Bad Habit

[Shadow_]

LGM, i confess. I have a bad habit i cant get rid of. It almost hinders my playing...

Im too used to playing 1-5-1m in my left hand and its getting annoying. I mean i can play chords in my left hand (mostly during practice though) but it rarely comes out in 'run-time'. I need tips on how u guys broke out of it. I do play with a bass player so i can do without playing it. Any tip would be nice. Thanks

[Fenix]

LGM, i confess. I have a bad habit i cant get rid of. It almost hinders my playing...

Im too used to playing 1-5-1m in my left hand and its getting annoying. I mean i can play chords in my left hand (mostly during practice though) but it rarely comes out in 'run-time'. I need tips on how u guys broke out of it. I do play with a bass player so i can do without playing it. Any tip would be nice. Thanks

Wow, i thought i was the only one who had this issue. I don't see it as too much of a problem though. I most always play 1-5-1 on my LH, then play inversion on my RH. The only thing i try and do is to avoid clashing with the bassist. This means playing higher up the board.

From what i have seen in DVDs and what not, it is like a standard to play 1-5-1. I don;t really see anything wrong with it anymore. 

[Shadow_]

Yes true...but then what advantage is it learning chords in one's left hand? I think what's really happening by me asking this question is that I'm somehow convicting myself to utilize the effectiveness of my left hand and recall what I've learned and bring it out in run-time.

[elio]

Yes true...but then what advantage is it learning chords in one's left hand?

If you learn to chord with your LH, your RH becomes free to play the melody, stacked chords, runs, fills, etc.
As a simple example, look at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAU73_RqcRo

Nothing wrong with 1-5-1, but it shouldn't be the only use for a LH.

[BroAllan]

Hey Shadow,  For the longest time, I too played the 1-5-1 in my left hand.  In fact, I still do it at times.  The difference is, I've learned to play different chords and inversions (still learning), using my left hand, so now I can choose what style or way to use with my left hand.  It expands your versatility and the sound of your music.

Just a side note:  I realized that one of the main reasons I learned to play that way, was because it actually helped to fill the lower register sound that seemed to be missing from our small worship team.  Therefore, I developed a style that fit the need at that time.  Now, our church has a couple of keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, percussions, and drums.  So, it has allowed me to develop a different style of playing, one where I don't have to "carry" the lower register sound. 
Just wanted to share that ... 

[musallio]

I also play the 1-5-1 for the most part on my LH, but compensate that by playing some full phat chords with my RH & it' snot a problem at all..
I've been observing a few players as well, most of the time they are using the 1-5-1 or just 1-1 but the stuff they are playing still sounds nice & phat..the trick lies in what they do with their RH, but speed is essential.

But I also want to learn to play full chords on my LH in songs..
GK 600 seems like it will help me to efectively do that. Jonathan Powell shares some ways he does those..for instance, for a 1 chord that you'd normally play in your RH, take that & play it in your LH..then with your RH, you can play the 5th of the 1, ie if the 1 is Ab, then U play the Eb triad in your RH..So most of the time you are playing triads in your RH. The trick is that you play it in different inversions depending on the melody & sound you want while you are holding down the LH chord..he beauty of that course is that he also deveops the chord from a simple triad in your LH to 7ths, 9ths, 13ths etc while you are holding a few notes.

I have not had the time to watch much of the series because I trying to apply everything he's teaching in the key of Ab to all the keys.

I like his systematic approach of going from the 1 up to the 7 showing you most of the phat voicings you can use for each note (all   on 4 discs)..

Like I've stated before, once I've studied the vid, I might just  break it down for all here in the way I interpret it & how I go about transposing it into all the keys.

If any1's willing to work with me in this regard, plz pm me coz time's against me.

well, free advertising for that course

[Fenix]

Coming back to this topic.

Hey Shadow,  For the longest time, I too played the 1-5-1 in my left hand.  In fact, I still do it at times.  The difference is, I've learned to play different chords and inversions (still learning), using my left hand, so now I can choose what style or way to use with my left hand.  It expands your versatility and the sound of your music.

Just a side note:  I realized that one of the main reasons I learned to play that way, was because it actually helped to fill the lower register sound that seemed to be missing from our small worship team.  Therefore, I developed a style that fit the need at that time.  Now, our church has a couple of keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, percussions, and drums.  So, it has allowed me to develop a different style of playing, one where I don't have to "carry" the lower register sound. 
Just wanted to share that ... 

This is my story right here. I wanted to fill up the empty sound, as such the 1-5-1 on the LH was the only way i could think of to do that.

My playing is really weird. I can play full chords on my LH easily, i can't  play full chords on my RH. I only play 3 note chords. I play different inversions so it sounds full. people think i am doing more than i actually am LOL.

The cool thing about being able to play chords on the LH is that you can do real nice stuff with your right. I know folks who are hindered cuz they cannot play chords on the LH.