Hey Mark-
Interesting string. Here's a random observation.
I think one has to be inspired by a specific
instrument, be it Mellotron, trombone, or piano. I
took piano lessons in the early '70s, and never got
very coordinated with 2 hands playing at once, so I
dropped it. My mistake. But, I WAS a distracted
teenager. On the other hand, I played 'cello from 4th
grade to college, loved it, and craved the interaction
with the orchestra. I could easily pick it up again.
On a higher level, I think Pinder saw an immediate
connection between the 'tron and rock music(kind of a
"Eureka!" moment), and ran with it. Listening to the
pre-Hayward Moodies, I heard some real quality in his
piano chops. It would be interesting to hear "Go Now"
with Mellotron applied.
Wakeman and Tony Banks both seemed to approach the
'tron in a very utilitarian way("Put some 'tron in
that break!"). Rick exposed the soul of the 'tron
better, but hated its shortcomings. Also, a 'tron can
frustrate fast keyboard players.
You've probably thought of taking a piano score and
applying it to other instruments somehow. It worked
for Debussy many times. Carlos and Tomita did
electronic tailoring of orchestral scores too.
I would say that you should keep up the piano
lessons, but try to view it with the mind of a
conductor/composer.
You have a good day-
-Bruce Daily
--- Mark Pring <
markpringnz@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I've been having piano lessons for the last few
> years, originally with the idea of helping me to
> play the mellotron and more recently just for the
> fun of it. Whilst waiting for the happy day that
> #1565 is playable I've been practicing with M-tron
> and I am not sure that classical piano lessons are a
> good preparation for mellotron playing. If my
> teacher could see some of the hand positions I get
> forced into I don't think she would be impressed.
>
> I've read somewhere that often the best mellotron
> players are not always the best keyboard players. I
> don't think Mike Pinder or Woolly are the most
> gifted keyboard players I have heard but they are
> great tron players. Rick Wakeman and Dave Greenslade
> I think are better pianists but I can't really speak
> about their tron playing.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Mark
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