Listen to some Stranglers.
 
Generally speaking, the keyboard and the bass both play a far more up front part of the sound than the guitar. And over the course of 17 albums, I'd imagine Dave Greenfield's keys solos are more numerous than the guitar solos.
 
Check out the stunning solo passage in the middle of this cover of Walk On By (incidentally the best cover song of all time). First part is the keyboard solo (1:24), played over an ever increasingly busy bass part. Then the release into the guitar solo is perfect (3.27). Toward the end of the solo, the keys come back to share the lead work.
 

Karyn

Serenarules
In other words, why do we have to do the horns, strings, and sound effects all the time.

Simple answer..  Because you CAN.


Up until the late '70s if you wanted a convincing horn section on your track you had to hire a horn section.  Guitars always sounded like guitars, pianos like pianos, but suddenly in the '80s with half decent samplers it was possible to get half decent emulations of all sorts of sounds from a keyboard (but ironically, not piano...)

... or drums. Still looking for those 2.

I was going to chime in with my 2 cents but it's all been said and more.

But... that won't stop me.....
 
Embrace your obscurity on the stage.  Be the "Swiss army knife" (as Beagle put it) of the band. You play the strings and horns because quite matter of factly, no one else can do it. Drums, guitars, and bass certainly can't.  So you play it.  It's not the glamorous life, but there's a lot to be said for being able to walk around the venue or down the street without being mobbed by adoring fans or chased by paparazzi. (not that I would know how that is)
 
If you want to be famous..... get the chops and skills to be among the Rick Wakemans, and the Elton Johns, and the Liberace's of the world.  Really if you look at it realistically, even with guitarists and drummers and bassists, the same thing holds true. Only a relative few really are recognizable from their playing styles considering how many there are. Eddy, Steve, Jimi, etc.... and it's only because they have earned that esteemed place through their skills and chops.

craigb
Well, I for one enjoyed that!  Thanks Steve. 

I'll email you a few Stranglers suggestions when I get home later mate.

I DO have a lot from them (and they're alter-ego, the Purple Helmets), but that was a particularly good choice to post! 

I'd like to thank all who gave opinion, comments and suggestions in this thread. It has been incredibly helpful.
 
I have a further question though, and am unsure as to whether or not it deserves it's own thread. So I'll just continue here.
 
For 34 years I have played a certain way. I learned to play (guitar, bass and keys) by emulating my favorite band, A Flock of Seagulls. If you aren't familiar with them, I would suggest looking up a few videos on YouTube. For those that are, the overall arrangements are comprised of sustained legato pads, rudimentary bass lines, and simple guitar hooks. They typically stayed within a certain chord for a few measures before switching to the next. No passage was every very complex or faster than 1/8th notes. In the end, anybody with half a brain could learn their songs.

The problem is that, as an adult, I want to expand and get better, so I can play such things as Sledgehammer or Take on Me. Things of that nature. Therein lays the problem. Neither my mind, nor body, thinks this way. While that might seem like an odd statement and be hard to comprehend, it is the only way I can describe it.

Part of the problem is that I do not have a sequencer outside of SONAR and no, I can not afford one. My general mindset is that I do not like recording something I can not do live, and so, have never invested in a portable sequencer. I may not be the best, or even average, as a player, but at least I'm not lazy.

During the seven years since my stroke and onset of arthritis, I have adopted a set of finger exercises to increase my accuracy and speed. But I seem to have reached my threshold. I will keep doing them of course, but I am not sure it will make much difference.

This style of writing music is what I refer to as "block" writing. In other words, you stay within a certain block or chord, whereas typical music may change chords several times in one measure.

I have sat down, just as an exercise, and tried writing something that sounded like something Justin Bieber might sing (as well as other artists). The result always end up sounding like poo, or somehow migrates back to my usual fare.
 
If I had started following the greats when I was younger, I might be a lot more free now. For example, if I had learned Van Halen songs early, I would be a lot better guitarist I think. The same goes for other instruments. As it stands though, I now have 34 years of programming and muscle memory to undo.

The question is; how do I break free from this musical programming I have allowed myself to fall into?

Sincerely, Drew

A Flock of Seagulls...  My "guilty favorite" band! 

Serenarules
Part of the problem is that I do not have a sequencer outside of SONAR and no, I can not afford one.

 
I don't either. The unlimited MIDI tracks in Sonar represent one of the most powerful and easy to use linear sequencers available. I never used the included step sequencer, but it looks to be a good enough module to do the kind of loop composition that is popular among the kids today. If you have Sonar, you have everything you need to control real world synths/keyboards, softsynths, and sample players.

I think there is something even more basic than any of what has been recently discussed that I am missing. What would you say if I told that that no song ever has made me cry, or experience extreme happiness? When I write, it's more like a technical exercise, than something that comes from inside. I feel very little when I write or play. This is, of course, partially due to the fact that I absolutely must look at my hands and instrument while playing and must be constantly aware of what I've already played as well as what is coming up. Everything must be planned. My lyrics often fall short of blah simply because I really don't have anything to say.

On the point about being tone deaf. This is how I would describe it. You know how singers will use those pitch pipe things to center themselves before singing a song? I can't do that. I can not hear a note and hit it right away. I don't even come close. Sometimes, it's three or four whole tones off. If one were to play two notes in succession, I can tell they were different notes, but not the exact interval.
 
I really can't explain what goes on in my mind, but I just seem to be stuck in limbo. It's one thing to say "play from the heart" and quite another to actually do it when there isn't anything there. I want to break away from this, and play with freedom and expressiveness, but after 34 years, I still haven't found the path, let alone actually do it.

Hopefully this made a little more sense than previous posts. I'm still open for all comments and suggestions.

To be honest... As an introverted teen, it was a way for me to interact with and gain the admiration of those I couldn't talk to in person. I've been doing it so long now I fear the emptiness of quitting.

Thanks. The more I think about all this, the more I think I probably should move on. I used to enjoy listening to music, but once I started playing, it became work.

That's it exactly. When I try to right brain things, I come up blank.

If there was a style of music that I wanted to sound like, I would start listening to that band/artist/style all of the time; let it become programmed in the brain.  
 
I would probably take some time away from music to let my head recharge itself.  Maybe a couple of weeks or a month.  Come back fresh.  Drink a glass of wine and let the inner creativity come out.  What comes out is probably going to be your style, but not exactly what you wish it to be.  Embrace your style.  Look for the things that seem to work, in your style and play off of those things.  A lot of our influences have developed over a life time.  We still each sound unique, however.  
 
Collaborations are another thing you can do, to change your sound.  Work with someone/ people who has/have similar tastes, but a different sound or writing style.  It pushes you to perform.  You naturally sound different, when mixed with other band mates.  

I'm not sure if changing genres would make much difference. I am just too burned out. I'm going to take a few months off and see what happens.