Christine's keyboard talents
 

Over the years, I've never heard much discussion about Christine's keyboard (or piano) talent. I'm no musician, so I was wondering what others might say. Was she as good a keyboard player as she was a singer?

I'm not musician either, but I loved how it sounds when she played keyboards. But I agree I never read any comment about her being a gret keyboard player, as I read about Lindsey being a very good guitarist

Christine has never claimed to be a vituoso keyboard player.

Her style was perfect (?) though for the Rumours lineup of FM

Gail

I think Christine's own statement that her keyboard is a part of the rhythm section says it all. She never thought of her keyboard as being a "lead" instrument. That was the guitarist's job. Playing flashy solos on the keyboards was for some other band, not Fleetwood Mac. I'm certain that she'd be capable of playing flashy solos if the arrangements of the songs called for them, but they almost never did.

Nonetheless, some of my favorite Mac songs are the ones that feature her keyboards most prominently, because I just love the way she plays when her playing is an important part of the arrangement of a song. This is true from the blues playing of the 'Christine Perfect' album, to the almost-psychedelic-rock playing of "Homeward Bound," "The Ghost," and other songs from the Welch-era Mac, to the piano ballads ("Songbird," etc.).

It is my opinion that Christine has never received proper recognition for her pioneering role as a woman musician in a rock band. She was the first woman to perform the three roles of singer, songwriter, and musician in a pop band. I think if Chris had been a more flashy keyboard player, she might have received more acclaim for this pioneering role.

Very well put. I'm sure she has a good technical albility, I'm mean she's capable of "ploughing through some Mozart" she's just not a flashy player and doesn't feel the need to show off.

Gail

On my precious Tusk Tour Christine was given a flashy piano solo in the song Don't Stop and at the end of the song Lindsey would say, "wow, what a piano player!"

I remember that too. That was a rare chance to hear Chris play a real piano solo. I remember at the time wishing that there were more of those.

Christine's musicianship was on display during that tour more than some others; that is the tour where she played guitar on one song, and of course her accordion playing on "Tusk" is extremely memorable.

Actually now I think about it on the Behind the Mask tour she did a flashy little solo on "Stop Messin around". I've got the boot from the Manchester concert I think I'll give it a listen tonight.

Gail

I love Brett. I am especially thankful for him after the UTS tour, but it annoyed me on the SYW tour when he was showing off during Don't Stop and then playing with his elbows. He was doing it more for humor and not for ego, I realize. But I didn't like it.

Michele

I think she played guitar on Save Me A Place. Oddly on the Tusk Tour the only new songs Chris played was Over and Over and Think About Me.

'Think About me' live on the Tusk tour? I didn't know they had that in their set, I'd love to hear a live version of that song. Was this during rehearsals only, or did it actually make it to the set? Did Stevie stay on stage for it? Or, skitted backstage to giggle with her girlfriends and do a few lines.

They played "Think About Me" near the end of the tour as it was being released as a single. They played "Over And Over" at the beginning of the tour, then for some reason stopped. They never played "Brown Eyes" on the Tusk tour, but did play it on both the Mirage & Tango tours.

I love Chris' keyboards, especially her piano....very understated and as Gail mentioned perfect for Fleetwood Mac. Unfortunately, from the Tango tour until the Dance tour, they pretty much got lost in the mix.

The weird thing about OVER & OVER is that it was in (the fall), & then out (the winter & spring), & then back in again (the final month).

Here's THINK ABOUT from Mobile 8.11.80:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/03ci5n

I thought it was interesting when I saw Stevie live last week that she described her two piano/keyboardists entirely differently. The first she mentioned was one of the best pianist she had ever known/worked with/one of those and the other she complimented by saying he brought to her songs what Christine used to bring to Fleetwood Mac and she loved that. Before she introduced the second, I remember being slightly sad that she'd say that after working with Christine for all that time, but after she introduced the second, I felt that left Chris in an even higher regard. Christine's talents aren't just fancy fingerwork and piano solos, it's also heart and doing what works best for the song. I like that about her.

Absolutely. Pop music is about songs. It's not about virtuoso playing; in fact, virtuoso playing is often a detriment to a pop song, whether it's keyboards, guitars, or even drums. The playing should always serve the song, not the other way around. Fans of prog rock will disagree, of course.

I adore the way Christine plays...

she has an essence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzXYpm18lG8

Amazing example of what Chris is capable of..

Blues piano is not easy.

I know I play... lots of dominant chords...

I read somewhere that she said for blues piano you have to have a strong left hand.

Does it necessarily help then to be left handed?

Gail

I'd say for boogie-woogie even more than for blues. Still, your right hand has to do all the embellishments & arpeggios & whatnot, too, but similar requirements could be noted for all types of music.

Here's my view, often stated: It's not that it necessarily helps but being left-handed (like Christine) certainly affects one's style & one's sound. Christine's I-V shuffle in the left hand is more metronomic & more precise than a lot of other piano players who have played all those FM shuffles. I think that's due to two reasons: her being left-handed & her playing music with Mick Fleetwood for so many years.

