I recently posted a request for help, and boy, did I get it. Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond, some at considerable length, some off this post. And Big Nick made a video, no less. And Sarah weighed in from France! This forum and it's contributors are awesome.
Here is a very helpful learning aid I haven't seen on this forum, at least in a long while...Steve Steinman's "Pattern Playing" books. These are not Tune books, but reference books that clearly lay out the various zones and positions on the keyboard, and patterns that are commonly played within these zones. It's very helpful when you're learning the basics...like learning the 1, 4, 5 chords on the guitar. You can then play along with anything in that key, while you learn the melody. There are charts and keyboard layouts in color, very easy to follow.
Steve has two books I know about, "Diatonic Single Row Pattern Playing" and "Three Row Diatonic Pattern Playing." Last time I checked they were $10 each, well worth it. The email I have for Steve is ncbr@att.net. Definitely worth checking out.
I have both books.. found them of limited use..but they did solve some problems for me ( patterns ). I imagine we have lots of foro members who could re-write those books, or improve on them.
I would love to see someone post a permanent posting or link here regarding: all the keys that can be played on and the tabbed chord positions for boxes in all keys.