OK. So I will start this one up, mostly out of curiousity. I am no expert on this, but certainly there are those amongst us here. The concept of swing has reared its head in the discussion about stickings and grips. It's always an important piece of any discussion involving jazz.
Since I cannot reach the marimba yet, I had this podium custom built for me.
How do I follow all these great discussions?
If you post a comment you will get email when others post on a topic of discussion.
Even if you have nothing to say at the moment, put up a comment with the title, 'following topic' and in the body put the same thing. then when others comment you'll get an email.
This is done on lots of sites and is a convenient way to follow different threads that you're interested in.
Here is the rarely told story of my first band. It began as a solo venture, playing unaccompanied pieces on marimba and vibes. Soon I decided to add a pianist, a sort of preview of my duets with Chick Corea, which would come along later on down the road. Next came the need for a bass player, followed by the addition of trombone, clarinet, trumpet, and drums. Not exactly the most logical instrumentation, you’re probably thinking. But, when you only have one brother and one sister, plus two parents, you make do with what you have.
This will be online and live at
http://www.mogulus.com/thephillysoundlive
Anyone in the Philly area who's interested, come on out!
Next 2 bars....
I've been talking with a student about clarity. Just think about what that might mean. What do you need to be clear? How do you play clearly.
To be clear on something, you need information about the subject. How can I talk in a clearly way about life in France when I've never done research and only spent a few days there. I'd need to go and live there, or at least do a lot of research (practice).
I thought I'd pass on some of the things we came up with when talking about clarity in class.
Over the years I have had several vibraphone and marimba students learn and study hymns and chorales. These are wonderful tools for developing chordal playing, voice leading techniques, and learning theory. All of this can be translated into jazz playing and developing comping skills. I even use them as daily sight reading exercises.