Most Popular Lessons

🚨 Play a Great Blues in 3 Months – Week 6

So far, we’ve been developing lines using guide tones—focusing on 3rds and 7ths to clearly outline the harmony.

This week, we take that idea one step further.

👉 Instead of creating lines from scratch, we’re working with real vocabulary drawn from Milt Jackson transcriptions.

I’ve taken a few short phrases and used them to build a full chorus etude, showing how a small idea can be developed across an entire blues form.

Steve Weiss Mallet Workshop Preview Pt. 1 by Behn Gillece

Older players have to really think about there hands. Esp if you're coming back to the instrument in retirement.

🚨 Play a Great Blues in 3 Months – Week 3

Over the first two weeks, we focused on building a solid foundation:

• Clear guide tone movement in the left hand
• A stable and controlled upper voice
• Consistent Charleston rhythm

This week, we start introducing more functional harmonic movement into the blues.

You’ll notice a few important additions:

This is a solo vibe piece Tony Miceli commissioned me to write for him. Let me know what you guys think! These are the program notes I wrote for the piece:

This piece was written in April of 2024 upon commission from Tony Miceli, professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While taking private lessons with him, we began experimenting with timbral effects on the vibraphone, and one of my assignments was to write a solo vibraphone piece surrounding this idea. Thus, this piece was born.

Great lesson to break into playing tunes solo. 

Here are links to all the other vids: 

Misty Intro

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

🚨 Soloing Through the Changes Pt. 3 – Diatonic 7th Chord Outlinings on “Minority”

In Part 3, we take our soloing a step further by outlining each chord using full 7th chord arpeggios, adding more shape and melodic possibility to our lines. Still working with Minority, this lesson is about expanding from guide tones to complete harmonic outlines—while keeping strong voice leading in mind.

Hello all,

Just a quick lesson on ending ballads (or any tune, really). I demonstrate a few different options for the final chords on a ballad so you don't always have to end on 1 or the b2. Let me know if there are any questions!

🚨 Soloing Through the Changes Pt. 2 – Guide Tones in a Standard: “Minority”

In Part 2 of the series, we move beyond the blues and apply our guide tone approach to a jazz standard. This time, we’re using Gigi Gryce’s Minority—a minor-key tune with rich harmonic movement and ii–V progressions that challenge your voice leading.

Assignments Due

• Post your chord melody to Bossa
• Post 3 diminished open closed chords
• Friedman #5, 1st half - (in class)
• Post your chord melody to Blue Bossa, in time.
• Play the first 8 bars of Donna Lee - MEMORIZED
• Matchbook post thoughts on VW
  • Who is Ralph Towner?
  • What well known group was Ralph Towner in?
  • What is your favorite track?
  • What is the instrumentation of the whole cd?
  • Did they do a second album as a duo?