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coldpie 8 hours ago

For folks wondering wtf is going on with the key layout, this is what's called an isomorphic ("same shape") layout. The idea is you can learn how to play a certain grouping of notes relative to each other, and then you can play that same grouping anywhere on the keyboard relative to some other note. So for example a C major triad is the notes C-E-G played together. And a D major triad is the notes D-F#-A played together. If you learn the major triad shape on this keyboard, then you can move to the note C and play that shape and get a C major triad, or move to the note D and play that exact same shape and get a D major triad.

This is different from a linear layout like a traditional piano. Note above that the D major triad has an F# which means it is played on one of the piano's black keys, while the C major triad does not have a sharp, which means it is played entirely on the white keys. You have to keep track of which particular chord you are playing in order to know whether you need a black key or a white key. This means the shape you play to get each major triad is different, so a traditional piano is not an isomorphic ("same shape") layout.

Guitars are also isomorphic (when all the strings being played are fretted) and may be easier to think about. If you imagine fretting the lowest two strings at the 5th fret and playing them both, and then moving your finger up one fret on both strings, the interval between each of those two groupings of notes is the same - you've moved them each up one step, but the difference between them stays the same based on however the strings are tuned. Similar to this keyboard, on a guitar you can learn the shape of a (fully fretted) major triad, and then move that shape anywhere on the neck to play any major triad.

Accordion bass buttons work the same way. Looks confusing if you don't have any idea what's going on, but it's actually very intuitive and easy to learn and play.

dsego 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Not only the bass buttons, there is a type of chromatic button accordion, popular in eastern europe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Z4iPyFmAE

gpvos 5 hours ago | parent [-]

And then there are diatonic accordions, which all use a similar layout both for the bass and melody sides (but you can't play in all keys[0] on them, that's the difference between chromatic and diatonic). While they are simpler than chromatic accordions, they are now usually more expensive because fewer people play them.

[0] that is, ~"scales"; usually all buttons will be working

jrflo 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That's really cool, I would definitely be interested in a "normal" keyboard that had this kind of layout as a guitar player. Needing to remember different hand shapes to play a major chords took a long time to get used to - would love to be able to just "slide up" the shape like you do on guitar with bar chords.

coldpie 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I'm also primarily a guitar player. I picked up a piano accordion earlier this year, and I'm wondering if I should've gotten a button accordion instead[1]. A linear piano layout is just hard to wrap my head around, hahah. I guess it's probably good to learn, though, so I'll stick with it.

[1] Piano accordion on top, button accordion with isomorphic layout on bottom: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_converter_free-bas...

iAMkenough 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The House of the Rising Sun test of the commercial version of this keyboard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlZv13YZzSM

altairprime 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The layout can also be tuned for microtonal variants that wouldn't normally be playable without handcrafted custom instruments or per-string adjustable guitar frets or etc. I'm not fully familiar with the domain yet but as part of studying Caftaphata I ended up diverging into isomorphics for 41edo — someone else made https://mindparade.us/images/41edo_layout_8x8.png which could help explain that (cert warning asterisk noted).

taybin 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Now piano players will be able to join guitar players as not needing to read music or know theory!

stackghost 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Music theory has very little to do with playing music.

taybin 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Agreed, but it’s helpful for communicating to other musicians.