Rich Brown- Playing Keytar at Valencia High Guitar Off 2006

[Steven205]

This dude better have won right?!?!?!

[Ofdirfska]

Dream Theater shirt; I hear the JR influence. Great performance!

[Dejavu12321]

ENOUGH!!!! I got the idea within the first 20 seconds maybe less.

[blank9870]

lol keytar kicks ass

[Luisrox123]

lol all the guys with the guitars are like wtf is this??

[Mctitties4016]

i love you

[zenriffer]

that guy is a faggot

[AlexWooton]

Wow, this guy is like, totally gay.

[Havenscope]

I think one of the most amazing things about it is that you can only use one hand to actually play the keytar.

[Tloc222]

Yeah rich I think it's kinda funny that all of these non musicians think it sucks. From keyboard player to keyboard player, this is incredible.

-CPU

[Rich57]

Thanks homie :D

(Spritzer, we need to get on that baby making).

[spritzer]

Hey everyone who is watching or has watched this video. I just wanna let you know a few things. 1) Rich is a phenominal piano/keyboard player, and this video doesn't do his feel and skill justice. 2) This was done at a highschool guitar off, and is basically a gimmic to make the crowd of teenage guys and girls go crazy because of how crazy it is. I mean, cm'on! Keytar, behind his head, eruption. All recipies to make the average person entertained. 3) Its not easy to play like he does. Trust me.

[DARKGRAIFOS]

mi impulso a seguir

[Rich57]

of course i won, how is a keytarist gonna lose a high school guitar off? :)

[guitarshreder2]

you won right? lol - i woundn't even know what to play after that.

[Rich57]

haha it's been two years since I played in this...

It's worth noting the environment I'm in. I agree with a lot of things said here, but I did what I did due to environment. Keep that in mind.

Seriously, this is the best way to kick a bunch of guitarist's asses :D

[X43dew43X]

OMG He can press random buttons and never play any of thos notes again...

[gurgamel]

I agree, it sounds as he has no idea what he's playing. Just playing through a bunch of patterns. It has no feeling what so ever and it all turns into a big mess.

It also sounds as he's trying to play everything faster than he can. sloppy like hell and kind of booring to listen to.

[xeronicus]

oh look a wannbe music critic.....

He's playing for the reason one should play, to have fun, to enjoy it.

I think he's doing a good job.

Plus he gets uber nerd points for the fact he kicked the asses of a bunch of guitar players ;)

But since im learning everything sounds good to me.

[SHocknitro10332]

As it is you are both incorrect, A keytar is similar to a piano in geometrical and musical ways. Simply pressing buttons would sound like your mom in bed. This video shows great skills of a great pianist playing a keytar and kicking guitarists asses.

[thundercloud21]

I love it man! i want a Keytar soooo bad rite now lol

[iplayelectricguitar]

A lot of his runs are the same.

[18whathefuck18]

Me too have a AX1 and this guy only bored, whit this keyboard you will have a lot of posibilities poor boy you need to practice

[xBrokenxSoundsx]

amazing ;]

[dickforlife]

this guy is a noob. play a real instrument

[LifeTaker201]

its not a game dumb fuck

[eoipa]

fuck yourself

[dclsithlord]

this sucks

[MetalheadX9999]

that dude has real keyboard skill in no way is he cheating guitar

[1HOLYDIVER1]

what a piece of 80's crap instrument. its just a way to cheat the real skill of playing guitar

[Bamwich]

it just dosnt have what a guitar does...

[Snakepit4321]

no i take that back. i just tried playing a keyboard a little bit ago and its a bitch... this takes skill

[Snakepit4321]

what the fuck is a keytar? thats gay.

[qkmr534isme]

Shut up you retarded motherfucker! Keytar rocks!

[Snakepit4321]

no it doesnt. its just a fancy version of guitar hero

[xbetamaster]

you have to be fucking retarded

[TheRevelationist]

did I hear a bit of Tarkus somewhere in there? certainly loved the eruption part, the whole thing kinda sounded like Children of Bodom keyboard solo. Anyways, how much would something like that set someone back.

[qkmr534isme]

I love your Roland AXIS =)

But sorry to say that, try playing more chords and less scales

[thehilitereel]

Lol, this is great. Seeing this guy and the ones with the real guitars in the background

[intel1235]

yes this is just great i love it !

keep itup man =]

[ariyah123]

SAVE THE KEYTAR!

