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Ballads - Some General Thoughts

Translation for Chinese students
中文翻譯:

關於練習Ballads,
我們在之前的影片中提過保持速度感(Time),
如果在家自己練習時,我們可以保持很穩定的速度感和完整度,
在跟樂團一起演奏的時候,就可以更專注在和其他樂手的互動上了。

Tony覺得有很多事情可以思考,
1. 在演奏前奏的時候,調性就可以被確立-(示範:0:54-)
保持空間感,我們的耳朵可以聽到更多的東西。
有時候甚至只演奏一個音,和弦的進行其實就已經很明確了。
這樣我們可以專心在演奏旋律上面。

2. 把旋律清楚的演奏出來(示範:2:05-)-
可以試試把旋律音和其他和弦音之間的距離拉開(3:14很明顯的示範)
這邊Tony提到很多細節:像是演奏過的音、和弦都會留在耳朵裡面,所以留白、空間很重要。

3. 能將旋律清楚演奏出來後,可以想想用另外一個附屬的線條,甚至單音,當作伴奏。
(示範:6:05,中間有變成double time的感覺,在7:07藉由演奏豐富的和聲,回到慢速的氛圍)

Minuet in C- by J. S. Bach

Bach Minuet in C Minor by J. S. Bach – practicing this classical piece for the purpose of dampening. These kinds of pieces are quite easy on the piano but definitely pose a challenge for the vibist in trying to maintain clarity of the lines with the counterpoint. I used this piece and other similar classical pieces from the piano, guitar and violin classical repertoire for my upcoming book on pedaling and dampening. The link to download the music is in the video description.

Manu Dibango big band marimba

I first heard of Manu Dibango when AM radio was playing his hit "Soul Makossa" around 1974, and I knew of him as an Afrobeat singer and sax player. I had no idea he played mallets until I saw a video concert around 1999 on the BET on Jazz channel. I discovered this on YouTube yesterday of this great Afrobeat arrangement of a song we all know (I won't let the cat out of the bag), and notice how the arrangement is built around the marimba.