Playing song Endings

[adrianed]

Hi folks,
I have been listening to some keyboard players on Tube.

Love the song endings some of them play

Does anyone have information ie  printed information or practical playing hints or anything they can offer to us more basic players 

Best Regards.

Adrian

[Lee Batchelor]

Adrian, can you be a little more specific? The PSR, Tyros, and Genos keyboards have three endings. Ending 1 is a drum fill and very hard to synchronize (in my experience) just like a real drummer does. I never seem to get that one right. Ending 2 plays a few bars, and then ends. Same with Ending 3, except it plays a few extra bars. The time at which you press the Ending button is flexible for Endings 1 and 2; although you usually push the button anytime during your last playing/singing bar. That's assuming you have set your Fill option to Next Bar in the configuration menu. (Someone may need to verify that because my T5 is packed for a show as of this comment .)

I use the ending that most closely resembles the song style and melody currently being played. Audition each Ending until you find the best. If none of the endings suit, perhaps try another style. Note You can also use Endings 2 and 3 as Intros or Fills to bring you back into another verse.

[panos]

Hello Andrian,
I am also amateur and beside ending button, sometimes I use the fade out button.
I am doing that if the ending button doesn't sound aproppriate for that particular song or it is hard to synchronise my playing with ending  1.
(You better press some fill ins before you press the end button)

Endings 2+3 usually got a melodic part in preset styles that doesn't match with the melody of the song that you are playing and I don't like to use them,or delete the melodic parts.

But sometimes you can use them if you start the song with intro 2 or 3 and in the middle of the song you press again that intro's so when you use ending 2 or 3 the melodic will not sound "strange" to the listener.He allready has listened to it. 

Some keyboard players gradually reduce the tempo untill it ends.
(I find it harder than the other methods for an amateur while you have to continue to play the song)

The proffessionals I guess they like sometimes to use arpeggios over the last chord for ending.

And all I know is that (unless you use the fade out button) you better finish the song in the main chord of the song which most of the times is also the first chord of your song.
(the song is in the Cm scale, your last chord better be Cm)

As I allready have said, I am just an amateur(noob ) and I would also like to see some advices of our experienced keyboard members. 

[DrakeM]

Hi Adrian

I wish everyone would include what keyboard they use in there profile description.

It looks like you own a T5 from looking at your past posts. So you can start by using your WAV recorder and play along with MP3 files that you can download of songs from YouTube. Using the WAV recorder you can set up the TWO clip markers to Loop the song's ending and then SLOW down the temp. Then it is pretty simple to peck out the notes in that small clip. The clip should only be 4 to 6 notes, once you have those move the two clips farther along in the song and pick out the next set of notes if needed.

The more you do the quicker your ears will kick in and 15 minutes would be the max you would ever spend.

I just posted the "Bricklayer's Song" and I used this technique to figure out the intro of the song. Within 30 minutes I had the intro figured out and my fingers playing the notes at full speed.

Regards
Drake

[adrianed]

Hi Folks, thankyou for your replies,

I didnt think to say at the begining but I am refering to players own endings not the keyboard built in endings

I thought perhaps there there might be a book just for endings or something online that the players might know about

Adrian

[alans]

Hi Adrian

Sometimes you can just end a song by playing the notes of the ending chord in the right hand,occasionally ending on a Major 7th chord, same notes in R hand,arpeggio style

Alan

[DrakeM]

Hi Adrian

For just playing the keyboard, have you tried to just doing a DOUBLE TAG for the ending. That is just playing the last few measures of the song over again to end it.

I have seen guitar books with simple intros and ending and turn arounds before, so I guess they have them for Piano/Keyboard players too. Have you searched for examples of endings on YouTube?

[mikf]

Adriane
I seldom use the 'canned' endings and intros, but being able to play intros and endings is something you build over many years with musical experience. It is like building up a toolbox of tools which you can roll out, combine, modify as appropriate so it never seems repetitive or cheesy. You should listen to others ( as you have been doing)  copying, and storing them in your mind. Most endings are about using a chord sequence which provides a natural cadence, and improvising around that chord sequence.

You need to start simple and one of the simplest devices is to repeat the last line of the song. So for example many songs end (in the key of C) with the sequence - Dmin- G7- C. You can wrap around the last line if you substitute Emin - A7 for the C chord, so now it goes -Dmin- G7-Emin/A7 - Dmin -C.
Another useful device is to substitute the dominant (G7)  with a flattened 9th. The nature of that chord provides a 'closing' feel. So now you go Dmin - Gmaj7b9 -C. Its also very elegant especially on a ballad to end on a C9 instead of a C major. I typically end a song on the 9th or major 7th. You don't just play the chord though, you weave broken arpeggios or mini runs around the 9th chord. You can combine some of these techniques, so for example you might have a closing sequence - Dmin ( or F)- G7- Emin/A7, Dmin- G maj7b9 - C9.
Another trick is to slide down the chords chromatically to your last chord which works for some melody lines. So now the G7 is substituted for a C#maj7. The C#maj 7 has a top C, s[ftp]o it slides into the chord of C, Cmaj7 or C9 for a neat ending. The sequence now becomes Dmin - C#maj7 - C (or C9). A  rising chord sequence also provides a strong finish - Ab -Bb-C. You can even end on a different key for dramatic effect. Sounds like it shouldn't work, but it does.
These chord sequences provide a structure around which you can improvise to get nice endings, and there are lots of others.  There are endless options and not in themselves difficult to play, the main thing is to have all this in your skill set so that it can be rolled out effortlessly.
Sorry this is so long.
Mike

[adrianed]

Thankyou Mike
Thankyou for those details of ending sequences, that is the kind of thing I am looking for

I have tried to watch players hands and fingers on YouTube but it is difficult to see

With regard to my playing experience yes it is quite short and I am trying to remember and pick things up at double pace but to mature and feel natural with the keyboard takes a long time

I shall print your reply for use at the keyboard and try to remember the details

Adrian

[adrianed]

Thankyou DrakeM,

I shall try your suggestions in your two replies thankyou,

I must spend more time at the keyboard

Yesterday it was only six hours and after that I spent time watching and listening to other players, most of them can make any song sound nice

Adrian

[adrianed]

Thankyou Lee,

All help is appreciated

Adrian

[adrianed]

Thankyou Panos,

Thanks for the tips,

Yes we could do with more on this subject, a printed book of endings would be handy to have close to the keyboard

Adrian

[adrianed]

Thankyou Alan,

A good suggestion, thankyou

It all helps

Adrian

[jm]

Hi Adrian, I have been very busy so couldn't reply to your post before
This is something I do for Intros and Endings - I find a midi file and record the
part that I want to the Audio recorder on the Tyros, I then create an Audio Link to a Multi
Pad then save that as part of my registration. Hope that gives you some ideas.
Kind regards
jm