i`ve been playing piano for about 6 monthes and i`m having trouble playing off beat melodys, what are some tips or exercises to do to learn to play off beat well.. thanks for the help.

You mean syncopated rhythms?

yes thats what i mean

Here`s how I would do it:
If I had a recording of whatever I`m playing, I would listen to it and try to determine exactly what plays at what time. About 5 times are enough for most syncopated rhythms. 10 times at most. If it`s too crazy, look at the score and find what the composer`s trying to get at. Draw slurs, make miscellaneous marks, ignore the time signature, if you have to.

thanks for the tip,... i`ll try that

actually i really just want to be able to make up my own syncopated piano lines and be able to play them on the fly. i get sick of haveing to program them into my sequencer, because i can`t play on the off beat that well. maybe there are some practice exercises i could do?

You could keep counting out loud when you practice improvisation, and in your head later (out loud is harder than in your head). Or maybe sightread syncopated rhythms.

Figuring out what the rhythm is supposed to sound like is half the battle. This is where counting rhythms comes in. If you`re playing straight notes in 4/4 time, you count "1-2-3-4" for quarter notes, or "1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and" for eighth notes. A typical syncopated rhythm is one where some of the notes fall on the "ands" instead of on the beats. So for a typical syncopated rhythm you might count "1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and," (where the notes fall on the counts in boldface). If you leave out the ones where no notes are played, you might count "1 ... and, and, and 1 ..." Then you`ve got your syncopated rhythm.

The other half of the problem is developing RH and LH "independence"--that is, getting to where your hands can play different, interlocking rhythms at the same time. Try practicing both hands seperately, starting out slowly at first, and gradually building up speed. One hand at a time. Get to where you can play either hand up to speed, automatically, without thinking about it. Then try RH and LH together, starting out slowly.

For exercises, I suggest getting a book containing Afro-Cuban tumbaos. These are the piano riffs in salsa music, mambo, etc. There`s a lot of syncopation in this kind of music, but the riffs are simple and repetitive enough that you can pick them up fairly quickly. I have one called "Afro-Cuban Keyboard Grooves" by Manny Patino and Jorge Moreno, which I`ve enjoyed a lot. They`re awfully fun to play. It comes with a CD so you can play along and also so you can hear what it`s supposed to sound like before you even start, which can be useful.

Hope that helps.