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Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synth Soloists
Synth and Software contributor Jerry Kovarsky provides his list of synth players that are unsurpassed at playing leads and solos.
Originally published May, 2020
I challenged founding editor Geary Yelton to go deeper than just a basic Top 10. I envisioned multiple Top 10 lists of synthesists based on different criteria. I wanted not just some overall popularity or influence contest, but multiple views of players excelling at different aspects of making music with synthesizers. Geary called me on my suggestion, and so here I am with but one view based on an area I’ve explored for many years now: lead synth soloing.
Let me define the criteria I used to develop this list:
- Players must have taken many synth solos over their careers, not just a few known recorded solos.
- Their solos must be actual solos. You may be surprised how many people’s favorite synth solo is really just part of a composition, always played verbatim. I think of those as using a synth to play melodic lines that are clearly part of an arrangement, not a solo. Think of players like Tony Banks of Genesis—a synth player for sure, but not much of a soloist by my criteria, which was by his choice.
- The player should interact with the synth, using controllers and varying the sound some. There are some great players with solos played on a synth that could have easily been played on piano or organ. Nothing in the performance required it to be played a synth other than basic timbre. Pitch bends, filter sweeps, vibrato, varied use of portamento, and other types of timbral change should be a clear part of their performance capabilities.
With all that in mind, let’s get started.
Jan Hammer
Jan is an obvious choice. Armed with a Minimoog, he defined the art of using pitch bend to emulate guitaristic performance and inspired almost every other player on my list. Besides his flawless pitch-bend technique and strong sync and mellower square-wave timbres, his unique note choices and always interesting rhythmic groupings stood out from his peers. He continued to explore timbre, effects, amplification, and controllers to first define the role of a lead synth player as an equal foil to a guitar player, and he stood toe to toe with many of the best.
Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synth Soloists – NEXT
George Duke
For me, George is probably tied for first place with Jan Hammer; such was his influence and expertise as a lead synth player. What stands out about George’s playing is his bluesy and expressive bending. He achieved an almost vocal quality in his playing, and he just oozed feeling and soul. His early solo albums like Feel and The Aura Will Prevail featured lots of soloing, as did his many guest spots on others’ recordings. In the more commercial recordings he started making in the late ’70s, he still featured many solos played within the confines of more R&B-based music. A number of his later recordings like Dukey Treats, Déjà Vu, and his final release Dreamwaver showed him still playing deeply creative music with lots of tasty synth soloing.
Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synth Soloists – NEXT
Chick Corea
Starting in the electric version of Return to Forever on Where Have I Known You Before (1974), Chick was at the forefront of soloing on a synthesizer. A prodigious soloist, Chick used his very advanced jazz vocabulary to take soaring solos and engage in duets and musical dialogs with his fellow bandmates. He continues doing that to this day. For my taste, he was not the subtlest of synth manipulators in that he often used very deep and fast LFO-based vibrato, and he would take some very wide pitch-bend excursions. Chick explored a lot of timbral variety on his early Moog and ARP synths—perhaps more than his contemporaries. He got very deep into MIDI and digital synthesis during the days of the Elektric Band.
Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synth Soloists – NEXT
Joe Zawinul
As the co-leader of Weather Report, Joe explored the more electronic nature of freer jazz playing. Early on in the band he was quoted as saying, “We never solo; we always solo.” He helped to define the jazz-rock movement with his work with Miles Davis and then Weather Report. Joe certainly was a master arranger using synths to expand his sonic palette, but he also took many synth solos across the band’s recorded legacy. Joe was not very fond of pitch bending, but he added lots of highly unique timbral changes to his tones as he played. In his later band The Zawinul Syndicate, his synth of choice for soloing was often the Korg Prophecy, which he custom programmed to create a number of signature lead timbres.
Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synth Soloists – NEXT
Tom Coster
Tom came to the public’s attention during his tenure with Santana. He was partly responsible for Carlos’s expansion from his rock/Latin hybrid music into more exploratory styles. Tom followed in Jan Hammer’s footsteps in developing his lead synth playing, exploring guitar amps and pedal effects along with his Moog Liberation keytar (how I hate that term!). You can find examples of this on his wonderful but long-out-of-print solo albums like T.C. and Ivory Expedition. As time passed, he started using other gear, continuing to play and record burning fusion music and some slightly more commercial crossover efforts. Touring with Billy Cobham and others and joining drummer Steve Smith’s Vital Information band in 1986, he continued playing his impassioned lead synth until retiring in 2015.
Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synth Soloists – NEXT
David Sancious
David Sancious is a prodigious keyboardist who is a masterful lead synth player and guitarist. His talents first came to my attention when he released a legendary fusion record called Forest Of Feelings in 1975, followed by Transformation: The Speed Of Love in 1976. David always liked to work with controllers while playing, preferring multiple assignable wheels and boards with aftertouch. He started exploring using a breath controller the moment Yamaha first showed one being used with their VL7 physical-modeling synth at an AES Show in 1995 (he was walking the show with Jan Hammer, of all people). He continues to use a breath controller to craft highly expressive synth solos today, whether touring with Sting, Peter Gabriel, Eric Clapton, or other luminaries.
Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synth Soloists – NEXT
Eddie Jobson
A dual-threat musician on both keyboards and violin, Eddie came to the public’s attention playing with Curved Air and then Roxy Music. He even played with Frank Zappa for a couple years (1977–78). That teaming produced one of my favorites of his Minimoog solos on the tune eventually called “Läther” (which was more socially acceptable than its original title) from Zappa in New York. Leaving to join the band U.K. with Bill Bruford, he recorded three of the most beloved albums in prog-rock history, U.K., Danger Money and Night After Night. Eddie played a Yamaha CS-80 polyphonic analog along with a Minimoog, later adding a Prophet-5, and took some excellent solos. Deep fans will remember his first solo album Zinc (The Green Album) recorded in 1983, again featuring some outstanding synth playing. Check out his incredible musicianship on his career-retrospective live recording Four Decades.
Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synth Soloists – NEXT
Jens Johanssen
Swedish synth virtuoso Jens Johanssen first came to worldwide attention playing keys with Yngwie Malmsteen. For six years he developed a virtuosic soloing style that blended Bach, Mozart, and Paganini along with a dose of blues and fusion influences. To match the over-the-top playing of his boss, he did it with the execution and tone of a lead guitar player. His playing with Yngwie became the template for so many keys/synth players that followed in similar genres, he is considered the OG influence. He originally made his much-coveted lead synth tone on a lowly Korg Polysix through a Morley JD10 distortion pedal. He later began using a DX7 driving a Roland JV-1080 module—and more recently a Roland controller driving a smaller JV-1010—always with the Morley pedal. That’s not exactly the high-end gear you might have imagined, but his tone, expressive control, and powerful playing have earned him legions of fans.
Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synth Soloists – NEXT
Derek Sherinian
Derek started off playing in hard rock bands such as Alice Cooper and Kiss. He became a synth-fan favorite with his time in progressive metal band Dream Theater. There he developed his powerful lead synth playing style, which has continued through projects and bands such as Planet X and Black Country Communion, as well as seven solo recordings. Over the years he’s played with most of the big names in shredding guitar. He has developed a fierce lead synth sound that involves the use of tube amp heads, plenty of guitar pedal effects, and guitar speaker cabinets. (Check out his YouTube channel for tours of his rig and studio.) That makes him an important part of the lineage I’ve shown from Jan Hammer, Tom Coster, and Jens Johanssen in taking the guitaristic approach to timbre.
Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synth Soloists – NEXT
Jordan Rudess
There is probably no more virtuosic keyboard player making progressive music today than Jordan Rudess. A child prodigy who studied at Julliard, Jordan has been omnipresent on the music and keyboard technology scene for decades now. Time spent playing with the Dregs, recording various solo releases, and projects like the Rudess/Morgenstein Project and Liquid Tension Experiment (with members of Dream Theater) led to his joining Dream Theater in 1999, where he remains to this day. He has played with many side projects, endorses and consults for music technology companies, and even has his own music software development company. (I’ve heard a rumor that he sleeps, but that hasn’t been proven.) Jordan’s synth soloing work is excellent, with lots of expressive technique: pitch bends with deep downward dives and more limited upward range, vibrato played using pitch bend rather than an LFO, and joystick and ribbon gestures. Jordan utilizes all the tricks in the book. You can find plenty of YouTube clips of him demonstrating synths and his apps to get a close-up look at his playing skills.
Okay, I realize I’ve already named the Top 10, but I have one extra deserving more recognition.
Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synth Soloists – NEXT
Dave Stewart
Brit keyboardist Dave Stewart is a consummate musician who’s lived under the radar of many younger musicians. He played in a number of classic British bands in the ’70s such as Egg, Hatfield and the North, and National Health. He first became well known to a wider audience from his playing on Bill Bruford’s album Feels Good to Me (1978), and then the band Bruford’s seminal releases One of a Kind and Gradually Going Tornado. After that band broke up, Stewart took a hard left and starting producing highly imaginative pop recordings with vocalist Barbara Gaskin. Their work has been his main output since 1981. You should search out their recordings such as Up from the Dark, The Big Idea, and Spin to hear some incredible lead synth programming and playing. I can’t recommend him highly enough; he is one of my all-time favorites.
In Closing
Didn’t see your favorite here? I bet they would have shown up in my next five choices, but you never know. In the end it’s all opinion, and this is mine. What’s yours? Let us know online. We’d love to hear from you.
Check out – Synth and Software’s Top 10 Synthesists