None of These

By Richard Rodgers, and featuring new leather mallets.

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

The "short" story.

"Yesterdays" is a 1933 song about nostalgia composed by Jerome Kern (lyrics by Otto Harbach), and written for the musical “Roberta.”

This rather rambunctious and “no fear” rendition features my new leather mallets. I’m gradually moving forward on finding a way to make this unique design available to the masses and believe that interest is growing, yes?

So, I need to share this amazing fusion tune from 1976. The band "Gong" and this tune, in particular, transformed my life when I was in high school. There is loads of mallet playing on all of their music. Esnuria is an epic that kicks into many gears and is a virtual percussion extravaganza. The ending in 7 is what I would call "Awesome!" I'll shut up and let the music speak for itself...

Here's a lesson I wrote years ago on Misty. I had permission from the owner who was Erroll Garner's wife. Then it turned out that she sold it to Warner Brothers. I contacted Warner Bros. and I paid them and they issued me a license for the licensing giving me permission for this lesson and then I got a letter from Hal Leonard stating that they owned the rights to it so I just gave up. But I think it's okay to share with y'all.

Here is a blues article I wrote many years ago. It's a different approach than what I learned at Berklee which I believe caused me to overthink the blues. I taught it quite successfully to many students so if you're starting out or struggling to express in the blues form and style, give this method a go. Once this basic idea of the blues is in your ears and hands, it's much easier to add more sophisticated things on top of it.

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.