YAMAHA PSR SX900 - How To Play Arranger Keyboard FOR DUMMIES 

Oh Woody please stop making these great videos. I ignored arranger keyboards for two decades and now I'm starting to sway 😂

Love the high tech picture in picture of your face ;) Seriously though, great vid as always.

I think you’ve conveyed the immediate and fun nature of these keyboards very well. I think they are unfairly viewed by some as “lounge”style if I can use that term - I play a lot of rock styles and they are just as good for that.

Ha! That was a lovely introductory lesson to keyboard arrangers. 👍🤘 And most important: the tea latte mug strikes back!

Hi Woody, Some of us have difficulty playing with regular chords. My left hand is seriously deformed due to an accident and don't have the normal size finger spread, making it impossible to play regular chords. However, I'm very capable using Yamaha's single key chording system. Yes, some of the chords you showed are impossible with the single finger system, but there are work-arounds. When you've worked with it for awhile those three key chords are natural and work wonderfully. I've played Semi-Pro for many years now, and unless people watch my fingering they don't know any different than if they were listening to a ten fingered keyboard player. Anyway, keep up the good work Woody. Just know that some of the features of this keyboard may not work well for you, but to others they are a godsend.

Thank you for the arranger series, most keyboard players never think of these as instruments, more like toys. I started programming (styles from scratch) arrangers 5 years ago when frustrated with the limitations of beat boxes and step sequencers. Arrangers today are the most powerful pattern sequencer on the market, nothing compares, not even Akai MPCx. I am a professional pianist, composing and performing my own songs, these skills make pattern sequencers a joy to program a backing band. I am also a sound designer, using synths in orchestration, and a recording engineer. I can multi-track (overdub) a song, but do not enjoy it, so for the last 5 years I have been composing like Vangelis, on the fly completed songs all in one take. Recording each synth on its own track in real time means a near perfect performance which is possible for disciplined musicians. BUT...you cannot accomplish an interesting song with just an arranger and created style. With MIDI I sync other grove boxes, sequencers, and synthesizers for any variations/layering/sound I desire...triggering these on the fly. An array of foot pedals are also used for sustain, triggering, holding, and modulation to further the transition interest and blending of synths. Each song I compose has its own arranger style, synth sound design and overlaying groove box additions that can be muted and un-muted during the performance. After all the programming of styles, overlaying groove boxes, synth sound design, arpeggios, sampling (I record my own samples such as a strumming guitar) I begin practice on the song, first finding a key signature, time signature, tempo, some chord progressions, melody and where the orchestration backing variation/fills fit. It may take a few day to complete the programming and song practice....but all of a sudden the magic happens....improvising becomes a coherent song, with variations, all on the fly in one take. It is a joy hard to describe, the days of preparation zone me into 100% focus on the song.... and now the emotion I desire to speak makes it to the recording. This emotion comes through in the micro-time variations of each key played, a space in time not perfect to the tempo, all captured at the moment of complete immersion in the song.

A funny way to teach. Specially the mirror 😊

I’m not interested in this keyboard, but man what can you bring me a lot of joy! Love your channel. Thumbs up!

Hello from Brooklyn NY- I have been playing the PSR3000 for 18 years. While it's a beautiful sounding keyboard, I have watched your video and I decided to get a newer version of Yamaha's keyboard. I am considering SX 700 or 900.. Looking forward to see your other well made and informative videos.

Thank you! An excellent tutorial! I just bought the sx900 and I’m selling the complex Korg pa1000… I love the Yamaha!!! Great sounds and logical workflow. In look forward to more learning with you!

Just got the 900sx , playing for many years on a piano my fingers want to naturally do voicings. This video was the most helpful of the 3 because as a newbie to arranger keyboards , I needed a a step 1-2 -3 stucture. Thank you.

Am Having a problem taking MP3 off the internet loading it to my USB stick . When I do this , I first convert the MP3 to WAV files. However when I insert the USB stick in the PSR SX900 the songs do not show up?? Have you had this problem?? what am I doing wrong ??

