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Invitation for Barry

Barry asked me to talk about the tune invitation. So I whipped up a quick video, just talking about what makes that tune unique and why it's a great tune to study.

I'm going to do an etude and then I think if some of you guys are interested we can do a study of the tune, just like with A train.

Within a Page (Lesson and solo vibe arrangement)

"Within a Page" is one of my favorites. I wrote it while working on a page out of my sight reading book called "Shapes and Patterns of Music". The title comes after spending weeks on a single line trying to develop it into a song. When I finally came up with a "song" (that I really love), I realized that there was SO MUCH music and work that went into this small page of music. So I titled it "Within A Page". After coming up with the arrangement for solo vibes, I thought I'd offer it along with a lesson on how to play it. So, here it is in PDF download form. I hope you enjoy it.

Kurt Rosenwinkel - Untitled Improv

Watch this and imagine doing this on the vibes. It works right? This is what I talk about when I say to me the vibes are very similar to the guitar. Conceptually this style and approach is in a big way (although not the only way) how we can play solo on the vibes. I learned so much from playing classical guitar which I did for years when I was younger.

Office Hours

Time

I get a bunch of email with people having questions about playing. At the University of the Arts we're supposed to have office hours. So I've decided to have office hours here for subscribers.

I'll do this on livestream.com. I'll announce the link where it will take place later.

You can set your cam up and play and I (or any other one else online) can critique you. You can bring up a topic and we can all talk about it. Anyone with a cam can take the spotlight and talk about the subject as well.

The Art of the Line - Tom Harrell

So, we're starting a trumpet site, just like this site featuring Joe Magnarelli and Matt Gallagher. That means I'm hanging out with trumpet players these days. That's cool when you hang out with trumpet or sax players, because you're talking to musicians who ONLY play lines. In other words they have to use lines to make harmony. We can hit a C chord and then play a G and the world knows what's happening! Trumpet players have to hit the G and then fill in. This is a real learning opportunity hanging with trumpet players.

"But Beautiful" w/ stair climbing -V

This is a practice vid of "But Beautiful"  w/ some examples of the "stair climbing" thing I spoke about at the Philly workshop.  At  approx 2:43, I used stair climbing exactly as I explained it at the workshop (Bmi7b5 / E7alt / Ami7).
At approx 4:50, I begin stair climbing on Ami7  and continue it through C#dim7 (using dim arpeggios). At 5:00, the same idea as at 2:43 reappears (again, over Bmi7b5 / E7alt ).

Ways to Study the Modes

It's really important to practice the modes in a way that helps you learn the sounds of each. Paying C Major and then D Dorian will still sound like C Major. Play C Major and then C Dorian and hear the difference!

今天要講調式音階(Modes),練習調式最好的方式是練習把七個調式建立在同一個根音上,有些人會有錯誤的觀念覺的Ionian就是從C音開始,然後Dorian就從D開始。

所以最好練習的方式:
左手演奏根音和五音(設定好一個固定低音)
右手演奏不同的Modes,例如Dorian的聲音, 是major scale降3音降7音(bE, bB),你也可以想成C是二級,
所以往下推就是Bbmajor scale.
然後來回互換七種不同的調式,讓耳朵適應各種不同的聲音色彩。

好處:等你熟悉各種調式之後,你會容易的就聽懂更多東西。

(Tony示範按照順序轉換七種不同調式)