Learning curriculum/certification for a professional keyboard player

[HamzaA3000]

Hi All,

I am not sure if this topic has been covered before and I do apologise if it is.

The topic here is related to my issues I am facing with playing an arranger keyboard (not limited to Yamaha).

I have been playing a keyboard through listening to music and trying how it is played on a keyboard so I have never had the chance to study music.

In general, there are many professions and jobs that require certifications and knowledge of a product in order to be considered a professional product user or a skilled professional in that job.

In the keyboard world I do not see this anywhere and I believe aspiring keyboard players do need some guidance and learning path to fulfil their dreams and be really professionals. 

With all the appreciation to the professional keyboardists, I believe it is time to gather all the knowledge and skills and somehow put them together in a standard set of learning material that help beginners to become future professional keyboardists.

With that in mind, I have put below points that I think should be covered:

1- Music general knowledge:
    1.1 Understanding of music scales
    1.2 Understanding of Chords
2- Sound Engineering:
    2.1 Sound Effects
    2.2 Sound synthesis
    2.3 Key effects
3- Styles:
     3.1 Styles effects
     3.2 Styles editing skills
     3.3 Styles creation skills
4- Keyboard output skills:
     4.1 Keyboard output to computer
     4.2 Keyboard video recording
     4.3 Keyboard and mixer/PA Setup details
5- Arranger and Synth keyboards setup

These are general points to consider. The idea is to have these topics created and published in a single location where those beginners can have a sense of learning progress.

I hope I am not being stupid but just a thought.

Thanks,
Hamza

[BogdanH]

hello Hamza,

Before I continue: your thinking is valid and not stupid at all. I just think, that things are more complicated.. or less complicated (depending on view angle).

I think nowadays it's easier than ever to learn everything about keyboard playing: open Youtube, search for "understanding music scales" and we get a ton of explanations. Same for every other topic. Some "teachers" on Youtube are better than others, but if we take time, it's not a problem to find what we're looking for. And as we progress, we make a collection of links where particular topics are covered (for later reference).
It's impossible to have everything on single location.. because everything is a lot. You have put together a list of topics you see as essential. What about sound theory, room acoustic, electro-acoustic, etc?
What I'm saying is, we just need to search for answers as questions come... there's no shortcut to knowledge.

The question is, when are we ready to become a professional musician or producer? How much knowledge is required for that? I think there's no exact answer for that. It's a combination of knowledge, experience, talent, persistence,.. and a LOT of practicing. And I think, at some point one just "knows" he's ready and makes a jump (if there's a wish). Some succeed and many fail -because audience is the final judge.

Just sharing my thoughts 
Bogdan

[Jeff Hollande]

IMHO the most important wish of each individual Music Maker is to have fun in making music.

Becoming a professional musician means : the musician is paid for her/his work. Making Music is her/his daily income.

Most of our members ( arranger players ) are no professional musicians.

It is their hobby.


Best wishes, JH

[SciNote]

While the outline does include a list of skills that is nice to know and would be beneficial to many professional keyboard players, I'm not sure that it is really necessary.  I'm not saying the list or proposal is stupid, of course -- maybe just a little bit overkill.

First of all, we're playing music, not doing something where an error could be critical or life-threatening, such as being a surgeon, managing large financial accounts, or servicing the safety systems of automobiles.  So I don't think some kind of official certification would be necessary.  As I understand it, someone aspiring to play music professionally generally auditions to whoever would be doing the hiring, and if they like the talent and performance of the keyboard player, then he is considered for the job.  Additionally, there are specific requirements for specific keyboard-playing jobs, so that a comprehensive knowledge of all that the OP listed is not necessary for all musical roles.

I do think an understanding of music theory is important, but I recognize that there are musicians who've made a ton of money by playing strictly by ear.

If someone is going to be a piano player, then knowledge of styles is not important.  While I do not yet play professionally, I only use styles for the background drums, so again, in that situation, I would not need extensive knowledge of creating or editing styles.

Knowing different types of synthesis is, again, nice, and would be important for anyone wanting to create their own sounds.  But I'm sure many people make money playing on arrangers and either use the factory sounds or just make basic tweaks to things like reverb, chorusing, and other effects without knowing the ins-and-outs of oscillators, filters, FM-operators, or other synthesis technologies.

The keyboard output skills listed would be necessary to someone who wants to work as a studio musician or sound engineer, but not really necessary for someone playing live gigs.  And there are already classes available for people who want to work professionally in a studio.

[mikf]

Many people play arrangers as a hobby, some become good enough to make a bit if extra cash as part time players, but hardly anyone can make a living from playing an arranger. And the few who do are mostly already good vocalists and general entertainers who transition to the arranger to accompany themselves as a one man band.
The main requirement is to be able to play well, all the other stuff listed by Hamza is easily learned. It's like writing books, good writers soon learn how to type, use word processors, even desk top publishing. But being a wiz typist or good at the other things will never make you a best selling author.

Mike