How can i become a better keyboard player?

I get so tired of hearing the old adage that "schooled" musicians aren't creative.  Creativity is not something that can be taught - but it can be nurtured and part of that nurturing is being given the tools to fully understand music and master your instrument so that creative can be allowed to fully flourish.  Sure some painfully uncreative people graduate from music school and some incredible musicians are self-taught, but for the most part, the great musicians have a pretty good idea what they are doing musically.

My post wasn't really in response to your post, or anyone else's; I was commenting on how often I do hear people state that belief.   One also has to match their career objectives with the right school environment.  Conservatories basically concentrate on teaching classical musicians to play an already established repetoire.  Jazz schools, like Berklee, cater to jazz musicians wishing to learn that type of harmony and improvisation technique.   Many schools teach a mixture of styles including performance, improvisation and composition.  I think all the posters in this thread agree that one needs some type of music education.

Edited by spknoevl - April 20 2012 at 11:43

It's because conservatories have been around for hundreds of years and until recent times, only classical musicians really required an education.  Although Bach, and many of his contemporaries improvised, improvisation was not part of the classical repetoire and there was no need to teach it.  Writing music was for composers and musicians were merely intended to recreate the music in a live context.  It's really in the past 100 years with the emergence of jazz and later, rock, that improvisation regained popularity, and as those genres matured and became more advanced, musicians began to want to seriously study music AND improvisation.

Couldn't agree with you more. 

What would be the best course of action for me--

First become a doctor and discover a marvelous cure for something...

joner6666 wrote: What would be the best course of action for me-- Been playing keyboards on and off for fun for 15 years. I can read sheet music but only want to play the music i like and if the sheet music is taken away, it as if the plug has been pulled out the wall!  If i try playing music i do not know it takes forever to learn , which also leads me to why can i not play anything by ear? I had lessons years ago which taught me to read music. I also get bored when i know i can play a track and often give up halfway through. Would a (new age) teacher be a better bet for me and maybe discipline me as to what i need to do. I have a wonderful organ sat in my house now that can do it all , but sadly is wasted on me! Help!