Many years ago I heard a recording of Joel M. Ross on Youtube where he had taped his mallets. I found the subtle noise when playing very interesting, but the mallets were always too expensive for me to ruin the winding with tape. With my…
David and I have been playing together for over 10 years now. A couple things I know, 1. I'm a good vibe player, 2. David is a master. So I got to play and study with him for over 10 years. Talk about the instrument, talk about what we…
After a lifetime of work trying to become a great improviser, I've come to understand that music can be broken down into basic challenges that venture off into more complex ones as you continue to search for the ultimate YOU in your music…
I am doing a lot of teaching this semester. Probably the most I have ever done. It's really hard for a musician to turn work down. Well for me it is. It's a lot of fun teaching students who practice and work hard. Not as much fun teaching…
Here it a simple solo on Cherokee. I like making simple solos and trying to get the essential notes, guide tones, color tones, etc. Your job is to transcribe it. Then try to play it faster and faster. The very simple solo is basically all…
I was inspired by Tony to practice Stablemates. This is a QDV of a brief practice session. I'm working on playing the head with chords and then playing lines over the changes. I feel pretty good about the former, but it's difficult for me…
Get to work! I am making some Tik Tok MalletKat videos for Alternate mode. (The Malletkat is the pro model of electronic keyboard percussion). So I decided to play some tunes and then I thought I'll notate them as an etude for all of you. …
When the Covid pandemic started I began a project to create a book of arrangements for solo vibraphone. Although I have a closet full of music books I've never published my own. I'm on the last piece in the collection and starting to…
This is a piece that I wrote for an assignment in Tony Micelli’s private vibraphone lessons on vibesworkshop.comI called it “He Laid upon the Ground” because I came up with the melody while I was laying in the floor of a practice room at…
I've done other etudes with Cherokee, but here's a new one. I like doing certain tunes even if I'm doing another something for that tune. Some tunes have so many progressions in them that when you learn them, you learn many many other…
Ok, so download this file below. Burn all the tracks to a CD or put them on your ipod. Then set to shuffle. Listen and play the note back. Use the pause button if you need to. This should be a daily thing for a bout 5 or 10 minutes most…