I did enjoy your video very much. I play a Tyros 3, however, it is getting old now and still works very well. It's like driving a car after a while you want a new one. I tried both the Genos and the Korg Pa5X and didn't like either because of how complex they are to set up. The sounds are terrific and the weighted keys are a bit to handle when you are used to playing on PSR models and Tyros Models. The other thing is the Price they love to charge you and you see Dollar Signs in their eyes when you choose your keyboard. I used to work for Music shops and am well aware of the markup and it is a bit discouraging, to say the least when you see their markup. Too bad or I would have tried harder to keep the Korg. I find nearly $7000.00 if you buy the accessorized speaker. Although I have a PSR S970 given to me before my friend passed away. I was a child prodigy and find your fingering is very similar to mine and you played wonderfully. Thanks.

sounds legit, amazingly

Mirror technology. Looks great 👌👍😝

Excellent instructions. Thanks

Geting closer to 1 million views.

Why did you change the Keyboard Split from the more practical default F#/G?

Hey Woody. Great video. LOVE your Georgia solo - quite tasty. Cheers, Cliff

Much of the things you say are valid for Korg PA keyboards

1. Sell the arranger 2. Buy a stage piano 3. Also buy a synth with the leftover money 4. Also buy a car... 5. Etc

Thanks Woody! Bring more love to arranger keyboards. They are not only musical instrument for amusement. Also great tools for composing, learning different styles and great for jamming. Just solo or mute some parts of different styles to reveal the components of different style, we may learn something. Though not all styles are so useful plus the variation/transition are not always good, everyone can find a few styles they enjoy jamming with. :)

This is really I am looking for. I got new PSR700 but i dont have Idea how to used. I am hoping i can get online toturial. Thanks bro

I prodotti Yamaha sono il top👍

You can do ninths by catching the D in between C and E, not on the upper octave. :)

Man, i love you (not in that way) , you are so original and anxious i think in a good way. How you played Georgia song...wow You rock man. Kat Bucharest Romania

Can this keyboard read styles from enother models of yamaha?

I Have been playing accordion for a while and now I have the hitch for the SX900. You said that don't play in the one finger mode. Well that is how you play on the bass side of the accordion. Therefore for me that is a great way to use the SX900. I am sure all the accordion players will agree. Anyway great videos.

Excellent review!

Can you please do more on chords for left hand in accompanying does it take same shape as on piano or modified?

Good video. For me it's very difficult to understand the difference how to play piano song on keyboard with backgrohnd music and chords on left site without new arrangement. For example if I play piano and would like to split keyboard und play with my left hands the accords I cannot play it like on the piano. Also with accompaniment music controlled my left hand I don't really understand how to play a song instead of playing it on a piano wihout any backgroundmusic/chords.

Facecam discovered in 2000 A.D. before 2000 A.D. *this man*

I've used Single Finger Chords and one note melody for the past 20 odd years and it works a dream! Anyone 'listening' cannot tell HOW you are playing it. That's a lot of chat Woody without hearing you actually PLAY the Waltz!

I just bought one of those erasable boards like yours. Saves me a lot of paper and unnecessary mistakes. This is a great idea. Your videos are helping me with my SX-900. Thanks, Michael

I use a Genos and I doesn't miss the features, a Montage may offer. Found a trick to layer up to 6 sounds on the right and up to 2 on the left. And if I want the Synthesizer workstation features, I have my Korg PA3x.

Great content, just what I needed. Love that shaving mirror set up, brilliant.

Great shirt!

mirror saved the day! ;)

Hi woody,just got psrx700and am getting numa x gt 88 anyday now,hope to be able to play these together simultaneously via midi,using accompaniment from psrx700 with piano sound from numa x,and trigger accompaniment using numa x,can I do this?

