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A Blues Bass Line

tonymiceli 22 February 2010
The best thing about a jazz swing bass line is it does 2 things. The first is it is supposed to outline the chord changes very clearly. The second is in it's main function it insists on being played on each beat. A great way to study chords and improvisation is to play bass lines. This doesn't have to be strict for our purposes. By this I mean you don't have to stick to the low end of your instrument. If you're not a bass player just play quarter notes and outline the chords. Below is an example of a simple blues bass line.

Pop/Rock tunes for solo vibes??

tedwolff 19 February 2010

Let's face it, not every gig allows us to play the difficult and hip jazz tunes we all spend hours shedding. Even many of the best known standards are completely foreign (and possibly boring) to a large section of general audiences today.

So what to play for all those restaurant and casual gigs that might hire a solo vibes player as an alternative to a pianist or guitarist? It's surprising how well many tunes from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and even the 90s will translate to solo vibes. Tunes people will generally recognize and appreciate are great choices to sprinkle into your sets.

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