I'm fasinated by lines so today I studied opening licks. I put them down in a Finale doc and thought I'd post them.

I sat and listened to them until I could pretty much play them, then I went over to the hunk of metal and tried to slowly play the lick without messing up. Then I sped it up and put it through all the keys.

You guys should try it. Licks are attached.

Mike Balter is a member now of vibesworkshop.com!

If you don't know Mike he's just the most fun, easy going, coolest guy and knows more about mallets then probably anyone on the planet. He's a real stick meister.

He has done SO much for the mallet world. We're lucky to have him!!

He said he'll answer any mallet questions he can, so if you have any questions feel free to post here.

WELCOME MIKE!! YOU DA MAN!

Come Hang Out!!

WATCH THE SHOW LIVE HERE: http://www.livestream.com/alternatemode

It's an interesting coincidence that the week after Gary was blogging about working with Astor Piazzolla, I received a phone call from a friend of mine inquiring if I wanted to play some tango gigs with him as a duo - he would play violin and I would play accordion. So I said okay on the condition that the music has to be played right - no shucking and jiving through a group of tango tunes, and Lou (the violinist) was completely on board with that.

Steve Giordano (gt)
John Swana (tp)
Tony Miceli (vb)

http://www.mogulus.com/mallet_channel

We'll play for a little bit and then I thought we'd talk about playing without a bass player and playing solo on our instruments for a little bit.

I wanted to address something that I have struggled with for a long time- attaching my self-esteem to my ability to play. I have always struggled with technique and regular practice habits, mainly due to the incessant self-flagellation I inflict during the practice sessions I manage to put together. Plus, part of me feels like if the music business is as bad as everyone says, why spend my time learning to be a great vibraphone player only to be damned to eternal penury playing door gigs in generic jazz quartets?

Hey guys heres a live tune from a show I did a month or two ago! Its an original composition entitled "Rewnew". Hope you enjoy it!

Hey everyone!

I'm just back from a very nice lunch with Ed Saindon and his lovely wife Pam... here in Paris! We had a great time and much enjoyed our hang!

This little picture... is for you Tony! As promised we had that drink in your honor!... And... sorry but Ed still has his fingers... on both hands... Gold is gold... :o)

Marie-Noëlle

PS.: Ed says "Hello from Paris"! :o)

This is a great tune with great changes.

Here's a lesson on the tune Conception by George Shearing.

There's a chord melody etude, and a chord study. I also have a chord analysis. That is the chord melody with the bass notes. You should try and go through the tune and put the chords in yourself before you look at the other etudes. You will learn a lot doing it this way.

Above is a link to the video where I talk about the tune and four mallet playing.