How to play without looking at the keyboard

[JKJ]

I really hate playing without hearing myself.

I once was asked to play the piano (actually one of my 88-key midi keyboards) in an outdoor event at a church men’s retreat. The keyboard was a midi controller only, no synthesized sounds or speakers. In connecting the synthesizer to the sound system they forgot to bring a monitor speaker!

If it had been an acoustic piano I probably could have heard what I was playing but with just the speakers (pointed to the large group of men singing very loudly!) I could not hear anything but the singing. I’ll never do that again without at least running headphones!

Bottom line - if I can’t hear what I’m playing I can’t, or won’t, play.

JKJ

 

[Thomas N]

Those examples are definitely there... and then he goes and plays the 3 main notes in CUMANA in 3 octaves at super speed and hits every one without error... the man was incredible.

Indeed. Apparently he took 20 years off of playing accordion and was a well-liked business-man. Videos of him in the early days show virtuoso-level performances. I traded a few emails with him probably 15 years ago asking about his impressions of MIDI Arrangers and he was so genuinely helpful. And what a showman! Every time we lose somebody of his caliber it's a great loss for our community.

 

[Joakim Monsen]

As beginner on the accordion learning the stradella bass I discovered this - while simultaneously getting back up to speed on the sometimes-neglected guitar I had the same problem. In rebuilding calluses on my left fingertips I found I could me longer feel the registration dimples and patterns on the accordion. If I’m going to play both I’ll have to make some button tactile modifications. Or switch to a left-hand guitar - ack!

JKJ

You should get used to the distance that you have to go to each bass buttons without relying on the marked buttons. Because when you are in a key that doesn't have the marked buttons you will be lost and confused.
I will say that the marked buttons are just for guiding you when you are completely lost, and then you can maybe glue something to the button to make it more distinct.

 

[Thomas N]

I've been playing accordion for almost 5 decades and I'd be lost without the marked bass buttons.

 

[dak]

You should get used to the distance that you have to go to each bass buttons without relying on the marked buttons. Because when you are in a key that doesn't have the marked buttons you will be lost and confused.
I will say that the marked buttons are just for guiding you when you are completely lost, and then you can maybe glue something to the button to make it more distinct.

Sure. But when committing a piece to muscle memory, I increasingly forget what harmony I am actually playing at some given point of time. When I get lost, I need to restart at some point. There are restart points where I remember the harmony. The button markings allow me to restart. When playing from a score sheet, I see the intervals. When playing by heart, my fingers know the intervals. In between, good thing to have my markings.

 

[Zevy]

My teacher, Charles Nunzio, would say this if he saw me looking at the keyboard: “You look like you’re sleeping!”
Look for YouTube videos of Charles Nunzio, Charles Magnante, Anthony Gala-Rinni, Myron Floren, etc. and you will see how they rarely looked at the keyboard.

 

[Walker]

My teacher, Charles Nunzio, would say this if he saw me looking at the keyboard: “You look like you’re sleeping!”
Look for YouTube videos of Charles Nunzio, Charles Magnante, Anthony Gala-Rinni, Myron Floren, etc. and you will see how they rarely looked at the keyboard.​

Yep, and those guys could PLAY. Good advice, no doubt.
​

Frankly, I don't see it as a Big Deal.​

I would generally follow Charles Nunzio's advice.

But...

If a person can know their music so completely that they don't need to look at sheet music and they can focus all their energy on sheer musicality - phrasing, articulation, dynamics etc and basically "sculpting" the performance according to their own vision. At that stage it doesn't matter a HOOT if you; look at the keyboard, hum, dress in unconventional styles or even sit in a low chair - BECAUSE then, my friends, you will be at the GOLD standard... or should I say GOULD standard...



How many accordionists have ever achieved that GOULD standard? Not many... maybe Salvatore Di Gesualdo and Richard Galliano...​

 

[brna]

At the beginning of learning, I lacked visual control of my left hand when playing free bass. I helped myself by looking at a picture of the buttons layout. This helped me more than playing in front of the mirror.
Now, before starting to play, I check if the right hand is in the right position. While playing, I mostly check if there is still enough air in the bellows.

