Chord Melody on "I'll Wait & Pray"

Here is a chord melody on "I'll Wait And Pray" (George Treadwell, Jerry Valentine) utilizing a variety of voicings, as well as mallet & hand dampening in order to keep the clarity of the melodic line and counterpoint. I created this chord melody for a great student of mine at Berklee, James. He is a drummer, but is studying vibes with me this semester. James transcribed both the melody & chord changes from the beautiful John Coltrane version (Coltrane Jazz - 1959). We compared it to Sarah Vaughan's 1944 version and took elements from both. The goal was to keep it simple, honor the melody and maintain clarity, while using different type voicings. I included pedal markings in the written music to help make clear what needs to be dampened by the mallets/hands. Types of dampening utilized here are alternate and same mallet dampening, slide dampening and hand dampening. If you have any question, feel free to ask. #AllThingsVibraphone #BerkleeMalletsNetwork

Written music can be downloaded here:

I'll Wait And Pray (Chord Melody)

Chord Melody on "Beautiful Love"

Here is a simpler chord melody chorus on the 1929 standard "Beautiful Love" by Victor Young. Like we mentioned in the previous chord melody blog on "How Insensitive", this is a good way to systematically work on solo vibraphone possibilities. The combination of pedaling with various mallet & hand dampening techniques can help create counterpoint in voicings, melodic & harmonic embellishment, reharm, etc., while maintaining the clarity and adding nuance to the music. Writing the music down in the form of an etude can help to better understand and assimilate the information, or even generate more ideas. 

In the video clip I am reading the music literally, but be aware that rhythm embellishment can be added. It can be played with a swing feel, or even changing the meter to 3/4. Any of these modifications may pose different challenges in the execution of the dampening techniques.  

If you have any question, please feel free to contact me. Gustavo #AllThingsVibraphone #BerkleeMalletsNetwork

Here is the link to the written music: 

"Beautiful Love" Chord Melody (PDF)

Joe Locke's solo - On A Misty Night

Here is a transcription of Joe Locke's vibes solo on Tadd Dameron's tune, "On A Misty Night". This gorgeous duo session with the great Kenny Barron on piano features many great songs, and took place in August 1991. That's just short of 25 years ago. Joe's playing has never stopped evolving, but the musicianship documented on this album is of a stunningly high level. Yet, this solo, as well as the previously posted solo on "You Don't Know What Love Is" from Joe's 1994 trio album "Very Early", are great insights into the roots of Joe's much praised and admired musical vocabulary.  

Joe Locke's Solo Transcription - "On A Misty Night"

Chord Melody on "How Insensitive"

Here is a chorus of chord melody on Jobim's composition "How Insensitive". This is a good way to systematically work on solo vibraphone possibilities in terms of voicings, texture, melodic & harmonic embellishment, reharm, etc., in combination with sound production and other technical aspects of the instrument. I would normally just show students at Berklee different ideas on a tune, but sometimes slowing down the process by writing things down can help to better understand and assimilate information, or even generate more ideas. 

Important considerations: If you follow the written music along with the video you will notice I am not playing the written music "literally".  For the most part, I am playing the written notes, but altering the rhythm. The application of rhythmic embellishment is crucial in order to make the music come alive. The goal should not be to play this the same way I play it. It can be a reference to get started, but strive to always change it up. My priority is "sound", so attention to "tone quality", articulation & dynamic nuances is very important.  To that extent, dampening techniques are essential. 

If you have any question, please feel free to contact me. Gustavo #AllThingsVibraphone #BerkleeMalletsNetwork

Here is the link to the written music: 

"How Insensitive" Chord Melody (PDF)

Spicing Up A Standard

Article from 1985 addressing harmonic concepts as applied to Stella By Starlight. Hard to imagine that I wrote this 30 years ago. The great thing about music is that I'm still working on these concepts. It never ends.

Spicing Up A Standard (Article)

The Language of Joe Locke

This is an article recently written for PAS. It addresses a transcribed solo on the standard "It Could Happen To You" performed by Joe Locke on vibes and Ed Saindon on piano. 

The playing took place during a long weekend that Joe Locke, Ed Saindon and I spent together at Ed's house in December 2009.  Joe and Ed picked each other's brains, shared improvisational concepts and played hours worth of improvised music.  This was one of the many instances Joe got carried away while demonstrating an improvisational idea to us.  

The article (transcription & analysis) was published in two parts.  Here is a PDF containing Part One & Part Two, as well as my original transcription (reads better).  Hope you find this as inspiring as I do.  Gustavo

Click the link below to visualize/download the PDF:

It Could Happen To You

Harmonic Practices

Guys, here's an article on various harmonic devices that can be applied in improvisation. Feel free to let me know if there are any questions or if something is not clear. Happy Easter! Ed


Harmonic Practices

Chord Melody - You Are Too Beautiful

Hello fellow vibists, here's a chord melody solo to the standard You Are Too Beautiful. Some of the voicings are pretty standard while some are a little more adventurous. For the most part, I stayed with the standard changes with a little reharm here and there. Let me know if you have any questions. Ed


Here is the score:
Chord Melody on "You Are Too Beautiful"