[chitownsbest31]

this is really boring!!!!!!!!! :{

[davcar23]

Tarkus!!!!!

[appreciatesynth]

Rock on, fellow 'tarist. I'm trying to get this same model.

[daileve]

haha, woot? is this entertaining? this is one of the most boring and disturbing solos I have ever heard, and the lack of variation makes it way too long too! the only skill you show is fast moving with your fingers. *sigh*... but hey, good work anyway. after all, you did your best and the audience seemed satisfied. sorry for the hard critics... I just woke up in this mood.

[explodyhead]

seriously.

I agree.

Rich Brown=suck.

Fail Rich. Fail.

[appreciatesynth]

Good thing that all the stuff you wrote was totally worth my time reading, right? Your complete waste of six lines can totally be excused by 'I just woke up in this mood.'

[korgmatose1]

Penetonic scales? LAMO. But hey, he has a keytar so ROCK ON!

[thewhitebass]

right in the beggining some guy says chiken in a suit

[Gibson1423]

how is that a guitar off. more like piano off. but still sick ass fuck

[kerebaka]

still wow!

[vanhalenbros]

oh and i was also waiting just to see if he would play eruption cuz it sounded like he was going to do it but then didnt. but yeah he did it justice

[vanhalenbros]

aww hes really good but the bitch recording is pissin the shit out of me

[kerebaka]

wow!

[aviruscarrier]

well the guy recording it enjoyed it more then i did anyway...

[ReneeNme]

I am dealing with computers all day anyway.I come to YouTube looking for entertainment just to take a break every so often.

[kabudska]

if i was one of the other guys i would be pissed because its a guitar off and a keyboardist won

[ReneeNme]

This boy here has been playin' since I was 10..I am now at my 36th year of effort.

[Rich57]

No one here is trying to debate who is better. And yes, if you've been playing for 36 years then you probably are better. I only have 10 years under my belt. also, this is a high school guitar off, meant for entertainment value. and if these guys were hurt about losing, well they shoulda played better.

can we move on now?

[ReneeNme]

Hmm..My only question is..What is a keyboard player doing in a guitar competition?

[VenomSpewingCunt]

Kicking their ass, that's what.

[ReneeNme]

It's like inviting a bass player to a saxaphone competition.Dunn play wid me youngster I am 46..you'll never win.

[VenomSpewingCunt]

46? a little old to be surfing the interwebs aint ya?

[ReneeNme]

Nope.I don't think so anyway.I seem to be able to see my keyboard okay and I have a properly functioning brain.What is this "too old" definition that you seem to have such a firm understanding of.

[VenomSpewingCunt]

oh, i never said TOO old.

but shouldnt you have something other to do?

[88keysyndrome]

My hat goes off to you. Amazing. I play keyboards and i like that type of rock. Amazing!

PS: whered you get that keytar. I can't find anywhere

[Rich57]

I got that as a gift from my piano teacher, who had it since the 70s. I have no idea where he got it and I would imagine they are very hard to get.

[Rhodes1978]

I think you did a great job, dude.

[sk8kevin93]

not sommething to be proud of hahaha

[cityheightsc]

sad

[Rich57]

My appearance in this competition was very impromptu, most of my soloing technique came from piano/organs/rhodes, things of that sort. playing a synth is very different, so I just threw whatever I could at it.

Since this performance a year and a half ago i have worked on developing ideas as opposed to just "wiggling." While I do think the ITNOG, eruption and other parts are pretty well played, there are some sequences that make me cringe. Once I get a better rig I'll post some more vids ;)

[Rich57]

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I want to point out this was a high school guitar off, and I was playing more for the crowd than anything. in order to win w/ that crowd, fast=win. This is also only 4 minutes of what was a very long competition. After a while I burned out, and theres only so much you can do to keep things fresh.

[b4nt2k]

This solo should be titled "I Practiced My Keytar All Summer Long!"

You can surely tell when someone's creating interesting melodies and harmonies in a solo compared to just wiggling their fingers.

The latter fits this video.

