Oooh nice! I look forward to lesson 11 😃 I know my playing wasn't very good, but I can play those licks without the kitty duet part and I just wanted to have some fun. I refuse to sing about money though, because I sound way worse than poor Christian lol! 😛

I had this idea because of PianoMonk and also because we talked about keyboards with narrow keys a while ago... I wanted to see if it is possible to hot swap (answer, yes!). AND I wanted to play this keyboard so badly. It was the only way I could sound more than 2 notes at the same time 👇🏼👇🏼

A two note polyphony cat?!? What a high tech device - normally only pro stage keyboarder use it^^
I was already wondering how you to manage to play fullsize keys together with minikeys. I will never be able to do this. But as I already said: Your brain🍟, my brain🥔

Anyway - good news here: I managed to get all notes of the Hanon lines... Okay, still very slow, a lot of mistakes, switching from C7 to F7 often disturbs me, and going to G7 makes a knot into my fingers. And I am about half through the slow Blues section. The good thing about the slow Blues part is, there is no need to get it played fast. I think in one ore two weeks I can show you...
Only one thing: Don't you dare to post a third time in a row before!!!!! 👺This feels humiliating. 😖

    Haha of course you can play two keyboards at the same time... all you have to do is hit those notes 😁
    Now I forgot who submitted playing piano and guitar at the same time... left hand piano and right hand guitar. That was amazing!

    I will not have another lesson ready before you... I promise 😄

    Probably yes. You will need some time to get the bass line running. This is an entire new LH pattern, an entire new order of finger movements. But after managed it, it sounds so cool. You can play Rock n Roll with that. And it could work for Boogie, too.

    The real reason why I can't on minikeys is that I don't want to spoil my muscle memory. I think it slows down the progress. Funny thing about it, I started on a kids toy keyboard, borrowed from relatives while I was waiting for my piano to be delivered during CoVid. At this time all pianos were sold out and the waiting lists were long.
    I remember the day of the delivery of my Kawai, the January, 27th 2021. It was way earlier than expected. I quickly recorded the beginner arrangement of an easy version with less notes in a simplified form for bloody starters of the Entertainer. And only the A section, because in one month I couldn't do more. U know, slow learner, yada yada yada.
    And then I said: "Hello my new piano! Let's play the Entertainer on a real piano." Didn't work. And it cost me a long time to re-learn with fullsize keys. My fingers constantly hit the wrong notes. This is the true reason why I avoid mini-keys while I am in a beginner level. I don't wamt to screw up my muscle memory. Let me count again: total -> absolute -> early -> true -> real -> prolonged -> extended -> eternal beginner. Eight more years - minimum.

      Just found the recording on my previous smartphone:

      (Just uploaded it, otherwise it will get lost sooner or later. This would be a pity for me.)

        WieWaldi I don't want to spoil my muscle memory. I think it slows down the progress.

        Maybe... but I think any brain can learn to handle both. Just like we can switch between auromatic car and stick shift. Or between acoustic guitar and electric (different size fret board, different angle, etc). And then switch to bass guitar (4 strings, different attack). Awkward at first, then it becomes normal.

        Of course, if there is no need to switch keyboards, then it is better to put the energy into more useful things... such as Hanon type blues licks 😂

          WieWaldi love the hat! Nice playing too, that is the Faber version right? It's good to keep those videos so we know that we're actually making progress 👌

            I googled that song and found a free download version at pianospel.nl

            You can compare with Pallas and iternabes recordings, I don't know who did Alfred or Faber, but it is different from mine.

            Pallas did the Alfred version which I did too. Iternabe submitted the shorter Faber version, but I don't remember it as well because I never played it. Yours is definitely not the Alfred version 😊

            The Faber version misses out the intro. Besides of that, I find both versions a quite similar. Alfred's has maybe a tad more notes.

            WieWaldi Didn't work. And it cost me a long time to re-learn with fullsize keys. My fingers constantly hit the wrong notes. This is the true reason why I avoid mini-keys while I am in a beginner level.

            Ok, late reply to this but... I have been thinking. Maybe you experienced the difficulty because you went from mini keys to full size? Perhaps it's like going from automatic to learning stick shift car: apparently that's hard. Or from electric guitar to acoustic, same. But the other way around is perhaps 5 minutes of adjusting, then you feel comfortable.

