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Chord Melody 2018-2019 - Conception

This is a difficult one.

Again I left the chords out. Get the real book out and write in the changes so you in some small way begin to think about the harmony. Look at the notes and enter the chords.

Can you see the different keys this goes through? Thanks to Bach and the Well Tempered system of tuning, or I think this tune would sound terrible in Midieval tuning! :-).

Play it slowly and work it up.

The BrainForest

Here's a little preview of a revised old piece I wrote for Percussion Ensemble many years ago. This is a scrolling score computer rendition of the main theme. I've changed a lot of this already but it took 7 hours to upload this little sample due to out limited internet on the ice. I like it and I hope someone else does too.

"Spring" - a vibraphone dampening etude

Here’s a brief clip of a dampening etude for the vibraphone titled “Spring” that I just finished composing. The piece features chordal playing along with the dampened stepwise movement of one of the four voices. This will be included in a new book that I began working on a few weeks ago. The book will focus on dampening and pedaling for the vibraphone. I have also been working on a book for solo vibraphone playing. Both topics definitely go hand in hand but I wanted to cover in depth the dampening/pedaling aspect of playing the vibraphone.

"Here's That Rainy Day"

“Here’s that Rainy Day” by James Van Heusen and Johnny Burke written in 1953. Still on a semester break and keeping busy with two vibe book projects along with some shedding. Working here in this clip with a few improv concepts including the Symmetrical Diminished scale and the Pentatonic b2 scale. Both concepts are covered in depth in my four volume improv series The Complete Guide to Improvisation. The Table of Contents for all of the books are on the FB page The Complete Guide To Improvisation.

Chord Melody 2018-2019 - The Days of Wine And Roses

Here’s the Days of Wine and Roses chord melody.

I’ll give my new solo cd to the first 2 people who do the following.

1. Play my chord melody
2. Take a solo
3. Play my chord melody or your melody for the head out

The deadline is February first 2019

You have to have good time, keep the time. I don’t care how simple the solo is! Just play it well

Milt Jackson-Cedar Walton Bolivia & It Don't Mean A Thing

Milt Jackson along with Cedar Walton, Ray Brown and Mickey Roker from 1984 performance at JazzFest Hamburg. The excellent rhythm section provides solid support for Milt on both tunes. This is one of my favorite versions of It Don't Mean A Thing, done at a slower tempo with a strong blues feeling. By the way Milt Jackson's birthday was January 1.

Michael