[kanvus]

Come on. . . This guy rips especially for his age. I do prefer keytar jams with the rest of the band. We have a little keytar vs guitar on our clips.

e

[lostphoenix]

dude thats awesome, ignore all the negatives

[crfan101]

pure dissonance. you suck at keys and solos, kill your self

[azandi]

Hey, major props on the In The Name of God solo, caught me by surprise, well done. :D

[grazzt85]

Bad sound, average-good technique, no fantasy...

A good keyboardist behind a keytar can severely kick some guitarists ass.

[noble17095]

i agree, this fellow doesn't realize that the key to a good solo is balance between speed, harmony, and rhythm. every memorable solo has fast and slow parts (and some are just slow). memorable solos may waver in and out of keys/pitches, but they dont stray for minutes and minutes in no mans land. this is the same near chromatic riff over and over again for four and a half minutes.

[noble17095]

also, guitarists play behind their head because it is hard to play an instrument that requires two hands in that position. it really doesnt make a difference with keyboards; that part made me cringe because this guy thought he was doing something cool but it was actually kind of embarassing.

[blakfloyd]

@Noble17095

Regarding the whole "he's playing over his head cuz he thinks it's cool" thing, I would say he's probably just playing to the crowd which being high school-aged means that they might be a little more enamored with gimmicky performance tricks and in a live performance competition your ability to work the crowd directly translates into how well you are judged.

[noble17095]

well yeah, thats true. its a good gimmick, but it doesn't reflect on his skill level is all im saying.

[blakfloyd]

It seems we agree on the matter then.

[Lucifer9387]

Holy shit! Did I hear a little bit of Eruption by Van Halen?.. I think I did :)

AWESOME!

[cky1997]

what synth do you have plugged into the keytar ?

[darrenmacer]

dude! fucking A! haha! this is genius!!!!!

[metabog]

OMG Tarkus!

[tubbonater]

the title says guitar off that is not a guitar, see guitar takes much more skill

[kaozz88]

you suck you obviously don't play piano and play guitar (or try to..)

[marbu0110]

come on people, thas was not spam... it's ok to mark as thumbs down if you feel like it, but spam it's just for spam, yes?

[Fishmongerabc123]

good playin but stick to a piano when its nailed too the floor.u not play guitar.

[NDGOATESP]

blah blah blah

good skill though ;)

[strenthmihrdat]

dont get me wrong this guy is pretty skilled. But the sound is just too repetitive. its just another video of a guy just playing some notes...

[Rolfamagoo]

holy crap that was awesome!

[mikamage]

lame, if someone was shredding on guitar and it sounded like that, he'd get laughed off stage.

[Rich57]

Yes, I did win ;)

[mcglauflinandfriends]

haha when hes playing eruption behind his head the guy with theguitar is just looking at him like wtf

[MegadethEternally]

I love how he nailed eruption by eddie van halen on the keytar, damn man nice.

[GBscottieUK]

This guys playing is prety lame and repetative. It's not hard to play like that. The crowd are easily pleased it would seem.

[ilovemutemath]

except for keytar is extreeemely easy to play.

[vai253487]

he is throwing down Tarkus by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer...nice.

[Richiepookinshoo]

The guitar sound is a bit lame, but the playing is good

[TwistedBeats615]

omg :| you're the greatest

[milestonedd]

so did he win ? :)

[arcane2008]

The beginning Sounds like Tarkus. Then like some Rudess solo, and at the end the clown thingy from Universal Mind.

... Or maybe not. :p

Awesome.

[metabog]

Also, the solo from In The Name of God!

[PaddyShadow]

This is NOT a keytar! This is a remote keyboard. Keytars are made by the keytar company only and they have strings AND keys!

[pootompoo]

yes it is

[PaddyShadow]

Well that's alot of knowledge dude. A REAL keytar is a prduct from one cmpany as I already said - and a registered trademark as well. You can find it on keytarinc dot com. Calling what we see here is nothing more than a common mistake.

[pootompoo]

its a keyboard, shaped like a guitar, what do you call it

[PaddyShadow]

The correct term is remote keyboard. The similarities to a guitar go near zero, except for the strap.

[GBscottieUK]

Pady the word Keytar originated somtime in early 80's. Way before the Williams Keytar's ever existed. Just because Williams has registered the trade mark does not make the term any less correct.

The name Keytar was commercially introduced in 1980 with the Moog Liberation synthesiser which was invented and introduced by guitarist Steve Masakowski.

