www.vibesworkshop.com

www.JohnMarkPiper.com

Q: just joined today, so I got #5. Here are some thoughts:

A: Send me your email and I'll send you what you missed. pipervibe@JohnMarkPiper.com

Q: The lowest octave is more difficult, both because my ledger lines are still slow, and because of the position.
A: That's exactly why they're there. Already, you found a weakness. You can pretty much go through life putting off adding the lower or upper register of the vibe to your "comfort zone" or you can tackle it and get it over with.

One thing I do sometimes with my students is have them play up to the first ledger line written on the page. Then stop, identify it in this way: Look at the ledger line in question and touch the note on the vibe that it's representing. Don't even worry about the "man-made" name that is given to it(such as "A, Bb, C etc..) just look at the note on the page and play the actual note on the instrument and tell yourself (out loud) "The note indicated on that ledger line is THAT note on the vibe." Now, go through the complete piece and see find another place where it's written again. Every time you see "that" note on the page, play it on the vibe and tell yourself that the note indicated on that ledger line is "THAT NOTE" and play it. This way, you are bypassing all the brain garbage and relating that position of the staff with a concrete sound and physical location. Don't play any part of the piece except "That" note. Scan quickly through the rest of the piece looking for "THAT NOTE" again and again and play it on the vibe every time you see it. Now, you should know that ledger line forever. Every time you see "THAT" note for the rest of your life, you'll know to play "THAT NOTE" on the vibe. Then, do the same with the next ledger line.

You can make up lots of silly (but very effective) methods of teaching yourself these things. Just gotta think outside the box.

Q: Should I be able to sight sing this? That's a lot harder than reading on the vibe.
A: If you're a singer, I think you should work toward being able to but if you're not a singer, just sing along with the vibe and tune the notes up as you go. Eventually, this will help organize the sounds of modulating shapes and it will become easier to do. I think it's very beneficial to sing along but at first, I think counting is more important (then sing). If you can keep your place in the measure and music already, by all means, sing.

Q: If you go through it twice, is your sticking similar?
A: Yes, but probably not the exact same. These exercises can really help you learn to predict logical and practical sticking. Take it slow enough to plan your sticking ahead. Eventually, it will come without thinking about it. When I say slow, I mean S L O W. Play the first note maybe with your right outside mallet and then take time to plan your next two. Then, start trying to plan more moves ahead. Keep in mind, this is only one examply of how to work on one aspect of playing - sticking. Don't worry about the time in the very beginning. Add time later (but keep your place in the count - beat one, two, three etc)

Do you think about sticking?
A: Yes. It's part of sight reading and playing anything. Take these exercises very methodically and slow at first.

Q: Do you think about what it is while you're reading? Like, "it's going down chromatically, then jumping up a minor third, then..."
A: sort of, yes, sort of no, ... you're thinking too much and not enough at the same time. I know the feeling. Try analyzing it before you put the mallet to the metal. Look at each line and make those realizations first. As you read anything, you'll learn to notice sequences, patterns, chord outlines and clichés. Anything you can do simultaneously to help see and play groups and phrases is good. Just don't take thinking to the point that it becomes a distraction.

One thing you'll notice is that there are zero rests (for 50 pages) but there are "long notes" at the ends of modulation categories. For instance, after it modulates a shape by half-steps through all keys, it plays an "ending" long note to separate it from the next modulation. Then, figure out what the next modulation formula is (whole step) and realize that each of the shapes are moving either up or down in whole steps, then minor thirds is the next and then major thirds and so on. It ends up creating just about every possible three note combination possible - therefore always finding new weak spots and fixing them. Similar to drum set exercises that go from snare to tom them sn. to other tom and sn. to other tom then sn. to cym., sn to hihat until it covers all the surfaces of the drum set. With melodic shapes it creates very cool combinations and often ones that we wouldn't think to play without getting the sound in our ears.

NEW TOPIC: Another thing that REALLY helps with accuracy using this book is to hold the pedal down and play each exercise using mallet damping only. It has a dramatic effect on accuracy. Try it and helps with mallet damping technique too.

Thanks for the GREAT questions.

www.JohnMarkPiper.com

Sure. Try it.