My psr 3000 with 100 harmony voices to sing with. Does 473 and sx 900 hsve hatmony and battery operatef

I'm not really use to 61 key keyboard on my PSR 280, but I figured how to split the accompaniment to 1 key lower from the C key to B, it makes it so much easier. Oh my goodness, that SX900 is amazing! I too play my keyboards on youtube, started with the PSR GX76, then downgraded after my 76 keyboard button doesn't work anymore so I am using the PSR 280 then reupgrade to YPG235 76 and I play both of them. Makes it a little harder to play to change the voice for different songs without that Touch Settings that SX900 can do. Yes I would go for both 61 keys myself along with the 76 key that I have and maybe go Triple play. Similar to Yanni's. Totally enjoy this video and I thank you for sharing it. I do hope this year I will get one of those. Been thinking about the S975 but had a tight budget so I'm hoping to get a SX900.

The mirror again :) super

You deserve more subscribers with how well you addressed the mess of a timeline and plot that is FFVII. Thanks for making this video!

Did you ever make the video you mentioned about playing the PSR or Genos in the mode where it will recognize chords played anywhere on the keyboard? If so, what is it called? I’d love to watch that video. Thank you for the great content!

I have been watching many videos on the SX900 and this video was the best of them all. I have not purchased yet a SX900 but soon. You answered so many questions about the keyboard. Thank you for this great video. Donald in ABQ

More than your music tips & lessons...I love the simple mirror idea to face ur viewers

I prefer digital pianos. Like Kawai Novus, for example.

first of all you are an artist. i mean how used the mirror and amazingly beautifuly you decorated it.

Avec la sonorité de Saxophone, vous devriez utiliser le pitch-bend pour donner de la modulation et de l'expression comme un saxophoniste le ferait...

It looks good trust me it's not as good as looks very small plastic very small keys

I have a PSR-S910, but this could be a serious upgrade! Love your videos as always.

The usage of mirror is intuitive never seen anyone before using this technology and it saves time and extra camera .....

What’s happening here? Arrangers styles are obsolete (waltz, bossa nova, cha cha cumbia,...); Styles from 60's or before !. Please, when are we going to see arrangers with Progressive House, Deep House, current Hip Hop, Indie, Reggaeton, Epic Rock, Tropical House, ... ??

The video title sounds like a guide, how to entertain drunken people.

As i am a dummy and a tyros 5 owner, i can tell you that your tutorial is outstanding! Unfortunately i can still not drink from a mug through a mirror whilst playing, but i'll keep on trying! Greetings from Holland, keep up the good work! Jan

I can't wait to get refund to plastic small as hell massive rip off

VERY VERY NICE INDIA JAIPUR

Nice, if you have the money to start though hey? Tyros 3 would suit me.

Brilliant video. I used to teach music but now have arthritis, so a normal keyboard is too painful. I was wondering how on earth you would get it all to fit together, accompaniment, chord changes, endings, etc, and this is the best intro I've seen. Thanks. Only snag is that I have ordered a Korg P700, but I am sure the principles are the same!

what a pity yamaha doesn't make a portable module of this keyboard. they would sell so many of them

Hi Woody, arranger keyboard for Dummies! tha'ts me. I'm going to try to tackle Moondance by VanMorisson. What jazz style would you recommend for it, I like minimal style but don't seem to find one the sx900' Thanks for helping.

7 minutes, 7 WHOLE MINUTES after I know that's a mirror 🤣🤣🤣 That's a sign that I really concentrate on the subject.

Do you have a chance to review a MEDELI AKX10/Thomann AK-X1100?

I thought Piano Shack was the other guy with the Human Nature cover?

I set the split at G

Have you solved the cube?))

What is this 'keyboard maude' you mentioned?

Yamaha no .. Roland yes

I would like to receive some very important advice from you. I have a Yamana psr S970. Here is already 3 years and a new SX 900 has been released, I would very much like to buy it. A big difference between the two synthesizers and is it worth it. Maybe a new one will be released soon and it's worth the wait? you know a lot about synthesizers, I would like some advise. PLS

Зачем Вы пьете в кадре ? Вас мучает невыносимая жажда именно во время сьёмки и Вы не можете дотерпеть до конца ? Ну выпейте много воды до начала...

Why does this make me feel like I just watched Bob Ross? How come I can’t find serious reviews of Arranger keyboards? Why do I feel slightly nauseous when I hear people play these keyboards- like I’m trapped in hell… I don’t understand what’s going on??

