Here is a quick list of artists to inspire your keyboard playing.

Little Boots

Her name is Victoria Hesketh but goes by the name Little Boots. She has cited Britney Spears and The Human League as influences, and was also kicked out of Pop Idol. She tried a couple of bands but decided to go solo and has just broke with a debut album that critics love. Her style is electropop and plays with a band using mainly synths and a drummer.

La Roux

A duo performing synth pop songs that mainly use keyboard sounds. Ben Langmaid plays the keys in this group and they have had big success with their song Bullet Proof which reached number 1.

Florence + the Machine

More of an alterative band than a synth pop band but still in the same vein as the two more keyboard based bands above. Florence Welch is the main singer and musician who uses a varity of instruments to create an often alternative sound. Getting critics respect and also a load of radio play Florence are proving a popular hit at the festivals this year.

An affordable new keyboard from Roland. The ‘Prelude’ keyboard has built in amplification, quality sounds and is made for the home keyboard enthusiast.

Competing with the new ranges from Yamaha the Roland Prelude is more in the same vein as the Tyros and the PSR’s than other rolands and aims to be an all in one package for the serious keyboard player.

The keyboard is packed with features such as the famous D-Beam that is on the more expensive keyboards, being able to play songs from USB such as .wav and .mp3 and even it boast to be able to do sing along tracks.

Have a look for yourself with a demonstration video:

Links

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=985

Buy Roland Prelude

There are loads of opinions and views around the web and in top 10 / 100 lists. This is always a matter of personal prefference but it is always fun to see who people think is the greatest keyboard player of all time. Here are some of the best, you can see who you think is the greatest.

Rick Wakeman keyboardist for progressive rock group Yes

Keith Emerson from band ELP (Emerson, Lake & Palme)

Stevie Wonder, legenary American artist who signed his first record deal at 12.

Billy Joel, he is one of the best selling artist in the United States and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Ron Mael of Sparks

Brian Eno

Billy Powell from Lynyrd Skynyrd

With the new PSR-E403 we complete our new entry-PSR-line next to E203 and E303. The Assign-Knobs offer playful effect- and filter-tools and with the Music Database you have more than 260 titel-based registrations.

New features compared to previous model (PSR-295):

• more Voices
• more Styles
• Music Database
• Assign-Knobs for filter and effects
• Arpeggiator with 50 typs
• Pitch Bend
• Master EQ

Specifications:

• 61 Keys with Touch response
• 504 Voices, included 360 XG-Lite-Voices
• 155 Styles w. 2 Variations
• backlit LC-Display
• Music Database with 256 Entries
• Flash ROM for Songs
• Registration Memory
• 30 Preset Songs
• Digital Effekts: Reverb/Chorus/DSP
• Master EQ

• Pitch Bend Wheel
• 2 Assign-Knobs for Filter and Effects
• Performance Assistant
• YAMAHA Education Suite Y.E.S. 4
• 32-voice polyphony
• USB to host
• 2-Way Speaker system
• 2 x 2,5 Watt