 

[JerryPH]

My teacher, Charles Nunzio, would say this if he saw me looking at the keyboard: “You look like you’re sleeping!”

Mine would tell me "why are you looking at the keyboard, they are always in the same place... stop looking!" before taking his baton and sticking it under my chin and pushing up... lol

 

[Thomas N]

My teacher, Charles Nunzio, would say this if he saw me looking at the keyboard: “You look like you’re sleeping!”
Look for YouTube videos of Charles Nunzio, Charles Magnante, Anthony Gala-Rinni, Myron Floren, etc. and you will see how they rarely looked at the keyboard.

Wow Zevy - I had no idea you had the privilege of studying under the great Charles Nunzio! When I purchased my Excelsior 960 from John Castiglione around the year 2000 I enlisted the help of a gentleman named Jay Landers. He was President of an accordion club out in Illinois and had a gorgeous 960 he had commissioned from Italy through John Castiglione. Jay and I conversed via email over a couple of years and he was such a genuinely helpful and caring person. He helped me perfect my 960 and everything was delivered exactly as I ordered.

The reason I bring this up is because Jay was very involved with Mr. Nunzio in his later years. He would tell me about his interactions with him and they were all very positive. I believe Jay was responsible for putting together Mr. Nunzio's collection of accordions for sale after his passing. Apparently there was just a ton of parts, manuals, tools, etc. It was a massive undertaking.

Sadly, I lost touch with Jay as we had a new baby and life happened. I checked to see if I could find him a couple years ago and was distressed to learn he had passed away. A true gentleman and one of the biggest champions of the accordion I have ever met. A fine accordionist as well - if you can find his CD called Side by Side it is well worth listening to. Many Frank Marocco arrangements played flawlessly.

 

[Zevy]

Wow Zevy - I had no idea you had the privilege of studying under the great Charles Nunzio! When I purchased my Excelsior 960 from John Castiglione around the year 2000 I enlisted the help of a gentleman named Jay Landers. He was President of an accordion club out in Illinois and had a gorgeous 960 he had commissioned from Italy through John Castiglione. Jay and I conversed via email over a couple of years and he was such a genuinely helpful and caring person. He helped me perfect my 960 and everything was delivered exactly as I ordered.

The reason I bring this up is because Jay was very involved with Mr. Nunzio in his later years. He would tell me about his interactions with him and they were all very positive. I believe Jay was responsible for putting together Mr. Nunzio's collection of accordions for sale after his passing. Apparently there was just a ton of parts, manuals, tools, etc. It was a massive undertaking.

Sadly, I lost touch with Jay as we had a new baby and life happened. I checked to see if I could find him a couple years ago and was distressed to learn he had passed away. A true gentleman and one of the biggest champions of the accordion I have ever met. A fine accordionist as well - if you can find his CD called Side by Side it is well worth listening to. Many Frank Marocco arrangements played flawlessly.

I was in touch with Jay. I believe we met at Mr. Nunzio's place and we spent many long hours on the phone discussing his various jobs, his late son, and of course, accordions. I am very saddened to hear of his passing. He was a very kind and very pleasant person. I don't believe there was any mention of this on the accordion websites that I frequent. What a shame - he was such a nice guy - and a fine accordionist as well.
We also shared our experience of purchasing our accordions at John Castiglione. I has bought my Beltuna from John and he bought two (!) Excelsiors from him. He sadly had to sell one of those accordions. He will be missed.

 

[Ventura]

so how many of you (us) can type on this querty keyboard without looking ?

yeah i have memorized thousands of songs and tens of thousands of melodies
but i cannot memorize QUERTY

i was 40 years old before i was able to memorize that the cold tap is on the right
and the hot on the left

i cannot remember a phone number whispered in my ear at a gig to
save my LIFE and if i prudently remember to jot it down on a setlist chart,
then forget who's name went with it by the end of the gig

you can drop me in the middle of Heidelberg and i will not need a roadmap
to drive far and wide in the region or find my way back up to the old Turm,
and that's near 3 decades since i was running around there.. i am like that
everywhere i have been/driven

i read and study the Map, BEFORE i get behind the wheel, and seldom
need to refer to it while i drive (but keep it handy during rest-stop review)

i look at the keyboard when i need to or want to and i look at the people
when i feel like it and i make eye contact all over the place especially the
ones i pick out as my "Muse" for the gig/evening

dunno why don't think about it i just do what i do best as i can and
play the hell out of this damn box

 

[John Doe]

so how many of you (us) can type on this qwerty keyboard without looking ?

