Guys, here's a version of Ellington's Take The A Train. A Train is one of those tunes that can sound cheesey if you play too diatonic and "in". The changes are fairly diatonic, so if you just play chord tones and diatonic scales, it will sound pretty in. There are some techniques that we can use to venture out of the tonal area of the changes. Here are some ideas:

Improv techniques to get out of the key:

Leaning on chromatic approach notes to target notes (G# to A on C6)
Leaning on tensions (especially altered tensions on Dom 7 chords)

This is a promo video of the recording of '15', the new album of VinnieVibes, produced by bandleader and composer Vincent Houdijk.
The album will be released this year, the last steps are being made as we speak.

For more info http://www.vinnievibes.com

Enjoy,

Vincent Houdijk

Hey Folks,
Putting together a few lesson on the topic of iv to I cadences in jazz standards. Here's part 1.
-Tyler

I'm burnt out on If I Were a Bell!

Closure is important, So here's a final etude I'll leave you with. I improvised it on the MalletKat. The important thing to know is this. I did this in one take (after I warmed up on the instrument). The point being is that eventually if you work hard enough this can be a fairly easy thing to do. That is throw out voicings and melodies.

Your job is to figure out the chords and play the etude. If you have been practicing the tune, you should know the basic changes.

Below is the PDF of the solo.

Bach Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major-Sarabande

Carmine Fusaro
Univ. of Delaware

Bach Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major-Bouree 1 and 2

Carmine Fusaro
Univ. of Delaware

See what's going on inside a resonator.

I stumbled on this video. It demonstrates standing waves inside a tube closed at one end, just like vibraphone resonators.

There is a speaker on one end, connected to a tone generator (single frequency). The tube has holes along its length. Flamable gas flows through the tube. The holes are lit. The flame height is proportional to the air pressure at different locations inside the resonator.

The interesting part starts at 3:33.

Guys, here's a version of Jobim's Wave from the Berklee fundraiser concert that we did on 3/30/12. It features Matt Marvuglio on flute along with Nori Shiota on bass and Jazz Robertson on drums. Nori and Jazz are students at the school. I thought they both did a great job on the concert.

Doing some simple reharm doing my solo and comping for Matt's solo. Substitute Dom 7 chords, Dim Maj 7 in place of Maj 7, some constant structure chords, symmetrical diminished voicings, etc. The symmetrical diminished scale is also good for playing shapes when soloing.

Ed

Some tips on creating voicings.

Hi All- Having some bad troubles with the motor on my M46, hoping someone could point me in a useful direction.