Vibraphone and Lead Sheets

[JustAHobby]

Hello,
Do any of you have much experience playing vibraphone from lead sheets?  I have been working with "Guide to Solo Vibraphone" by Gunderson it has been helpful.  I have looked at a couple of other books and was wondering if anyone has used something they found very useful?  I have also used information on creating guitar solos.  I have managed to have some success but the few pieces I have worked on kind of sound the same.

I know that Vibes are usually associated with Jazz but I would like to do other types of music as well...spirituals, music from the sixties an seventies (Beatles, Beach Boys, Bob Dillon, etc.), big band melodies (Sentimental Journey..), Christmas tunes, maybe some classical type melodies...  If anyone has any ideas about this, resource recommendations, etc.  I would appreciate hearing them.

I was also wondering if anyone had suggestions for good fake books or resources to find lead sheets?  For Jazz there are the Real books but I was wondering about other types of music.

Thanks.

[James Doyle]

Hello,

Vibraphone can be such a versatile instrument and lately, I've seen more and more artists making use of it in rock/funk/R&B settings.  It sounds as though you are headed in that same direction!

Have you checked out the huge collection of Jamey Aebersold books?  These books got me started playing vibes and I still use them today. It's a lot of fun to put on the rhythm section tracks and play along.  There's also great reference material throughout.   http://www.jazzbooks.com/]http://www.jazzbooks.com/

As for deeper methods, I like The Art and Language of Jazz Vibes by Jon Metzger.  It's very comprehensive. 

Hope that helps!

J-

[JustAHobby]

Hello James,

Thanks for the reply.  I picked up a couple of Jamey Aebersold books today so I will give those I try.

I was wondering if you find many opportunities to play either in a group or a solo gig?

It seems to me that Vibraphone would be a great small venue instrument instrument, something like a coffee shop or a cafe.  It has a nice full sound but people can still hear themselves think.  I have never run across it in that type of venue before, so I was wondering where people play the vibraphone?

[James Doyle]

The sky's the limit!  I've played solo gigs for cocktail hours, dinner parties, etc. in a variety of rooms.  I've known solo vibists to play malls, coffee shops, and other small venues strictly solo.
I've used Aebersold tracks and others to back myself up in the above settings- an ipod, small PA, vibes, and it's done.  Getting together with other musicians is a lot more fun- again, the sky being the limit.  I play with combos as often as possible- usually as a lead/soloist with comping when the pianist solos or just to change the texture.  I also play with a flutist for gallery type gigs.  We do anything from flute duos to jazz standards with the flute playing the lead and me comping.  To your general audience, vibraphone is rather novel.

Give it a go!

[JustAHobby]

Not that I would be playing out any time soon but I am curious what type of PA system do you use?  Do you mic the vibraphone so everything is in the speakers?

Also, when you are playing with flute and comping do you have challenges with Bass lines due to the Range of the vibraphone?  Do you try to play in certain keys to make the best of the range you have?

[Larry Lawless]

As James said, the sky's the limit. I recently played a solo recital on jazz vibes in a local antique bookshop. Among other things, I played and sang Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". Did not use any micing, as the venue was pretty intimate. There are some package PA systems you can use that are pretty portable for around $500. Check out the Musician's Friend link here at the Cafe for those.

Besides the books James mentioned, Arthur Lipner also has a couple of books that take you step by step through creating a vibe arrangement from a lead sheet, "The Vibes Real Book", published by Malletworks, and "Jazz Mallets:In Session", published by Row-loff. The Real Book in particular I think is great because it starts with learning the melody, then a bass line, then chording, then solo. All is written out, using a few jazz standards, with explanations as how to derive each element. Ends with a full-blown 4 mallet arrangement including solo of each piece.

I have done a few gigs with my wife, who is a flutist and I just treat the vibes like a piano for the accompaniment, left hand usually with open fifths or fourths for the bass foundation, filling in chord tones in the right and some melodic elements.

[James Doyle]

Larry and Justahobby,

I forgot all about Arthur Lipner's books- his "Real Book" is a great place to start as it gives a handful of tunes to get started.  Larry answered your questions exactly as I would have.

The rooms I've done the vibes (and now lead pan) karaoke thing never needed mics for the vibes/pan.  I've used a couple of studio monitors and a small Mackey board, as well as an inexpensive Peavey Messenger portable system.  I have a friend who uses a Bose home stereo set up (the ones advertised on TV) and it sounded great (and was seriously portable!).

[JustAHobby]

Hi Larry and James, thanks for the replies.  The information provided has been helpful and is giving me some direction.

Actually back when I first got my vibraphone I purchased the Vibes Real Book but never did much with it and then I guess I forgot about it.  I pulled it out and have read through all of the text and worked on some of the exercises.  I am going to have to spend some time on the solo steps.  When I look at the music I don't see a connection from one chorus to the next except of course that they are all played over the same chords.  The rhythm and the tune seem very different.  I'm planning to spend some time on it and see if I can make the connection.  Additionally in the Bags Groove solo there are 10 chorus', would all 10 normally be played or is that just for illustrative purposes and normally one or two would be played?

I have only recently started enjoying Jazz.  What troubles me most about jazz is that sometimes (often) when I listen to it, I really like what I hear but other times the solo sections seem unrelated to the original melody.  In the later case they often seem to go on forever.  I can't decide if it's that the musician is not doing a good job of improvising, or maybe I just don't have an ear for it?  Or perhaps there are some variations of the Jazz style that I like and others that I don't care for so much?  The tunes from the dance band era seem to be the most appealing to me.  In some of the text of the Real Vibes it mentions that most of the dance band music had lyrics.  I like blues also which I think often has lyrics associated with it.  I was wondering if it is possible that the lyrics add structure to the music that prevents it from wondering quite so much as some of the other music?  If you have any thoughts, I would appreciate hearing them.

[Todor Bianca Flavia]

Hey! Jazz is about freedom of expression . It is true that some forget to pas the solo to others , but can't be mad 'cose that  only means that they are in ,,the zone" and can't get out . Now if you take classical music and theory you will find that is just related to jazz . I finished 5 year Conservatoire  - classical music-percussion before I started liking jazz.Now i must start allover because the theoretic classical music that I learned is like a parallel universe to jazz .
   And I must do the same thing with my ear. I got it used to the harmonies of classical music and  jazz seams somehow distorted sometimes . But in fact it is not! If you go deep in harmony study you will see that there are tens of options to any kind of harmony. None is wrong and none of them sound wrong after you get used to this kind of music.
  Now I just study , I hope in 2-3 months I can buy my self a xylosynth and start practicing like crazy!   I can not wait, but I am willing to do any sacrifice to be able to play again , and this time jazz .  Hope to have helped!