Thank you for the good and useful explanation, Could you please make another video explaning how to change drums kit location on the keyboard's keys , Regards.

Ah... Thanks for the idea from this video. I found out that I should do the same too😂 Picture in Picture with mirror. Brilliant!

Psrsx 700 I bought it's rubbish

I request More sx900 videos from you.

May i ask you if there is Steel Guitar Voice in the sx900

Dang I Sold mines 😢

hello sir. iam jayaraj from india i like your channel good very very good

Thanks so much for this video. I dont have anyone local to me to support me learning to make the most of my arranger and I have picked up a few tips here. Thankd you

Hahaha ! That auto-generated intro at 11:48 took me completely by surprise - thought it was really rather beautiful. Not what I was expecting at all !

8:08 what I cant understand , why does that trumpet need to sound so damn outdated? Is it really not possible for Yamaha to stick a better sound in without any extra cost?

Hi Woody. Just found your videos and they are great. Can I please ask. I own an iMac and if I want to buy this I would have to sell it. Would you recommend just having this to write music, or keep my iMac with a DAW and bu a cheaper middi controller. I am not interested in dance music and want to compose my own songs, however, I am a beginner :)

a sus 2 with a sus 4 added as well is an 11th add a 6th on top as well for a 13th. just count it off. a 13th is easier to think of as say playing a dm in the right hand with a C note in the left

I tried to look for your video comparing this keyboard and the Genos. Is there one? I am trying to decide whether to get Genos, Tyros 5, or this PSR SX900.

Im glad Ive found your channel! I have been wanting to get a arranger keyboard but wanted a review on it! Definitely will be watching more to learn!

Like from Ukraine!

Loved this video. Gave me a hope I can use this beast as a beginner. Big thanks!!

Expensive keyboards those PSR, Genos, and Tyros. Nearly as much as the Electone Stagea.

This is sparta?

Him: So, lets go to a different variat... Me: zzz...zzz.....zzzz

Cool Until I get this KBD (or the DGX) - I use software arranger lately to come up with better progressions and make simple tracks without building the entire orchestration. Same principles, you usually need the PC keyboard around the midi keyboard to switch and control the stuff you do on the physical PSR top buttons, but you can map some midi keys to the common stuff (intro/fill/ending + changes) Lovely video, thanks!

Doesn't the MODX do all this and so much more for like a grand less?

The tea, the shirt, what year is it?. And the biscuit?.

A good video and thanks for reminding me why I dislike the arranger keyboards so much... :) It brings to my mind the Casio I have berried in the corner of my bedroom and want to forget and is the only synth or keyboard I have owned ever that I really don't like. This is like a modern version of that. Still I'd like to have a MODX or something like that and have already several workstations, they are nice. These arranger keyboards seems to be a category not for me. I love to create arrangements and I'd hate if the machine does the fun bit for you.... :)

The range of given styles, & the packs you can buy, are interesting & cover music from much of the world. So you can ring the changes by playing a tune in a different genre, makes a pleasant change from the same old, same old. I'd like to see someone setting up one of these to play Soukous beat [with that jangling guitar sound] in the style of Kanda Bongo Man. Tinariwen's Desert Blues would be good too, as would songs by Afro Celt Sound System. Finally it would be amazing to incorporate those time signature changes we see in Prog Rock [eg Yes] songs.

Tidy!.

NO ME CANSO DE ESCUCHARLA!!

Hi. Is there anyone out in the big world who knows how to record a bassguitar in a midimultirecording project on the yamaha psr-sx700? I am stuck😌

Hi 👍🤪 Woody etc = thanks for these interesting demos for keyboard’s “ personally. I’ve run through most everything on net about this board ! It’s good I know ? But NOT good for me to change from my Tyros 5 = 76 note board , lots of people change instead of practicing & learning more as thy should to be a better player Themselves ! , so enjoy what you have & improve musically , cheers 👋🤪✅

dude that was the best and most informative video i have heard. thanks