I absolutely can not recite the letters on each row of a keyboard- only the QWERTY on the first row and that because it's become the name of the system.

On the other hand, coming from an either type it or write it out universe through my thirties (once typed a 184 page thesis on a portable typewriter, most of it lying on my back in bed with my head propped, the typewriter on my stomach and a beer on the nightstand. I did occasionally glance at the beer.*), I punch things out just fine on a keyboard without even thinking about where my fingers are- they just type what I'm thinking.

I figure pretty much any musical instrument ( or mechanical device for that matter) functions that way as well once you've learned how to work it. You don't think "Gb" or "Ab DIM), you just play it. As with reading a book- if you're spelling out the words you're decoding, not reading.

It's a pretty well trod if lengthy and sometimes tedious path- but it's the same one that New Yorkers used to direct you towards when you sought directions to Carnegie Hall...

Henry


*I suppose some mean spirited soul will draw that obvious connection betwixt my typos and my typing methodology... such is life.

 

[Rosie C]

so how many of you (us) can type on this querty keyboard without looking ?

I can, more or less. I took typing at school and we had to "touch type" without looking.

Skipping forward 40 years, when playing accordion I can do the bass jumps that are common to the music I play easily enough. But a new chord will throw me. It's the same with guitar, common chords I can play by feel, but I have to look down for the more obscure ones (looking at you, F#m!)

 

[dak]

so how many of you (us) can type on this querty keyboard without looking ?

My housemate hates looking up something on my computer since she looks at the keys. My keyboard language is U.S. but my keytops are whatever keyboard I could get a hold of cheaply when I had to last replace the laptop keyboard. I think it is Swiss or Belgian or something like that right now. Which is of moderate usefulness when I offer to change the keyboard mode to German...

 

[CC_PDX]

I figure pretty much any musical instrument ( or mechanical device for that matter) functions that way as well once you've learned how to work it. You don't think "Gb" or "Ab DIM), you just play it. As with reading a book- if you're spelling out the words you're decoding, not reading.

Good observation. I think of that as the threshold for becoming “one” with an instrument…when you can start to drop all the analysis, theory, thinking about chord names, fingerings, progressions, the key you’re in, modes, etc. All of that gets abstracted away and you can just PLAY what you hear in your head and truly inhabit the music. In group playing, it frees you up to be an intent listener so you can really complement what others are playing, rather than focusing on not messing up.

 

[JKJ]

so how many of you (us) can type on this querty keyboard without looking ?

I’ve never thought of that before. It just feels natural. Maybe the typing class required in HS helped, reinforced by decades of developing software. Speed was so important to coding that I bought multiple identical keyboards at once so when one acted up I could instantly swap it and nothing changed. (and I couldn’t live without good “clicky” keys with function keys down the left side for shortcuts by touch - how neurotic was that?!)

What kills me now is the little virtual keyboards on my iPad and phone screens that force me to look at the keyboard… (I did get a little physical qwerty keyboard that magnetically attaches to the iPad that helps a lot)



Maybe having an elderly calcifying brain is why the touch transition from piano to the narrow (vertical) accordion keyboard is frustrating…

JKJ

 

[Ffingers]

15 Of The Greatest And Most Famous Blind Musicians

Blindness is often seen as a disability that prevents one from achieving their full potential. However, there are many famous blind musicians who have

hellomusictheory.com

Hullo!

This, of course, does not include the number of blind beggars who played music, often very well, on the streets of the cities over many centuries.

 

[Ventura]

How to play without looking at the keyboard ?

do like they say for giving speeches..

imagine everyone in the room is naked..

what are YOU gonna look at while you play ?

 

[Tom]

How to play without looking at the keyboard ?

do like they say for giving speeches..

imagine everyone in the room is naked..

what are YOU gonna look at while you play ?

Depending on your preferences I guess it would depend on the venue. Am I booked at the Order of Elks or Daughters of the Revolution?