Gary sent me this lesson to post on the site. It's a great lesson on solo playing. (I think part 2 is on the way)
I think it's really incredible that he is taking the time to do this for us! - Tony Miceli
This is an effective 4 mallet exercise that I’ve been using for years. I do the exercise at the beginning of my practice time and often before a gig or concert. I think it helps to condition your hands and fingers by building some strength, flexibility, and endurance.
Went to a Stefon Harris Masterclass at Temple University tonight. Stefon is a very inspiring cat! I love his playing and his vibe. He has a lot of soul. I admire guys who might think with their head but they play with their heart, and that's Stefon.
He talked about Melodic and Harmonic Tonics. Who knows what they are?
I never used these words but have done things along these lines. However Stefon gave me a lot more ideas and a new to think about this.
Before I go into it, what do you guys know about it?
What's great about this site is that a week can be a month or a year!!!
Check out this Parker lick. I thought it would be interesting for your guys to play it through the keys and learn from it. Very simple and to the point, but it weaves through the changes like Bach!
I won't tell you guys any more about it, why don't you figure stuff out and post it in the comments.
I'll give a free pair of my mallets to the first person who posts a record of them playing it without stopping and through all the keys.
We got a who is. Why not a 'Why Is It....' Series.
Things that are difficult and unexplainable... sort of.
At least from the perspective of the person posting.
My first 'Why Is It...' is:
Why is it so hard to play four mallets on a swing tune where the melody is in the upper octave.
I've been playing 'Long Ago and Far Away' for a while now. I'm in G and trying to voice nice chords underneath the melody which I'm playing in the upper octave.
ALSO the frickin melody starts on the root. That makes it ever tougher to voice.
There's the first why is!!!
I broke down My Romance into sections. Try this approach, take little chunks of the tune and work with them. I have six sections below that cover each little part of the tune. See can understand the harmony of each one of these sections, and be able to move the harmony around in different keys. The idea is that you study one little section and that section makes sense to you, and then he studied the next, and then when you put it all together you you understand the whole tune.
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