FastForward.

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lntroduction 4

Riff No.1
Piano Style &
Variations 7

Riff No.2
Two-Bar Piano Riff 11

Riff No.3
Two-Bar Piano Riff 15
Variations 11

Riff No.4
Piano Style With Straight Eights 19

Riff No.5
Clavinet Style 23
Variations 21

Riff No.6
Clavinet Style With Left-Hand Emphasis 29
Variations 30

Riff No. 7
Organ Style 38
Variations 39

Riff No.8
Organ Style With Pad And Lead 42
Variations 44

Riff No. 9
Electric Piano Style 55
Variations 5a

Guide To Keyboard &1

lntroduction
Hello, and welcome to -.FastForward
Congratulations on purchasing a product that
will improve your playing and provide you with
hours of pleasure. Ali the music in this book has
been specially created by professional musicians
to give you maximum value and enjoyability.
If you already know how to 'drive' your
instrument but you'd like to do a little
customising, you've pulled in at the right place.
We'll put you on the fast track to playing the
kinds of riffs and patterns that today's
professionals rely on.
Rhythm Riffs For Keyboard
So you've got the keyboard and plenty of
sounds - piano, electric piano, organ, clavinet.
The drummer, the bassist and the guitarist are
ready, and you are about to start the first song.
You know the chords - it opens on G - but here
the problem starts: 'What do I actually play?'
Being a rock keyboard player involves playing
to the rhythm set by the drums, fitting in with
the bass guitar part, and complementing the
rhythms and lead lines of the guitars. Sound
complicated? Well, the more you play your
keyboard, the more you will begin to understand
the options offered by the various styles of
keyboard playing and the various sounds
available.
We'll provide you with a vocabulary of riffs that
you can apply in a wide variety of musical
situations, with a special emphasis on giving you
the techniques that will help you in a band
situation. That's why every music example in this
book comes with a full-band audio track so that
you get your chance to join in. Ali players and
ali bands get their sounds and styles by drawing
on the sarne basic building blocks. With
-.FastForward you'll quickly learn these,
and then be ready to use them to create your
own style.
The idea behind this book is not to set out
fixed formulas but to suggest a range of starting
points. Practise them, experiment with them
and, most importantly, don't be afraid to try
your own ideas. Remember, there are no rules.
You will be surprised just how quickly your own
repertoire of riffs will develop.
 EASY INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED

Riff No.1
Piano Style

Playing keyboards in a rock style is very ali the instruments will play the sarne riff,
different from the solo keyboard approach which other times the arrangement will be built around
is based around the right hand playing the different riffs that lock together to form a
melody with an accompaniment in the left hand. foundation for the song, e.g. bass guitar pumping
on the root notes, a jangly rhythm guitar part,
ln a rock band the melody will be taken by stabs on the ax. .. anything missing?
the vocalist or soloing instrument and this means Yes. a so · keyboard riff holding it ali together.
the other instruments must find parts to fit
around that ... riffs. These riffs will form the _h chat... let's get on with it.
backbone of a song arrangement - sometimes Select a · and IlT this O e- - riff

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This is a solid riff that will work over both than the notes you do! Graduates of the
slow and fast rock tempos and can be repeated 'Less Is More' school of playing tend to number
depending on the number of bars you have far fewer than those from the school of
to fi.11. Notice how the last two beats of each 'Why Play One Note When Six Will Do?'.
bar, where nothing is played, aliow space for A trip to your local rehearsal studio will illustrate
the other instruments to fit in their riff. this point!

Tip: Sometimes the notes you don't play will When you feel comfortable with this shape,
contribute more to a part of the arrangement try moving from one chord to another ...

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lriations
To add some variation anda slightly bluesy
feel, try slipping between the minor and major
3rd in the right hand.

Adding in the 7th will also add some variation .. .

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begin to use this riff in a chord progression.

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Adding a left-hand link over the last two help to add orne rariation to the
beats of the bar also gives a bluesy feel and will structure of tbis riff.

Tip: By occasionally using a variation you
will avoid the riff becoming monotonous -
over-use of variations will make the keyboard
part seem cluttered. Think about it in terms of
adding colour as you play, don't work to a system
as this will become monotonous yet again!
The final variation we're going to look at in
this chapter is playing the riff using a PUSH.
Instead of the riff being played on the first
beat of the bar, it can be pushed a quarter beat
earlier.

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 Try playing through this chord progression
which now has a push on alternate bars - this will
help you appreciate the difference in feel.

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Tip: Unlike the other variations which only

affect the keyboard part, using a push will involve
the rest of the musicians as you will need to play
any pushes together. Remember the golden rule -
don't overdo it!

Think in terms of using a push for the first

chord of a chorus... or the beginning of a verse ...
or as a feature in a bridge section.

It's better to have one push that ali the band

play, than twelve pushes that some of you play...
at different times. You want people to tap their
feet to vour m ·e, not trip over to it!