Do I need to know how to play the piano to play Pro Keys?

**TheLonging** · Joined: 07 Apr 2008 Posts: 4191

I have minimal knowledge of playing a piano (I can read sheet music to an extent (I'm not that good + I'm new)), and I can play a few chords. But Pro Keys has fucked me over good and well, and I'm wondering if everyone who can play up to Hard on Pro Keys are piano masters, or if I can simply practice on Easy + Medium until I get the hang of it. For the record, I am going through the Pro Keys trainer as well.
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**malictus** · Joined: 19 Jun 2006 Posts: 994 Location: Bloomington, IN

I think most people who jumped right into Expert Pro Keys (me included) have a decent piano background. In my case, I have a college degree in Piano Performance (although that was... almost 20 years ago *gulp*), so the hardest part was mostly just getting used to reading the notes on the screen correctly.

From what I've seen of the easier difficulties, they provide a good stepping stone to lead up to Expert. I don't think that (non-pro) Keys mode provides much help though, so I'd spend more time working on Pro Keys only at lower difficulties.

The Trainer is much better than practice mode for the most part (except that some sections are left out). I'd spend a lot of time there also. It definitely can be done; it'll just take a bit more work for someone without a lot of piano background.

**xGaberadex** · Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 1785 Location: Dela-where?

I've been playing the piano for over 12 years and when I first tried pro-keys, I thought it was going to be a breeze...LOL that wasn't the case at all and made my piano experience look like pre-school, but obviously yea, it does help with the knowledge of the piano since I know chords and scales etc. which does help me out...But, to get used to playing a toy keyboard and reading another keyboard's notes on screen instead of reading sheet music takes some time to get used to (still am), so don't be discouraged...Basically, "PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT". This might sound repetitive and cheezy, but it's very true to pro-keys and anything else on RB

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**espher** · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:17 pm Post subject:

As someone with zero piano/keyboard experience (aside from fiddling with one when I was younger and learning to play a few tunes by ear), I hit my first roadblocks with 4-dot songs on Hard Pro Keys.

I really struggle with anything that requires me to hit three keys and starts (or especially starts and ends) with a black key, though I do think I have relatively small hands so it's a real stretch to try and do index + ring/pinky or middle/pinky, and I almost have to turn my hand to hit it with the thumb which is even less comfortable.

For example, some of the stuff in What's Your Name and Play the Game just drives me batty. :p

But yeah, you can definitely do it "well enough" without a formal background. :p

**Shvegait** · Joined: 16 Apr 2008 Posts: 375

I don't have a piano background. I mean, I knew what keys were what notes, but beyond that, no formal training.

At first, I struggled a lot, even on Easy/Medium. But the first thing is just to get used to the keyboard. I'm currently able to pass most songs 3 dots or fewer on Expert. Still a loooong way to go to be good though...

The key to success is the TRAINERS. The generic ones are good at first, and they give you tips, like which fingers to use for which notes in a chord. A big issue for me at first was figuring that out. I would try to use two hands, or not use my thumb at all, and I would never be sure of what keys I was hitting unless I was looking at the keyboard. But going through the trainers and following their advice helped a ton. Using only the right hand has made learning parts easier, since your hand can learn the spacing between different keys for the chords.

Then, each individual song has a few selected sections for their own trainers. Just pick Train Song instead of Practice Song. For most songs, these are the most important and repeating sections. (For some songs, you'll just have to use Practice mode, because the trainers are too incomplete -- Radar Love and The Killing Moon come immediately to mind.) Drill these parts, and when your fingers get used to where to go, play the full song and see how you do. For most songs, there's a lot that's not in the trainers, but you can usually pass the song if you can ace the trainers.

Learning individual songs will then help you to learn other songs faster, because you'll see chords and note patterns again that you already know how to play.

If you are doing OK at all on Easy, I'd move up to Medium so you get more practice with chords. I'd recommend playing the easier songs on Hard when you can, in order to get used to the screen moving around. Just Like Heaven is a good song for this. The shifts aren't bad once you're used to it.

But, like anything, practice makes perfect. Once you build the muscle memory, things will click. Well, this is getting long now... Use the trainers!!
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**zeMONUMENTAL** · Joined: 02 Jul 2009 Posts: 58 Location: A Land Of Fiction

I've came from a background of classical training at first and then I added prog type keyboard stuff as well (Yes, ELP and Dream Theater). I'd say that this game is different than playing the actual parts but it does help somewhat to have a background.
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**MarsPhoenix** · Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Posts: 377

My dad who's never played Rock Band before tried Pro Keys. He's a keyboard player for a band and Imagine is a song he knows how to play. He got upper 80% I believe when he tried it out. He was able to play some other songs he didn't know after hearing them a bit. He said that knowing keys helps to predict the notes that songs will throw at you. So yeah, it helps to some extent but I'm sure that it's not a necessity.