[PaddyShadow]

Now this is someone with actual information. I can accept that.

[bigscarybear]

he's good but he's playing space music

who wants to listen to this?

not me

[SirSnipesalot93]

i do

[broiveen]

this sounds obnoxious

[SirSnipesalot93]

it sounds great

[SirSnipesalot93]

true dat

[oracle369]

God if i here that chick scream again...Seriously keytars are all dandy.That sucked though..It was annoying.

+Guitars r harder.

[macabrexdoll]

I don't understand why people degrade the keytar so much. It's a KEYBOARD. WITH A STRAP. You have to know how to play an instrument (piano) to know how to use it just like any other instrument- it's doesn't magically do everything for you.

[Quicksilv3r4]

Are you serious, guitar does take music theory, you have to know your keys and scales, you can't just play random notes and have it sound good. And as to wwhat Meanmaxg said, he has a point keytars don't have a place in modern day music.

[lxlkeihejilxl]

Already do, Piano/Keyboards are much harder

[lxlkeihejilxl]

Btw, Mucho props, messing the Guitarist's world up with a keytar!

[SirSnipesalot93]

wtf, shut up

[lxlkeihejilxl]

wow, telling me to shut up for something I posted a month ago...your a bright one...

[lxlkeihejilxl]

in response to tesmai. In a sense your right. However(Dot dot dot) You have to find the note. Much harder to do unlike playing on a guitar, which all you have to do is move up a string.

[tesmai]

Penatonic scale. Not going up a string. And he can use his whole hand and have it on 5 keys at once.

[tesmai]

I love people who say thats hard. Because it's not. I can do that on a REAL GUITAR and then go play it faster on a keytar. The only reason keytar is eaiser to go faster on is because you just have to tap a key. On a guitar you have to finger a fret then pick it. Now which one is eaiser to go faster on hmm?

[MeanMaxG]

I dont give a fuck how good you are keytars are gay

[zoupzuop2]

Very interesting inputs on this... actually, there are ways to get pitch bend and tremolo (called Modulation in MIDI) for keyboards/keytars, although their corresponding pedals are rather pricey. They need expression pedals assigned to specific parameters to get the effect, but... there ARE some keytars that sound pretty frickin' convincing.

[Panda10119]

Ha Ha thats not a guitar thats just a crap copy of one

[JoeThePsycoRobot]

your a crap copy of your butt

[alexthewildebeest]

Here, check this guy: search "wings burn away" and go down to "no tears in solitude solo".

[komuch]

lol while i do love the keytar i kinda feel bad for the guys in the competition that actually play guitars, i mean i know it's hard as fuck but shouldn't it be in like a keyboard competition? still pretty cool tho, i love keytars

[phantomotaku]

Ragus a Keytar is nothing but a midi controller it can sound like anything you want it to.

[Hobo789]

He's fast, sure, but I don't find any originality. There's no structure except for when he played "Eruption".

[spritzer]

Cause its improv =]

[Ragus22]

hey a question the keytar can do the sound of a normal clasic piano?

[Kezape]

Yes.

[Peetahwithhisgeetah]

dis guy's pretty damn good- u gots urself a good keyboarder spritzer

i gots that same shirt at gigantour haha

[elementeighty525]

lol maybe not the most amazing preformance ever but still awesome....and you won.

tell that damn girl to stfu while youre playing

lol those guitar players are like "WTF IS THIS SHIT"

rofl

[themanwithoutaplan]

can use it as a regular key board, just need a midi module or computer for it...as you do for a lot of boards, then i take it off when i have certain voals or talk-box parts cause its alot easier to work a mike and various foot pedals with this thing strapped on and moving aroudn with you.

-The Man

[themanwithoutaplan]

can use it as a regular key board, just need a midi module or computer for it...as you do for a lot of boards, then i take it off when i have certain voals or talk-box parts cause its alot easier to work a mike and various foot pedals with this thing strapped on and moving aroudn with you.

-The Man

[themanwithoutaplan]

i love thsi fucking argument up here? its halarious, i don't knwo why people don't take teh keytar as a serious instrument, im a synth/keyboard player and i have an Roland AX-1 on teh thrid teir of my stand,

[ManbearpigReptar]

Wow, how old is that AXIS, the names worn off.

