What Single Thing/moving to next level.

[berbie]

If one has been playing(keyboard)for some length of time, having learned by ear,  and has reached a plateau,  for all the gurus in this forum, I have this question:  What single thing would do most to move one ahead?  Some possibilities are: practicing various chords and progressions--Listening to songs of a certain type and trying to play them--practicing reading music--Learning to play from a fake book--practicing scales--memorizing as many songs as possible--correspondence courses--getting a teacher and starting over from square one--and on and on.   Any comments from the guru section?

[Hasmonean1]

The guru working with my son is convinced that learning to read music is definitely the way to go.

[funkStrat_97]

IMO, practicing various chord progressions can be eye-opening.  You'll eventually start to hear substitutions, alternate voicings, and melodic ideas that can be applied.

[Mysteryman]

The answer I believe is dependent on two questions. Do you know where you are? Where do you want to go. If you don't know where you are currently a teacher could help point you in the right direction. If you want to be proficient over all, it is best to get more exposure to different styles of music. So if you are only listening to black gospel, or quartet, or CCM, etc listening to the other styles would help.

[berbie]

Thanks so very much for the comments.  Good info.  Assessment by a good teacher might well tell me where to focus my attention to get the most mileage.  Thanks again.

[Mysteryman]

You could do a conference or video of your playing. We may be able to help from there.

[Docdb04]

The guru working with my son is convinced that learning to read music is definitely the way to go.

^^^^ This

[phbrown]

pick up a different instrument briefly

[berbie]

pick up a different instrument briefly
[/quote




Hey,  P. H.  I can play the bass guitar fairly well.  I play it so rarely now, I do need to brush up.  I might break it out an pluck around a bit. 

Hello,  Mystery.   If I had the skills and equipment,  I would like to post an example of my playing.  I know that there are people here that could give me good advice.  Currently,  I am trying to internalize the sounds of chords more so that I can match the chords to the many progressions that I know mentally but can't play.  I know how to play the chords if I am looking at them on a chord chart.  I know the sound that I want to play but I often don't know by ear which chord that is. That might sound somewhat convoluted, but that's one of my major problems.  In other words,  I know where the song is going,  and 90 times out of a hundred,  I know the chord reqired.  I just don't know which one it is. 

[Mysteryman]

I'm still working on my sound and I have wanted to play what I hear in my head. I know this is because of a lack of practice. For the most part I can play what I am looking for. I have also developed my own style because of this. Many times I am playing some stuff on the fly going up and down the keyboard looking for certain notes.