**Schanok** · Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 7

I have absolutely no piano experience and I began on expert pro keys without the trainer(though I wasn't aware there was one). I found it extremely difficult at first, and had to practice on about 80% of the songs, sometimes for 30 minutes or more(I didn't let myself continue through the setlist without at least 3* and 70%). However, I'm actually finding the setlist easier as I'm going down it because I'm getting better muscle memory/sightreading, which is the key to doing well(it takes much much longer to establish than regular guitar, obviously). Personally I use both hands and usually have my left use the left 5 keys/sharps and hit the rest with my right. I'm sure piano experience helps, as I overhit a ton and am not used to the key size, but not necessary. If you're determined, you'll get there. I'm at the challenging tier after about a week.

**blastissimo218** · Joined: 15 Feb 2010 Posts: 7

To answer your question directly, no. I found playing pro keys a totally different experience from reading score. It uses almost a whole totally different type of skillset in order to perform well. However, the advantages of a experienced pianist may have over a inexperienced one could be:
-Better hand/finger stretch techniques.
-Finger stamina
-Better muscle memory
-Easier time to find the fingering for fast/complex scales.

The last one was especially helpful for me.

**Skyp1e** · Joined: 01 Mar 2011 Posts: 132

Chiming in on this thread from the perspective of someone that has still to play any rhythm game at all (will be getting an Xbox and RB3 for my birthday).

I went to conservatory, majored in composition and minored in harpsichord and piano performance. I played keyboards in professionally touring rock bands from the mid 80s to the upper mid 90s. I "retired" when I got married and started a "career" in computers (that's a laugh but another story).

You can see me play a bit in my link in my sig if you're curious.

I will be approaching RB3 from the ground up. Although I will try out some PRO keys right away I won't be doing it seriously more out of curiosity. I intend to run through all the trainers in order as intended.

I will approach the songs as intended as well doing the slowed down learning methods first before going for full on performance.

It's my intention to play everything with my right hand only unless for some physical reason I decide it isn't possible. Physical reasons fall under the category of beyond my hand span (I can comfortably play up to one whole step over an octave on a full sized keyboard and will not stretch beyond that) or requiring some kind of crazy syncopation between my fingers that just can't happen for me. (My ring finger or finger 4 has always been my weakest link)

I've been watching a lot of youtube videos and playing along with a midi keyboard on my desk as I watch them. I can tell that Roundabout is going to be super hard, but then again I've been trying to play Roundabout since High School so that's not news to me.

I don't see any other real problems though if I take the time to work on the songs and not try to sight read them right from the gate.

This might be "well duh" for everyone else, but I intend to really learn all the songs to play them. By that I mean I'm not going to try to react to the notes coming down the highway so much as LEARN the pieces and play them watching the highway more for reinforcement as opposed to how one would rely on sheet music to get through a song.

Again that above paragraph might be "of course dingus, how else would you do it" to everyone but as someone that never touched one of these games I'm not sure HOW other people approach them. To watch people play on the youtube videos you would think that players are purely reacting to the highway and responding to what they see in real time, but then there is no way to really know that for sure.

I have no intentions of uploading youtube videos of my first attempts on any songs.

I do however plan to upload everything that I can get 100% FC on as soon as I can do it reliably. As for Roundabout, I plan on uploading "stages" for my progression with it because I may never get that coveted FC although I won't be giving up hope on it.

The biggest advantage that I will have playing this game isn't so much my technical training but my band experience. That is to say I am used to working on songs way passed the point of being bored with them and then playing those same songs upwards of three times a week in performance and some 10 times a week in rehearsal. THAT is what is going to be my best asset playing this game more than my actual playing ability is.

**malictus** · Joined: 19 Jun 2006 Posts: 994 Location: Bloomington, IN

Hey Skyp1e, welcome to the world of Pro Keys!
It sounds like your previous experience with keys is even more extensive than mine; I have an undergrad degree in piano performance and a masters in music theory. But I have also been playing music/rhythm games for about ten years (playing DDR and Guitar Freaks before Guitar Hero even came out), so that gives me an advantage in the game aspect of things I guess.

As an experienced keyboardist, the hardest part for me by far was simply learning to read the notes correctly. For a while, I just 'memorized' the notes to a song by playing it slowly a couple of times until I could remember where the notes go. But over time I found that I was really learning to actually read the notes on the screen, to the point that I could successfully sight-read most songs and at least get a decent score on them the first time.

I think for non-keyboardists, learning finger positions, chord placement, etc. are huge issues; for experienced keyboardists, it's more about learning to read the notes correctly
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