Hi all, I'm a piano/vocalist who is finally getting a trio together (piano, bass and drums) and I need some help.

The problem is, I have been accompanying myself for so long that my piano style incorporates the bass lines (and rhythms) in all my playing. Now I have heard that not only does this sound bad once you have a real bass player but also will mightily annoy your bass player if you're hitting his notes all the time. But it's so ingrained in my playing and all my arrangements now that I find it really hard and awkward to try and miss out the bass note in each chord. So I was wondering if any of you good people out there could give me a few tips on how to achieve this or point me in the direction of some good books or videos that would help. Many thanks. Joe.

Try to play the chords in the left hand in the middle C range, or even just the bass note in that higher register. Sometimes you might just want to omit a LH part completely. I play bass also, so I can understand the situation - I also have a tendency to use block octaves in my LH playing the keys.

Unless ALL you can do with your LH is block octaves you should be able to make a change, but it's not easy to alter one's style. But you can also try to keep in mind that playing solo is far different from being in an ensemble situation. When playing with others you generally have to 1) play a little less loud, 2) accept that there will be times where your part is counting measures of rest and 3) be aware that others around you have their own parts/ranges that their instruments cover better than you might.

Indeed, this tends to be a problem with many "garage" rock bands. No one in those situations usually has any legit enemble experience, so you get 2 guitarists playing almost the same part at ear splitting levels, and often overlapping in the range of the bassist...and then they wonder about the muddy mix they get. Add in a drummer who has no sense of how to play soft (or as many rockers do, equates "soft = slow") and you get a recipe for crap....

Thanks for the advice Edski. This is just the kind of insight I needed. Too easy for us pianists to become isolated in our own little self-contained worlds so great to hear from one who's a bassist too. Cheers!