Help Your Keyboard Players Improve with This Trick

On almost every worship team I've either led or in which I've participated, there are some keyboard players who stay "stuck" in how they play chords. 

Technically, these instrumentalists play the right chords... but they could be played even better with just a small adjustment. 

Here's how you can show them to open up their sound a little bit more. 

"Stuck in the Middle"

Many keyboard players, especially beginners and intermediate players, gravitate to playing melodies and chords the middle of the keys, around Middle C. Why is this?

Well, it's because Middle C is the very first thing they learned! 

It's only natural to move to that kind of formative reference point. Sure, many players will adjust their position based on key signatures, but for the most part, they stay within a very confined range of the instrument. 

And within that confined range, many players "spell" their chords the same way, usually in right hand in root position (root–3rd–5th) and occasionally playing octaves or 5ths in the left hand.

To be clear, this is not a bad sound! But when you stay there, then you miss out on a wider range of expression that comes with moving out and away from the middle of the keyboard. 

How to Widen the Sound

Anything new sounds like a daunting challenge, but in this case, the solution is so easy that you almost won't believe it. 

Let's start with a simple progression: C–G–Am–F (1–5–6m–4).

All of these chords are shown in root position in the right hand and 5ths in the left hand. It's very easy to move these shapes around from root to root. 

To open things up, we only need to change a few things:

• The left hand can play octaves, without or without a 5th in between. It can move from root to root in the progression.

• The right hand will focus on three notes: C, G, and an upper octave C. it will stay in place, all the way through the progression.

Play through each these shapes, and notice how they sound similar to the root-position chords and yet different at the same time. 

It's because, in the right hand (C–G–C), we are using common tones to connect and color the chords:

• Over C, the right hand is playing the root, 5th, and root again.

• Over G, the right hand is playing the suspended 4th, root, and sus4 again.

• Over Am, the right hand is playing the minor 3rd, minor 7th, and minor 3rd again.

• Over F, the right hand is playing is the 5th, the 9th, and the 5th again.

What's more important, though, is that your ear is hearing a thread—almost like a melody—stringing its way straight through the chords as the left hand moves from root to root in the progression. What you're doing is holding static notes that don't move, while your other hand follows the bass line and fills in the rest of the chord. 

Pretty cool, right? 

Taking It Further

Now, be careful that you or your keyboard player don't wear this out—you should always be moving in and out of approaches to chords in a song. But this principle of maintaining static notes above a moving bass line will get you a lot of mileage, especially when you change up the right hand. 

For fun, play the left hand the same way, but in the right hand, drop your octave C down to B when you get to the G chord. You'll get a "shimmery" sort of sound. Or, you could play G–C–E in the right hand, yielding different colors and qualities to the chords as the left hand moves from root to root. 

Nothing has to be set in stone in your approach other than feeling what is right and appropriate for the moment and the song. So take what has been laid out and try your own hand at it.

Be blessed 👊✌️