Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner - Non Classical Recommendations for Instrumental Piano (rock, film, prog?)

Hi Guys,

I'm sorry to bother you all with this but I'm having trouble tracking down some good instrumental piano music.

I like Jordan Rudess (of Dream Theater fame) because (technical prowess aside) his compositions are interesting and take a few listens before you get used to the structure of the tune.

I've always enjoy instrumental rock (heavy and light e.g. Dixie Dregs, Liquid Tension Experiment) so I'd love to dig up a few artists who are doing something similar with the piano. I'm sure are loads out there but I can't find a starting point.

Hope to hear back from one or two of you.
Thanks,

Rob.

Hi Rob: For rock I always loved Roy Bittan's piano -- Springsteen, Bonnie Tyler, Meatloaf, etc... Some of my favs for rockin' out on are:

"All I Know" by Jimmy Webb (Garfunkel covered it)
"Thunder Road" by Springsteen
"Maybe I'm Amazed" by McCartney
"Hey Jude" and "Let it be"
"Classical Gas"
"The Load Out" and "Before the Deluge" by Jackson Browne

Since I don't know Jordan Rudess or LTE, and don't listen to Dixie Dregs, this stuff might not be of interest to you, but it works for me!

I'll look for the stuff you mentioned -- any particular favorites you might recommend for an intermediate amateur who plays chorded rock?

Best,
Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the recommendations. To be honest, I'm looking for more solo instrumental piano (or a trio like Esbjorn Svensson Trio).

Liquid Tension Experiment and Dixie Dregs are not really for the intermediate. Steve Morse was the guitarist band leader in the Dregs and he was John Petrucci's inspiration who formed Dream Theater and the Liquid Tension Experiment. All of these bands do alot of instrumental work and I love their tunes because they take a while for the ear to get used to the time signiture changes and the general complexity of the pieces.

Alot of people would argue that much of their music disappears up their own arses and I wouldn't argue against that point too much because alot of it boils down to personal taste.

Cheers Steve ...

Rob.

Hi,
Some of the very good keyboardists in my area that do rock music have websites and cd's, but few people are doing what jordan has been doing. Jordan is very talented and did amazing solo gigs for Korg at the NAMM show for years, don't know if he still is.
Other rock guys around here you might find interesting are David Garfield, Jan Hammer, and Lyle Mays. All of those guys play music other than rock, so you will have to sort through the discographies to find what you like. You could also see who is playing with Steve Vai and Sting these days and check their websites. I also heard that Brand X got back together a couple years ago and did some very good recording.