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Assembling a Tune - Part 1 by Tony Miceli

After you know the chords and the melody what are some ways of assembling tunes?

I believe that without a foundation with the tune, it's going to be hard to 'tame' it. Even though I don't always practice what I preach, knowing the melody and practicing it is a great way to begin this process. I think we can get a lot out of playing the melody over and over. I think most of us (including me) don't put enough time into the process.

Take the A Train Lesson 2 by Tony Miceli

A Train Lesson 2.

I made a mistake on the bridge. I left out one or 2 chords depending on how you look at it. I decided to leave the lesson as is and let you guys figure out what's missing. The lesson still works but I the chord I left out, that is didn't mention verbally is a pretty important chord. Let's see if you can figure it out. The clue is it's on the bridge somewhere.

Check out the lesson.

4 In 1 Slow Motion! (and a great stick drop for all to study)

This is for Barry! Here's a slow mo' of 4 in 1 with a really nice stick drop at the end. (Inside joke for long time, vibesworkshop members).

Maybe this will be of some help with the etude.

I left the sticks after the throw up there for all to examine. You see I can tell the future by how the sticks fall onto the vibes. And I see a lot of good vibe playing in the future for everyone based on that throw.

Transposing tunes the Bill Evans way

Practicing tunes in other keys is a great exercise. Recently Tony and I had a short discussion on the benefits of transposing. It reminded me of "Comrade Conrad", a beautiful Bill Evans tune that actually moves up a 5th to a new key every chorus! The transition to a new key is so smooth the listener may not even be aware that the tune is moving through all 12 keys.