My view of christine's chops is that she is not highly gifted or remarkably agile but that she has enormous personal style within her limited technique -- she is recognizable. In that sense, Christine is to other rock & blues pianists as Lindsey is to other rock & blues guitarists & Mick is to other rock & blues drummers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krHnt0PFQjo

Early Christine keyboard skills..

say, what kind of keyboard is she playing here anyway?

I knew you would have the answer David ;)

I wonder if she used this on any of the actual FM albums.

Actually, I would like to do what kind of keyboards she used on EVERY FM album..

Lots. That's a pianet on "Hypnotized," "Sands of Time," "Prove Your Love," "Did You Ever Love Me," "Keep On Going," etc. etc.

After 1975, you can hear it only on "Fleetwood Mac Live" on "Say You Love Me," "Dreams," "Don't Let Me Down Again," & "Rhiannon."

Interesting. thank you

Gail

Christine is very special. She's my idol.

The thing is... there's a lot of musicians out there that are technically better than most of my favorite artists...

Christine Perfect/McVie is a great example of someone that is competent enough with her intrument to create her own sound, her own essence and muse.....

It's sometimes very soft, funky, driven, groovey, bluesy, chordal, arpeggiated, mellow, and cool......

I love how distinct she can be... being technical to me is respecting the craft of making music... being emotional and personal is executing it with the technique that you have....

Some other very distinct artists ... you can tell it's them because of their style with their instrument

Pat Metheny
Geddy Lee
Miles
Wayne Shorter
George Benson
David Gilmour
Herbie
Tori
Joni
Jaco
....... some of these artists have tons of technical skill while others use both, and others, don't have much....

Yes, yes, indeed. Consider the "acoustic" recording of FRIENDS from a few years ago. Christine's Fender Rhodes is everything you say it is: no other keyboardist (with the possible exception of Bob Hall) would have recorded such a simple but fetching accompaniment to this well-structured pop song in quite this way.

Yes, yes, yes, indeed.

Beethoven, of course, was a mindblowing virtuoso pianist before he hit his compositional stride. Beethoven & Chris McVie have many things in common. Like Beethoven, Christine fought in court for the custody of her nephew over the course of several years, & this wrenching personal struggle affected her songs in startling ways. Like Beethoven, Christine moved numerous times, never settling permanently, always battling landlords & fellow tenants. And like Beethoven, Christine's popularity waned as the taste for Italian (& Italianate) opera -- especially Rossini's work -- grew, until in later years the public regarded the aging, slovenly former member of Fleetwood Mac as compositionally played-out & indeed psych0logically unhinged.

Beethoven & Chris McVie! Two precious spirits of the tonal arts!

Well, so did Mark Harmon. I wonder if this effected his acting on Navy NCIS. Michele

Chris McVie was Beethoven with a wig!!!

LOL! I think you mean it the other way .... Beethoven is Chris with a wig.

Is there a list anywhere of all of Christine's keyboards? I would just love, love, love knowing what she is playing on all of the songs.

I enjoy her playing so much. Pop music isn't about virtuoso playing ... it's about playing that matches the song. And Chris' playing matches the songs so beautifully.

It's pretty easy to list what Chris has been playing live since the band broke huge in America, but it's a lot harder to list all the studio keyboards she may have used. Who would know entirely at this date? Not even the engineers would remember. So much time has passed.

LIVE
Hohner Pianet N
Hohner Combo Pianet
Hammond B3
Hamilton acoustic grand
ARP String Ensemble
Fender Rhodes suitcase
Yamaha CP30
Yamaha acoustic grand
Yamaha acoustic console
Yamaha KX-88 controller
Accordion

For studio, add:
Hohner Clavinet D6
Yamaha DX-7
Minimoog
Oberheim
Multimoog
Vox Continental

Saw this in a Billboard biography of Hauschka (Volker Bertelmann), an independent experimental musician based in Dusseldorf, Germany.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?pid=682874


Hauschka has successfully combined the chamber music aspect of prepared piano (see composers Henry Cowell, John Cage, Christian Wolff, Max Richter, Maurice Delage and Arvo Part) with pop, rock and electronic sensibilities. Incredibly, this puts him in league with such diverse artists as easy listening duo Ferrante & Teicher, rockers John Cale of the Velvet Underground, Tom Constanten of the Grateful Dead, Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Elton John, the Waitresses, Eddie Van Halen and Tori Amos; electronica's mad scientist Aphex Twin; Ernst Horn of the Darkwave ensemble Deine Lakaien, jazz pianist Brad Mehldau and Terry Adams of NRBQ.

It remains to be seen whether Christine also has an unusually thick skull...or if her mynah bird was just miming.

I thought this was the best place to post:

LIVE

2013 - Maui: Yamaha MOTIF ES-8

2013 - London: Yamaha CP1

Amen to that! It's long forgotten that she paved the way for many women in rock.

She was quite the anomaly back then, wasn't she?