Most Popular Lessons

Here are seven choruses of improvisation on the progression of Life's Blessing.

Again, as I mentioned in the other video playing the melody, the left hand is functioning as accompaniment as well as helping out the right hand to execute lines.

Try to fill out the 8th notes between both hands as opposed to trying to carry everything with the right hand. Also, try to keep the left hand moving. Try to keep changing the spreads of the mallets in each hand as much as possible. For example, in left hand, you can play a whole step and then invert that interval to play a 7th.

(Note from Tony) - my students have to do lessons each semester and submit them on the site. Sangwon speaks much better Korean than English so he's doing his lesson in Korean.

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.

Here is a quick lesson I did today on basic II V I Voicings.

Hope this is a start to get some more beginner stuff out there.

TJ

PS: sorry I didn't have the time and tools to cut out the beginning and end...

Here's my arrangement of Green Dolphin Street. It's an etude that explores three parts of playing the vibes, chordal playing, chordal playing and soloing and also single line soloing.

There's a been a lot of talk on the site centering around Tango and Gary Burton. Gary has posted a few comments about all this.

So I've organized some of it here in one place. Check the links out above.

If I've missed anything, please post in the comments below and I'll update all this.

A quick video of a way to practice getting your Brazilian comping together.

This is disabled by the author. If you want to watch it, then double click on it.

This was being passed around by singers, they loved it for the harmony between the voices. Andy Williams and Connie Francis. They ARE right, this is really well done and the singing is right on the money.

Now personally I don't see it as corny, to me it's really beautiful. I wonder if some of you will. But get past that if you feel that way, and listen to the harmony in the voices. I think we strive as vibe players to make inner lines that are beautiful and rich.

Your second assignment is to post something here that YOU could talk about. What's something you know about and could speak to? This assignment is for everyone attending the workshop. What is something you've really studied hard.