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I never treated minikeys as anything other than a portability tradeoff and something used for creating short loops with midi-controller, but recently I got Yamaha Reface DX and I'm having so much fun with it. After a couple of days I've realised, however, that I'm using unconsciously some techniques I never of very rarely using with a regular-sized keyboard, such as:

  • I can play buy one hand 16-semitone intervals so that I can single-handedly have sort of bass line.
  • I can press (simultaneously or consecutively) two adjacent keys by one finger (something I do rarer on a big keyboard)
  • I more often slide between adjacent keys.

All that makes me rethink minikeys as slightly different instrument, not to that extent as electric bass and upright bass but still different.

My question is - are there any pieces that were composed specifically for playing on minikeys so I can practice and improve techniques that are applicable exclusively/mainly with smaller keyboards.

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  • How big are your hands? I can barely hit a 9th (14 semitones) on a regular piano, and I can hit a 10th fairly comfortably on the smaller keyboard at my sister's place. I also occasionally need to hit adjacent keys simultaneously with my thumb (in some pieces of classical music). – Dekkadeci Mar 9 at 5:41
  • @Dekkadeci my hands are small) but it 16 semitones, I’ve mistyped it, so thank you for the comment, fixed! – shabunc Mar 9 at 7:45
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    This isn't exactly a source of compositions ready to play, but something that comes to mind from your question is 8-Bit Keys — lots of reviewing new and old toy keyboards, and most videos include music made to fit the particular keyboard. I don't recall a focus on the kinds of techniques you mention, but it might be somewhat informative. – Kevin Reid Mar 10 at 15:47

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