Keyboard players do it standing up

Our band’s rehearsal today has been cancelled due to reports of polar bears roaming the countryside…

It’s that kind of weather today, several inches of snow already, and we rehearse out in the wilds in a little village called Crossthwaite, population about 37, including polar bears. I’m relieved that I don’t have to attempt that road with all its steep hills and hairpin bends, but slightly disappointed that we’ll miss a full day’s rehearsal (evenings seem to fly by), after all, it’s less than 2 weeks until our first gig, aaargghh!

We’re not going to be totally ready for it, but it’s in a quiet spot, good place for a first outing, so I think it can only help to knock us into shape. On Friday the band invited me to join them at our local to see another band featuring a girl on keyboards who has stood in for them (I mean, us) before I joined. Don’t see many girl keyboard players around here so I wanted to go to see if I could pick up some tips, like the important of question of WHAT TO WEAR?! I’m not sure if I’ll do fishnets, bit tarty, though I have bid on a leather skirt on Ebay. She was a very good player this girl (music teacher), and not really surprisingly, wore jeans, boots and a strappy top with a little bit of sparkle on the straps. I’m not planning on copying her or anything, but it was good to see another girl performing (ooh err). She put most of the male keyboard players around here in the shade, I intend to do the same. I was also glad to see that she was standing up. The keyboard players who sit down are boffins, maybe got a diploma in pianism (that can’t be a word can it?) probably good players, but dull. The ones who stand up but use low-slung X-frame stands below waist height aren’t real keyboard players (you can’t play properly with your wrists bent that much), but the ones who stand up with their keyboard at a respectable height, nice straight wrists, are the ones who are going to entertain you. At least that’s my theory on the hardware/performance ratio of keyboardists.

I’ve decided to use 2 keyboards, I used 3 onstage at one point, but I’m trying to downsize, and now use several modules (keyboards in a box, without the keys). I was hoping to get away with just the one keyboard, but I keep running out of keys, so anyway in true girly style the second keyboard I’ll be using is one that I’ve rarely used, but it’s blue so it matches my main keyboard (the "mother" keyboard, also blue). So, co-ordinating keyboards, a girls gotta do…

Pip and I went to a party last weekend, an old friend of mine and her partner who were at my do on bonfire night, so Pip’s met them before. Nothing too raucous (maybe just cos I was driving), but kind of nice. Someone put on a Keane album, only ever heard their singles before, and the last track – "Bedshaped" really jumped out at me as a good one for our band to do, lovely song. Might be a difficult one though, some tricky falsetto parts for the singer, but it will be good if we can pull it off. Really enjoyed learning that one, so can’t wait to see how it sounds, probably will be rubbish…

Anyway, I shall now have to go and set up all my equipment again which was packed and ready by the door, waiting to be loaded into the car, oh well. At least the weather will have improved by the time we start gigging properly.

Maybe I’ll go and make a snowwoman first…

xx