intermediate

Here is a quick and dirty lesson on "Bubblehouse" by Medeski Martin and Wood from the album "Shack-Man". Stefan had requested more beginner stuff so this is what came to mind. It was a jammy-jam type of song that was popular when I was a tween in college. It was one of the first songs I heard and said "I can play that" and just walked over to the vibes and started banging it out. I busted it it out a few times when stuck jamming with rocker guitarists/bassists who don't know any songs. "Ok just play G minor.... :)"

Here are a few ideas demonstrated for practicing Drop 2 Lessons 1 & 2. This is not just for 4 mallet guys.

Hope this helps.

p.s. I forgot to talk about using these scale patterns to go through 4 mallet permutations (1234, 4321, 1243 etc)

Here is lesson two where I demonstrate harmonizing minor and dominant bebop scales. Make sure to run these through all keys with a metronome. Notice how the major and relative minor scales are identical (you only have to learn one that you think of 2 ways ;) Also notice that on the dominant scale you play a diminished chord on the natural sixth step (instead of flat sixth on others) which is a departure from the progression of I7-V7dim-I7-V7dim etc (I falter for a second with this on the video). Please also practice the arpeggios on the chord tones and non-chord tones as well.

Here is my first lesson on applying the drop 2 voicing concept to the vibes. The ultimate goal is to be able to harmonize any melody with a 4 note voicing the way a horn section in a big band might or even to execute solo passages in this style.

Please go ahead and purchase Mark Levine's "The Drop 2 book" here:
http://www.shermusic.com

Here's a 2 part lesson on rhythm changes. The lesson plan contains the break down.

Here is a two part etude on rhythm changes. The first is a solo with a pdf of the transcription.

Part 2 is a chorus of comping with the transcribed music in a pdf from.

Also are audio files with all the parts and then without the play along parts.

You should memorize both solos and play them in different keys to study them.

This section will cover Giant Steps and ways to study and master the tune!

When you divide the octave up, you come up with a symetrical way of looking at music. It opens up new possibilites for improvising and playing over changes. You can come up with some interesting symmetrical scales that completely change the sounds and chords you can come up with.

A tritone splits the octave in half. A very common sound are major triads between the tritone split. In other words, F maj and then B maj. This lesson talks about that relationship.

A quick video of a way to practice getting your Brazilian comping together.