for JUPITER-80
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Andy Keys
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Joined: 13:44, 7 August 2007
Location: UK

Re: If you own a Jupiter-80 & can't play...

Post by Andy Keys »

I taught myself for a few years, then when I got back into bands a decade ago I realized very quickly that there were things my ear could hear that my hands couldn't do, so I went and got some lessons. Now I'm in 3 (soon to be 4) bands, playing stuff that only a few years ago would have scared the sh!t out of me.

- Find a teacher who understands what you want, not one who wants to push grades (unless that's what you're after).

- Find a teacher who will help you play the music you want to play. I had a few lessons where we worked on Deep Purple solos as a break from the textbook stuff. If you try to learn by playing dry stuff that you don't have a passion for, you won't learn. You can learn simplified versions of anything pretty quickly, so there's no excuse for not bashing along to your favourite songs almost immediately. If you do that, you will connect the learning to the music you want to play, and it will spur you on.

- Practice. Then practice some more. Then rinse and repeat.

- Learning how to do synth "tricks" IS practice. Learn how to do octave dive bombs on a screaming synth lead. Learn how to trigger an arp and tweak the filter cutoff and resonance. Learn how to program Performances, splits and layers. Splits are great for learning independence of the hands (and even fingers).

- Explore the whole keyboard. Play that exercise in the middle like it's written. Play it with each hand an octave higher or lower than written. Play it way up high and way down low. Play it with all sorts of sounds. Can you make it funky with a Clav sound? Can you make it stately with brass?

- Love every minute of it. Even the frustrations. Every battle makes you a stronger, broader, better player.
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flyingace
Posts: 264
Joined: 22:11, 31 August 2011
Location: Central Arkansas, USA
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Re: If you own a Jupiter-80 & can't play...

Post by flyingace »

Andy Keys,

That is one of the best things I've read in a long time and much needed as a reminder to persevere! Thanks!
FA7
Posts: 20
Joined: 06:13, 21 November 2014

Re: If you own a Jupiter-80 & can't play...

Post by FA7 »

I see a lot of comments about 'get a teacher'

I think the most important skill to acquire is the skill to teach yourself...that takes confidence.

The synthesizer was invented to explore new soundscapes and to solve and fill gaps in music. While many modern synthesizers are still lumbered and crippled by centuries old piano style keyboards this is a lazy manufacturing convenience...Yes a modern synthesizer can serve as a classic piano or a mechanism for producing musical chords but its true 'reason for existence' is to explore and fulfill a much deeper and wider landscape than traditional instruments.

Dare to be daring its what potting sheds, man caves & headphones where invented for :-p

While classical piano techniques can be applied < insert classical teacher, you tube vid or otherwise >

if you cant sound great with one finger your missing the whole point of the instrument

and the greatest synth teacher on the planet will tell you just that !


*some of the most desirable and most expensive synthesizers on the planet can only play one note at a time. Further still that monophonic output was sufficient to inspire an entire generation and went on to transform the entire global music culture. Last time i looked Ganham Style had 2 billion views...dare i say it has 'struck a chord'




Q when will i need my first lesson ?

When i need to learn something fiendishly technical AND i need to learn it in a very short time AND im willing to spend hours focusing on that particular problem....self confidence and the ability to entertain yourself whilst practicing will keep you very busy for the first 5 or indeed first 25 years...whilst its true that many players/people approach things differently or respond to self practice/ external teaching in different ways self confidence is the true foundation as It gives you the ability to self critique as well as drive you to explore your own limits and the limits of the musical device in front of you.

If you find your self thinking about or talking about the need for lessons, you will find that in almost every case such procrastination (and we all procrastinate to varying degrees ) has its roots in lack of motivation ( read lack of inspiration) which in turn is rooted in lack of confidence...as HG wells would say, "here it is best that we are honest with the man in the mirror "

To free the adult one must seek the child, see piano cat for details
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeoT66v4EHg
The wisest teacher seeks to make himself redundant at the earliest opportunity
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