Might be a nice TOTM. 

It really is a great study of harmony! 

Hello all! Here's my version of Etude 5 from the Dampening and Pedaling Book!

The great Irving Berlin ballad.

I'm always amazed at those old xylo players. Honestly I can't believe that that instrument was that popular. It's bizarre to me. 

But Teddy is great, and I'm always watching his videos.

It's also interesting to me to listen to music where they have no real concept of bebop, rock, rap or anything. 

Hey One and All,

Happy New Year!

JazzOn2 is up and running once again, and that makes the beginning of a happy new year.  Two months ago we experienced an equipment failure.  It took all this time to get the replacement and install it, which the wizards who plug everything in and connect all the programs to each other have successfully done.  They're worth their weight in precious metals.  

Hello all,

The vibraphone is one of the only instruments we play where you have to work extra hard to control the ending of a note. It requires two separate strokes to play and end any given note with dampening, whereas on, say, the saxophone, you can end a note by simply stopping your air. Thus, it's important to figure out how all this relates to playing the instrument in any context, including in lines, so that you're able to play what you're hearing.

I'm working out a solo version of "I'll Be Seeing You." Loosely based on the attached lead sheet.

Thinking about dampening, deadstroking, stride piano, sliding, big band shout choruses, walking bass lines, block chords, and much more! Let me know what you think!

Hey everyone,

Here's another lesson on dampening. This is a subtle topic that relates to how you actually physically press the mallet into the bar when you dampen. You can use varying dampening speed to create clean-sounding dampening, legato-sounding dampening, and everything in between!

Let me know if there are any questions!

-Oliver