Hi Folks,
Been vacant on the site here the last few months. Just wanted to take a minute and do a quick blog about what I've been doing in the shed the last few weeks.

This year I decided I wanted to be a stronger 2 mallet player. From the time I got on the vibes in college after playing marimba for a year or two I pretty quickly committed to 4 mallets, all the time. The whole approach from the Burton school, comping, dampening, etc.
I love it!

Careers in Jazz By Bill Anschell www.billanschell.com

He's so great to listen to and to watch play! Beautiful video!

Hi vibes lovers today i'd like to show you an easy but effective way to harmonize melodies.
Remember my rules of thumb:

Melody in the middle high register = open voicings (1-3-7 or 1-7-3 plus the note of the melody line)
-If the melody is the root or 5th you play RH 1-5, LH 3-7
-If the melody is 3th or 7th you play RH 3-7, LH 1-5
-If the melody is not a chord tone remember to play at least the 3rd and the 7th

Here's a quick version of #18 done in McClaren park, SF.