Hi Folks,
I realize there is a ton of data, technical info and lessons on the site. All very valuable!
I wanted to start a series of blogs/discussions about some of the less black and white aspects of music and vibes. These blogs are intended as a way to share some personal experiences and be a platform for discussion of some of the less technical elements of music making.

Your Relationship with Practice

Ok, this is an epic Stella solo. Your job is to write the chords in and study the extensions.

Next play the etude. Put the metronome on 2 and 4 and play. Work bar by bar if you have to. Study the phrasing and the rhythms. Work on swinging and listen to the sounds. Next try and do your own solo!

Talking about some common variations on the first 4 bars of the blues form which are good to work on.

-Tyler

Audioclip up on SoundCloud of solo vibe track of Green Dolphin Street taped during a Vic Firth videoshoot at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Videoclip of this track will be released on the Vic Firth You Tube channel this month.

A new Piece I wrote. Pretty challenging (at least for me :-). I've been writing pieces with only my ipad. So some things seem easy in my mind, but when I go to play them, they're difficult!

If you want to know more about Water Marks, go here: http://bit.ly/VibeWatermarks

Chinese translation for Chinese students

“Jazz” bass line，這邊特別是說到爵士風格的這種bass line，
我們先前練過了好多左右手分開，簡單旋律的bass line 練習

（像這樣, Tony示範）

左右手分開：在練習這個同時，一定要很專心地保持左手的固定。再一次提醒，踏板要跟著左手。
左右手合起來創造旋律：一樣在練習這個同時，一定要很專心地保持bass line的固定。

（Tony演奏blues曲式）

左右手合起來創造旋律的這個練習方法，第一重要是右手旋律，再來是bass line,
所以有時候略過一兩個bass line為了成全右手的旋律是被允許的。
但是當你在自己練習時，一定要嚴格對待，每個左手bass音都要打到，保持簡單，小心處理。
最後，如果全部技巧混在一起，會是像這樣（影片倒數2分15秒的地方），
跟自己在練習時是不一樣的，練習時要更嚴格。
但全部技巧混在一起時，可以稍微作弊一下，
左手去幫忙右手，為了做出更好的樂句。

Check his grip out! Check out how clean he plays. IMHO this is really really great playing!