I've been thinking about the next vibe hang. I know Mario from Alternate Mode will be back from NAMM this week. He wants to get involved and I wanted to see if a few of you guys might want to get involved and try this out.

All you need is a video camera and a stereo mic. You can even do it without the stereo mic if you had too.

I'm thinking about one of the Sundays in early February.

What do you think?

When you divide the octave up, you come up with a symetrical way of looking at music. It opens up new possibilites for improvising and playing over changes. You can come up with some interesting symmetrical scales that completely change the sounds and chords you can come up with.

It was great to see Mike Pinto and Vibraman record Bluesette and post it. We have 3 versions of the tune now. That's pretty cool and gives us something to study, compare and grow from.

That kind of stuff is why I made the site, the chance to work stuff out, see what others are up to is really exciting and humbling for me. I also think it benefits the instrument in a BIG way.

Some more talk about practicing 4 mallets. I like concepts better than exercises. If you can understand the problem and come up with a concept to deal with it, then you can come up with exercises and ways to solve the problem.

AT LONG LAST I CAN MAKE THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT I HAVE LONGED FOR.

In regards to my cancer situation. I have had the cryotherapy and then had complications. I have had infections and now only have one left to clear up. The additional operation I was expecting to have, has been ruled out because the medication and rest therapy is working and working well.

By February 1st, I plan to begin my regimen of restarting my practice and retraining of my vibraphone skills, hopefully including some vids. In seven months, I hope to have regained most of my abilities in playing the vibes.

(I've added audio and video performances of Bluesette above)

Below is a lesson plan to help you study this tune. Post some recordings here. Remember, recording yourself is a great way to work on perfecting the lessons below. Don't underestimate the power of recording and posting your work here. It's crucial to your success.

Here are some ideas for the tune Bluesette and how to study it.

Beginners:

• Memorize the melody.
• Practice root position voicings of the chords. Play them in time.
• Work up a chord tone solo