adjustments for keyboards for people with disabilities

[Luke]

Hi there, my name is Luke. I have been playing keyboards/piano for a while. I started out with piano in high school and bought a keyboard. When I started listening to metal, hard rock and progressive rock and saw that a bunch of my favourite bands (Dream Theater, Faith No More, Bon Jovi, Children of Bodom, Threshold etc..) use lots of keyboards I thought I"d learn keyboard/piano outside school.

Anyways, there has been one problem. I have a disability known as hemiplegia which prevents me from using my left hand fully (I have had it since birth). I can maybe play a note here or there but thats about it. I have been playing simplified versions of songs or just playing the treble section and totally ignoring the bass section which the left hand plays. I was wondering if there are any special adjustments I could get? Perhaps maybe pedals that can play notes? That way I could play the bass section with my feet? I figure if the Def Leppard drummer can still play drums one handed I can play keyboards one handed!

 

[larz]

disability ?

Dear Luke


Most rock keyboard players just do not play bass lines simply because that is the bass players job. If I were you, I would excel in you solo playing learn every scale known to man and you will be an asset to any band.

Keep in mind in the midi world you can play 5 keyboards with one hand with backing chords or leads. And if you must play bass lines you can get some very cool midi pedals and you can do more with two feet than one hand.

Luke guess what ……..You have no disability!!

 

[larz]

roland midi

Roland PK-5A Dynamic Foot Pedal and MIDI Controller

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The Roland PK-5A Dynamic Foot Pedal and MIDI Controller puts the excitement and versatility of live bass performance with full MIDI control within reach of any musician. For the full scoop check out the PDF below!
Roland PK-5A Dynamic Foot Pedal and MIDI Controller Features:

• One-foot operation of 4 separate performance modes: bass, poly, drums, SFX
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PDF Specifications (21KB)


View additional information from the manufacturer »

 

[Luke]

That pedal looks really good! Could I use it to play keyboard stuff instead of my left hand? So say for example could I play my keyboard with the right hand and instead of using my left hand use the pedals instead? Say if I was playing a piano piece could I set the pedals to a piano sound? Also are the pedals compatilbe with all keyboards?

 

[larz]

Any keyboard that is midi will work you could have it fire off a sequencer if you wanted, do you have your keyboard yet ??

 

[Luke]

I"ve got two keyboards, I"m not sure if they are midi though.

 

[Skipp]

I"ve got two keyboards, I"m not sure if they are midi though.

Look on the back of your keyboard. Look for inputs like these

 

[Luke]

I just checked, my keyboard does have those inputs!

More about those pedals though, what is the synth sound like? Does it have a number of built in sounds eg harpischord, piano, choir etc?

 

[larz]

keys

Luke .....you need to get a new keyboard. You must have MIDI to do anything.

I have ten I could give you a good deal.