            Of course with only 2 polycatic notes to play, it may be not the best litmus test. But it honestly wasn't hard - in fact the hardest part was to get the black keys to sound because they are very heavy to play. Now I want a "proper" mini keyboard just because I'm weird 🤣

                Sophia Why not? A mini keyboard has some big advantages. It is cheap, it is lightweight, and you can take it with you when you visit friends. Just think about christmas or birthday parties of relative's kids. And on top of that, you can reach a 10th, easily. Seriously, you will be able to play advanced music on the mini keyboard, but you can't do with the Clavinova.

                The comparison with the guitar fretboard is good. Still, I think in my beginner stage I should not mix up key sizes. One day in my life I want to play stride piano and ragtime, LH constantly jumping octaves. This needs a lot of burned in muscle memory.

                As a 12 year I played a lot on a mini keyboard. Right hand only. The left hand was pressing the buttons of the trekharmonica. I didn't enjoy this nealy as much as I enjoy piano today... I played enough minikeys for my lifetime.

                  Sophia Wow, that was a great combination, you were very creative with your use of the kitty keyboard. That piece has some nice trills and you're really getting the hang of this style of playing now.

                  As for lesson 9 - I'm with you on this piece, it it just not pleasant on the ears and has few redeeming features, except for maybe it helped you to play lesson 10!

                  WieWaldi It's good you have that recording as a record of the early stages of your playing. The keyboard does sound a little tinny, definitely more of a toy than a proper instrument, but it gave you a head start when you could not get a piano during the pandemic, so had real value at a dark time.

                  I am considering getting the Yamaha PS50 keyboard, as a way to change things up a bit. It seems to have some of the quality of a full size keyboard and a reasonable sound, plus ways to create background rhythms/harmonies (which are a mystery to me as I'm not very tech minded, but maybe it would do me good to experiment).

                  "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                        Nightowl You have a full size digital piano. Why do you want a keyboard with 37 mini keys. I am still the opinion, that mini keys may screw up your muscle memory. Your hand forms a shape for a chord, but this shape is different with mini keys.
                        @Sophia might disagree with me. Looks like she is on the run for a better mini-keyboard.
                        🎹
                        🛒🏃🏻‍♀️

                            WieWaldi @Sophia might disagree with me.

                            Never 😃 I haven't decided yet, because funny enough I was eying up a foldable 61 keyboard with full size keys. Then I went into the "Fun keyboards" thread and saw that I eyed up the same keyboard in the summer and got talked out of it because apparently it is very heavy, and garbage to boot. The search continues for something that is lightweight and portable - not necessarily with mini keys but definitely between 40-60-ish keys and rechargeable or battery powered 😃 (a recent power outage convinced me even further of that necessity, lol!). Oh and I also want lots of voices and rhythms, AND I want touch sensitive keys. All for a price that won't match what you pay for a cell phone these days ^_^

                              WieWaldi Nightowl You have a full size digital piano. Why do you want a keyboard with 37 mini keys.

                              To be honest, I'm not really sure! Just novelty value, and the freedom to play it in different settings - slouched on the sofa or out in the garden, or maybe I could take it when I visit my mother in law and play some old songs that she might sing along to.

                              It's all Navindra's fault really, when he showed a pic of his cute mini keyboard some of us got a bit jealous! 🙃

                              "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                                  Nightowl I don't find this picture anymore. But I reckon, it wasn't minikeys. Just a regular portable spring loaded keyboard with fullsize keys. Something like Roland Go:Piano, or one of the Casio CT series or a Yamaha PSR.

                                      Well, I made my decision 😁 For the longest time, I was eying up one of those $50-ish Chinese pianos. I actually picked one and started the process... then I listened to some samples from reviews and it sounded just dreadful. Plus they conveniently left out the polyphonic specs which makes me suspect it's no better than the cat piano. Just a toy and I don't really want another toy.

                                      So I picked the Yamaha PSR-E373 61-Key Electric Keyboard instead. It gets awesome reviews and ticks most of my requirements... especially concerning built in voices and rhythms.

                                      It was on sale somewhere to fit well into the budget I set for myself. It is also touch sensitive which is nice. It will enhance my blues lessons and allow for some creativity I'm sure 😁

                                      And no switching to mini keys needed... it's full size (which means it isn't quite as portable as I had in mind, but you just can't have it all in life).

                                      Well done Sophia, it sounds like you weighed it all up carefully and decided what was important and what you could compromise on, and now you can look forward to creating lots of multi layered music. This instrument is not what I'd call truly portable, as it is heavier and larger than the mini keyboard, but if you set it up in another room away from your DP then you'll have two different places to play, depending on your mood. It won't be ideal for classical music due to its limited range, but 61 keys will be enough for most other types of music. I look forward to hearing what you produce with your new sound machine!

                                      "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)