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Man, it's the end of the semester here. I'm working my ass off between gigs, students, classes and setting up my summer.

Musicians HAVE to think at least one season ahead. It's spring and if it isn't happening it probably won't. Get to summer. I bet the heavy cats are thinking 2 seasons or a year ahead. OK.

Anyway, let me officially announce we are working on Rhythm changes now. This is our tune of the month, officially.

So, why don't you guys blog about rhythm changes. What do you want to know? What do you think about??

Guys, here's a version of Ellington's Take The A Train. A Train is one of those tunes that can sound cheesey if you play too diatonic and "in". The changes are fairly diatonic, so if you just play chord tones and diatonic scales, it will sound pretty in. There are some techniques that we can use to venture out of the tonal area of the changes. Here are some ideas:

Improv techniques to get out of the key:

Leaning on chromatic approach notes to target notes (G# to A on C6)
Leaning on tensions (especially altered tensions on Dom 7 chords)

This is a promo video of the recording of '15', the new album of VinnieVibes, produced by bandleader and composer Vincent Houdijk.
The album will be released this year, the last steps are being made as we speak.

For more info http://www.vinnievibes.com

Enjoy,

Vincent Houdijk

Bach Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major-Sarabande

Carmine Fusaro
Univ. of Delaware

Bach Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major-Bouree 1 and 2

Carmine Fusaro
Univ. of Delaware

See what's going on inside a resonator.

I stumbled on this video. It demonstrates standing waves inside a tube closed at one end, just like vibraphone resonators.

There is a speaker on one end, connected to a tone generator (single frequency). The tube has holes along its length. Flamable gas flows through the tube. The holes are lit. The flame height is proportional to the air pressure at different locations inside the resonator.

The interesting part starts at 3:33.

Guys, here's a version of Jobim's Wave from the Berklee fundraiser concert that we did on 3/30/12. It features Matt Marvuglio on flute along with Nori Shiota on bass and Jazz Robertson on drums. Nori and Jazz are students at the school. I thought they both did a great job on the concert.

Doing some simple reharm doing my solo and comping for Matt's solo. Substitute Dom 7 chords, Dim Maj 7 in place of Maj 7, some constant structure chords, symmetrical diminished voicings, etc. The symmetrical diminished scale is also good for playing shapes when soloing.

Ed

I've got 2 high quality mics for sale. These AKG c-414s are excellent for studio recording or amplification on a gig. They are large diaphragm condenser mics that recording engineers have used and trusted for years.

This mic has 4 settings - cardioid, hyper cardioid, omni, and figure 8. It has 2 roll-off settings for low frequences of 75 hz or 100hz. You can also reduce the sensivity by 10 or 20 db. Both come with windscreen, mic stand adapter, case, and user manual.

Chris Thile is one of the best mandolin players in the world. He was in the band Nickel Creek, and now is in a band called Punch Brothers. He is a monster improviser who plays a lot of jazz, bluegrass, and classical music.

Check out his lines. The melodic development is really something... you can tell that he has played a lot of Bach. I heard him talk about how he practices Bach. He learns the piece, then improvises over the harmony playing stuff similar to what Bach wrote, but not the exact notes. What a great idea, treating Bach like a bebop head.