Balafon to Vibraphone: a unique path to new ideas
I wanted to share some thoughts about my balafon lessons and how they might connect to your primary instrument: vibes, marimba, piano, etc.
I've been recently working on a solo version of Bobby Hutcherson't "Little B's Poem". It's a 16 bar tune with no bridge. The form is simple but getting the feeling of the tune plus feeling good about the time and the groove have taken me quite a long time. Although I've been "dabbling" in the tune for years I feel I'm finally kind of getting it down. It's a killer. Questions like, "What should I play in the left hand?" "Should I play every change?" "Sould I comp during the solo or just play lines?" Lots of things to consider.
CYDT (Can you do this)
Sharing a little bit of some very early morning practice time today. Here's what's up with this:
One of the things that has always mystified me a little bit, is the blues. I've sat on the drums in small group settings for years - admiring a horn player or singer's ability to express themselves in this unique art form.
Over the last couple of weeks, I've started listening more....and also getting into some of the lessons on this site. Going through Behn's comping lessons...and John's lesson which he shared, and some of the others.
This is Giant Steps stuff!
remember this for the most part it is:
scale tone above, half step below.
C7 would be D B C F Eb E A Gb G C A Bb
I've told this story a million times. So sorry if you heard it before.
When my 1st wife was pregnant she came home and said so many woman were pregnant at the save time. I said I bet it's not any more than usual however you are pregnant and now you're seeing all these other pregnant women. We got into a big fight!
The point is, sometimes just doing stuff will pay off later.
Practice dividing the octave up into 3 parts and don't worry about why. I can do it very easily and if you can't then you should so we both can do it, think about it and talk about it.