[Help] Korg NanoKey Studio Scale and Key

DYMS

Hello all,
I was hoping someone with a Korg NanoKey Studio could help me out.

I really like the Scale Guide feature, but I have noticed that all the backlit keys stay on/start from the “C” position, even if I change the musical key. This is OK from a usability stand point, but isn’t helping me learn the actual position of the keys in the key and scale.

Is there anyway to have the backlit keys highlight the actual keys as they relate to the musical key and scale or are the stuck on C?

Thanks for any help.

livemike

Following: I’ve wondered this myself one of the reasons I bought it was to help learn those as well.

wim

I agree that would be ideal, but unfortunately there is not a way to do that. It’s especially confusing if you change the key. Theres no way to easily know that you’ve transposed to F# minor when you play always C as the root note.

thatguysmitty

While in key/scale mode, hold shift and use the +/- keys to go up and down from middle C. The lights on the keys will tell you what the new root note is.

Calverhall

@thatguysmitty beat me to it, thats how you do it.

wim

@thatguysmitty said:
While in key/scale mode, hold shift and use the +/- keys to go up and down from middle C. The lights on the keys will tell you what the new root note is.

Sure, that's great for when you make the change, but you also need to remember where you were. Some of us are challenged in the remembering department.

The real point though is the OP is right, it would be nice if there was a mode that would light up the proper keys (and maybe disable the out of scale keys). I would much prefer to have an aid to playing "properly" sometimes than just always hitting the white (black in this case) keys.

Calverhall

Haha, I don't know if there is an app for memory (yet!)

wim

There is, but I forgot the name of it.

DYMS

@thatguysmitty said:
While in key/scale mode, hold shift and use the +/- keys to go up and down from middle C. The lights on the keys will tell you what the new root note is.

Thanks for that. I just tested it, but I think it is the same behaviour as I described in my original post. When I hit the scale guide button it defaults to Major Scale in C. All the black keys are back lit to show these are the keys that match that scale. If I then use the Shift / Tap button and the Octave buttons to shift the Key to Bb (two steps back from C) the only keys that are back lit are still the black keys that correspond to the C Major scale. However, the "C" key now actually plays a Bb note.

Is that what you get @thatguysmitty or am I doing something wrong/different?

I guess the solution would be to keep everything in a C scale? The Dorian C scale has all the notes I need in the correct position, and it teaches me more about how other scales relate to C. Win Win

david_2017

Has someone cracked the riddle by now?
Somehow this transpose thing does not work here as well.
I am setting the scale (lets say Ionian) and transpose this to D. The Nanokey is lighting up still only the white keys (on the nanokey they are black unfortunately). As @DYMS is writing it’s playing the transposed notes but the keys are staying c major scale. I thought about learning the right keys as well.

I am sure I am missing something... but what?

kevin627

Also wondering about this. I assumed that you could change the key without transposing the entire keyboard (so that notes in a specific key other than C would be backlit when in the "Scale Guide" mode, as they would appear on a standard, non-transposed keyboard/piano). Any recent discoveries or tips?

@david_2017 @DYMS @wim @Calverhall @thatguysmitty @livemike

colpittsdavid

I was shopping online, and hoping the backlighting of keys would adjust itself to the selected key, as well as the scale type. OTOH, it would require some extra code, I gues....15 scale types require 15 (or 14, 'cause of the relative minors using the same keys?) light patterns, so with 12 scale degrees, one might expect to need more like 180 different patterns, and some feedback from the key switches? That might be a lot to expect for two hundred bucks, but if anyone knows how to do it, it would be a huge learning aid for non-keyboard folks like me! I suspect I could switch the keys in ThumbJam, and just play the same "C" patterns on the keyboard. I'd learn a bunch, but not full translation to the "real" piano later.

laserwolf

Hello all. I was wondering the same thing and found this thread by searching for a solution. So I wanted to post in case this is still helpful to anyone. I am using Korg nanoKEY Studio with Korg Gadget 2 on an ipad. I loaded a synth instrument into a track in Gadget on the iPad and hit the “Scale” button on it to display all the scale and key options. At this point, when activate Scale Guide on nanoKEY and then hold Shift/Tap and press Scale + or - pads, I see the keyboard lights change from all “white” keys (C Major scale) lit to just the keys in the chosen scale lit. And I do see the scale and key selection change on the instrument in the Gadget app at the same time, in sync. Now the correct keys for the scale I want to play are lit as desired. Seems like maybe the Scale Guide feature only works in conjunction with the app? Hope that helps!

supadom

@wim said:
There is, but I forgot the name of it.

😂😂😂😂classic