intermediate

I'm a week behind because I was out of town last week and didn't figure it was worthwhile to post a video of me playing on the towel. (see pic attached).

I put together a few different lessons here and then in the end, tried a little "play along" to bring some of the concepts together. It's a work in progress. haha. Meaning, this is all a little rough (understatement?) but that's what practicing is all about, right? :)

The lesson(s): A few of Behn's blues lessons. (Thanks Behn!) 3rds and 7ths, dominant lines, etc...I explain it all in the video.

Sometimes ya gotta just open the book and play whatever tune turns up. So that's what I did. No practicing, just play.
I've always loved this tune as a ballad. I'd never read through it before this (and it sorta sounds like it! haha). I did try to bring in some of what I've been working on recently though...

This is for you, Tony. Thank you for ALL you do for the us here at Vibesworkshop! You're the best...

Can You Do This?

Balafon to Vibraphone: a unique path to new ideas

I wanted to share some thoughts about my balafon lessons and how they might connect to your primary instrument: vibes, marimba, piano, etc.

I've told this story a million times. So sorry if you heard it before.

When my 1st wife was pregnant she came home and said so many woman were pregnant at the save time. I said I bet it's not any more than usual however you are pregnant and now you're seeing all these other pregnant women. We got into a big fight!

The point is, sometimes just doing stuff will pay off later.

Practice dividing the octave up into 3 parts and don't worry about why. I can do it very easily and if you can't then you should so we both can do it, think about it and talk about it.

Read the pdf for all the information. Using licks to learn vocabulary and to practice moving harmony around in different keys is great! Take all your licks and move them around!

Find variations of them as well. Then you won't be a copy and paste player. You'll understand vocabulary and harmony and harmonic sound.

Great interview with Mike Mainieri. I'm probably the only person who hasn't seen it already but I thought it was excellent.

https://youtu.be/2053-hgjve0

I saw Tony's email on Friday with a link to the music for this, so I decided to take a look at it last night. And shot this video this morning.

There's at least one wrong note, so I haven't earned the "free" skype lesson, yet...assuming no one else has posted this. Has someone? :)

It obviously helped a ton to write in the chord symbols (pic attached). Took it slowly to make sure I am learning it. Challenging!

Thanks for the inspiration, Tony. I have so much work to do. Onward!

National Science Foundation contacted me at the fire house in McMurdo Station and asked if I would put something together for International Jazz Day from Antarctica. This was at the end of my shift on 4/25. They said they needed two-and-a-half minutes of recorded music by the afternoon of 4/26. I got off work the morning of 4/26, went straight to the Chapel Of The Snows (where I keep my vibraphone and practice), got four volunteers from the firehouse to hold camera phones while I played.