3 Keyboard Intros Proving Keys Are as Cool as Guitars

Keyboards have played a crucial role in rock history. Bands ranging from The Doors to Coldplay have situated keys prominently alongside, if not in front of, the guitars.

Ray Manzarek’s Vox Continental organ riff in “Light My Fire” is just as recognizable as any great guitar riff. Similarly, imagine “Clocks” without Chris Martin’s anxious piano. Martin’s piano riff is so good the song doesn’t even need a chorus.

There’s a long list of great keyboard players and equally great keyboard intros. Consider this list an ode to the ivories (or plastic if you’re rocking something digital). Here, we shed light on three cool and undeniable keyboard bangers.

Might as well jump.

“Jump” by Van Halen from 1984 (1984)

If you’re the greatest rock guitarist since Jimi Hendrix and you want to stay a step ahead of the shredders stealing your licks, write your next hit on keys. In the 1980s, some bands ditched guitars for synthesizers. Van Halen didn’t exactly ditch the guitar, but “Jump” became the group’s biggest single, and it’s a keyboard tune. Eddie does burn a guitar solo midway through, but even then, he follows it by ripping a solo on his Oberheim synth. Similar to how Eddie’s homemade guitar set new standards for the instrument, future keyboard manufacturers began adding presets that mimicked “Jump.”

“Everything in Its Right Place” by Radiohead from Kid A (2000)

Following OK Computer, Thom Yorke was fed up with rock music. He borrowed a concept from Tom Waits where you write music on an instrument you don’t fully understand. The opening track on Kid A immediately informs the listener something has dramatically changed in Radiohead’s world. For starters, not every band member appears on the track. What may have been a piano song in earlier years was now a glitchy electronic piece with tumbling and seemingly randomized lyrics. All of it driven by Yorke’s Prophet synthesizer.

“Strawberry Fields Forever” by The Beatles (Single, 1967)

There are generations of listeners who first heard a Mellotron on “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Think of the Mellotron as a kind of sampler that uses tape. It was supposed to reproduce the sound of other instruments like flutes, strings, brass, and choir voices. But the tape fluctuations produced fluttering variations, making it perfect for psychedelic music. John Lennon wrote the tune as a wistful ode to the Salvation Army children’s home near where he lived in Liverpool in his younger years. Paul McCartney said the home was often described as “dull” and “grimy,” but Lennon saw it as something beautiful.

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