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What I just learned about learning and the "rules"

Somewhere around the beginning of the pandemic, I took on several personal projects.  One of them was to go back and read one of my favorite textbooks on composition with hopes that something new would pop out at me which I could incorporate into my compositions, my improvisation, etc.  The original was in German, so I have always been using an English language translation; I had credited that with the fact that there were long stretches of it that felt a little cryptic and maybe even wrong to me in the past.   I was wrong. They are perfectly clear.

Story telling. Not taught so much any longer, but used to be a thing.

So, one of my early mentors was a pianist in whose band I played several times a week. Often we would be rehearsing one of his new tunes and he would comment on my solos. More than once he said some version of "Yeah, I hear that you're playing all the right notes and the changes, but I need to you tell a story. I need your phrases to make sense and mean something."

It was a thing. Your statements as a player were expected to sound meaningful and progress in a way that made sense.

NEW from PIPERvibe - Springless Bar String for Vibraphone and Marimba

Wouldn’t it be nice to get rid of those archaic springs used to hold tension on the vibe and marimba bar string? PIPERvibe now offers a new device that is simple to install (less than 5 seconds) and requires no tools. Once installed, all you have to do is pull the string to it and it will hold your bar string’s tension without springs. Over time, the string stretches but all you have to do is simply pull tension again and it holds it with fresh new tension....

Dreams: a new way of doing business (is working)

Many of us are frustrated with the music business. I turned that frustration into part of a dream and now (thanks to many people), I'm realizing that part of the dream.

Listening to music has been free for a long time but good people don't mind paying a fair price for it if given the opportunity. Good people want to help others. I'm giving them an opportunity in a small way to help music.

Dreams

Here's a little blog I wrote https://www.pipervibe.com/post/dreams (and continue editing) called "Dreams". It's an attempt to explain what I'm trying to do with my "Good Vibes" thing. Trying to change or add ways of doing business in these changing times. I believe our challenging times are an opportunity for change for the better.

Good Vibes for Jen Martinez-Bre

Here is a GREAT opportunity to feel the good vibes by helping vibes player Jen Martinez-Bre.

When I learned of Jen's unique challenges as a vibes player, I knew I had to do something.

I’m modifying an M55 that I purchased to meet Jen's special challenges and raising money to help pay for it. I have approximately 4000.00 invested at this time and I'm recruiting others to help.