[ytseOping]

cool he likes dream theater. he pwns

[PimpMyFahrrad]

That's kinda silly - the winner of the guitar show-off is a keyboardist....

But anyway, nice job...

[Azurlake]

That was a bit random but it's ok xDD^^

[RICKxTHExDICK]

Hell yeah!

That was awesome!!!!

[Rich57]

amazing!!!

[HussarsJacket]

Dude, it's a fucking keytar. I don't think even Rick Wakeman would get excited about this.

[RICKxTHExDICK]

I would like to see U try and do that!

[HussarsJacket]

Well, I'm sorry but I wouldn't even try to and do that because it so retarded. The keytar is hardly taken seriously as an instrument and the last thing we need is keytar shredding. Form a band, write some songs, and then play virtuosically. Like Hendrix did.

[entropiastrife]

Ok, can you play piano or keyboard? the keytar is merely a midi controller stage prop, that controlls the sounds of a normal keyboard in a more stage friendly, one handed way. It is used for fun on stage, not as a seriously instrument. Its not a different instrument than a keyboard. I am willing to bet this guy is 100 times the musician you will ever be.  BTW hendrix was a hack, not a virtuoso. Steve Vai, Michael Romeo, John Petrucci, those are virtuoso's

[HussarsJacket]

No I can't play piano or keyboard, I play guitar. I want to point out to you that you said someone who has mastered a "MIDI controller stage prop" is "100 times the musician [I'll] ever be". You dismiss his entire instrument and then say he's a better musician than me. For your next trick, will you prove kazoo is better than saxophone? And to prove you wrong about Hendrix, I'd need to argue with you in real time and not in less than 500 characters.

[entropiastrife]

you are treating the keytar like it is a completely seperate instrument from a piano or keyboard. I was saying that it is an extension of an actual keyboard, and therefor talking shit about it is talking shit about keyboards in general. Thats like calling a gun shaped guitar its own type of instrument seperate from guitars. Can you play eruption on guitar like this man can on keys? Probably not, so until then, be an ignorant guitar player who probably cant even read music

[HussarsJacket]

No I can't read music notation. That has nothing to do with this, it's just an ad hominem attack. I think keyboards are fine instruments and I even listen to electronica, but they have a habit of being used retardedly (see the 80s). Brown played a guitar solo on a keyboard...a GUITAR SOLO on a KEYBOARD! The solo is easier since you only need one hand!

[spritzer]

You are not very educated in music man.

[entropiastrife]

actually its harder on keyboard because a keyboard is not set up like a guitar, and therefore certain runs and tapping techniques are a lot easier on guitar than they would be translated on to keys. You obviously are musically illerate if you think the number of hands used determines how hard something is. By that standards, piano is twice as difficult because you are playing notes with both hands. But its not how it is, idiot.

[marper151]

hey, i play piano and guitar! i must say guitar is a lot harder, cos when ur shredding (legato shredding excluded) u need to have both hands in perfect time and cordination with eachother on the pian its the individual fingers that make the notes, not a cmbination of both

[SirSnipesalot93]

i must diagree, an accomplished pianist, playin with both hands, can play some ridiculously crazy stuff, i say theyre bout the same

[mcsweb]

The problem isn't keytar, it's the playing - all smoke and mirrors. His synth is set to monotonic (only one note plays at a time), which eliminates overlapping notes and masks sloppy play, making it super easy to sound fast. (Note NO chord work at all here.) He does nothing to articulate his notes like a real guitar, (bends and vibrato), so most of the time it just sounds like a crazed Hammond B3. The only thing that suggests guitar is the way he holds the instrument. Looks cool though!!

[HussarsJacket]

HAH! I WIN!

[mcsweb]

Well, you sorta won. The fact is just as with real guitar, keytar solos need to be played with two hands, to handle things like pitch bends, etc. You may be entertained by my vid posted here a couple of days ago. I think you can find it by just going to my profile...

[SirSnipesalot93]

so true

[SirSnipesalot93]

you have absolutly no respect for music, a keytar is merely a different form of a keyboard, van halen has a keyboardist, u dont dis it, u dis it when it has a strap though, u dont seem to make alot of sense, alot of good rock bands have keyboards, again you say nothing. i play the piano/keyboard, guitar, sax, and trombone so i know a little about music eh, so u can go die if u think that the keytar isnt as good as a guitar.