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Minuet in C- by J. S. Bach

Bach Minuet in C Minor by J. S. Bach – practicing this classical piece for the purpose of dampening. These kinds of pieces are quite easy on the piano but definitely pose a challenge for the vibist in trying to maintain clarity of the lines with the counterpoint. I used this piece and other similar classical pieces from the piano, guitar and violin classical repertoire for my upcoming book on pedaling and dampening. The link to download the music is in the video description.

Manu Dibango big band marimba

I first heard of Manu Dibango when AM radio was playing his hit "Soul Makossa" around 1974, and I knew of him as an Afrobeat singer and sax player. I had no idea he played mallets until I saw a video concert around 1999 on the BET on Jazz channel. I discovered this on YouTube yesterday of this great Afrobeat arrangement of a song we all know (I won't let the cat out of the bag), and notice how the arrangement is built around the marimba.

Ballads - Energy and Motion

*Ballads - Energy and Motion
Translation for Chinese students
中文翻譯:

聊聊Ballads (慢速的樂曲),
常常我們在聆聽一個樂團演奏Ballads時,
會覺得速度好慢,似乎有些無聊,
Tony認為那是因為演奏者的演奏意圖、方向感、氛圍不夠明確,
所以這一集我們來嘗試一些練習,
看可以怎麼將慢速的曲子處理得漂亮。

首先,先找一個音,演奏Ballads的速度,
把速度和節奏感表現出來。
從Tony的示範中,
我們可以很清楚的聽到速度是什麼 ;
接著在一個和弦上來即興,並專注在同樣的事情上:保持速度感(Tony示範:GMajor7)。
如果你從來沒有演奏過Ballads,這是一個很棒的練習。

Tony示範了一首Ballad - I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face
他說,有些時候他在練習時,
只練習和弦的進行,把速度感保持好、感受和弦變化的時候的色彩張力,會幫助很大喔!