Pat Metheny once said in an interview that playing arpeggios is great for your technique because they make you move quickly up and down your instrument. This etude gets you playing over the entire three octaves and will sharpen your accuracy. Choose your sticking carefully. Try out different combinations until you find the one that works for you.

I like to play it "dry" so I can hear each note separately, but you can add some pedaling if you like. Doing that will make the piece sound fuller.

Brad Mehldau is one of those guys that I don't always like to listen to. I don't really know why. I think some of what he plays may be too over my head for me to really appreciate. This, however, is breathtakingly beautiful. The mixture of very "in" sounds and incredibly dissonant, gut wrenching, "out" sounds is beautiful. Tension, release... stunning.

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Just spent 3 days in the studio with Diane Monroe. Here's a tune from the cd. I love playing with her and of course love playing duo.

Hey everybody. I recently did a recording session with The University of South Carolina Palmetto Pans (steel pan group). USC is my alma mater and they invited me to be featured on one of the tunes of their upcoming album. I got emailed this by the studio a little with ago. I am happy with how it turned out. Hope ya dig it!

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I can't resist posting this one too. When Vid came to my home he of course tried my vibes. I must admit it was a very special moment for me. I realised it was the first time I would hear a "true" vibist play my instrument. And I thought it sounded great... and loud!! I had no idea it had that power. This is because of Vid's playing, but also because I always play soft at home, not to disturb my boys... and also by fear of wrong notes! Haha!! Anyway I wanted to share this with you too.
- M

Hey everybody,

My percussion group put on a concert at a cool hotel in northern Sweden a few weeks ago. The hotel looks out over a big rapids and lake which you can see through the window behind us.

This is one of my songs called "Footprints in Snow", I'm playing vibraphone and my friend Jacob Remington is playing marimba.

Hope you like it!

--Charles.