Percussion lessons with rick dior

A Jazz piano teacher has his first jazz vibraphone lesson.

I’m collaborating with a symphonic musician from the USA who also plays jazz and rock at the professional level, like Broadway touring shows and with major pop and jazz artists. We’ve been working together, since December, on drumkit and rudiments. He is direct, skilled as a teacher, and expects results every two weeks. Now we’ve added mallet studies beginning with jazz vibes with four mallets. (He is not overly familiar with my work as a jazz and classical piano teacher or previous three-decade career on stage.)

Materials:

• Charlie Parker Omni Book
• Real Book
• iReal Pro app
• Malletkat GS

Songs assigned.

• Moose the Mooch
• Body and Soul

Lesson

1. “Dave, the 1st thing to learn is the chord voicings.” I’m curious, I’m wondering which chord voicings. Turns out to be Bill Evans rootless voicings, arranged for the vibes. Cool. 
2. “Rick, I know the Burton Grip, for 4 mallets, will that be, ok?” “Yes. However, that grip has limitations for large spread chords. In the future, we will have a look at another grip used by marimba players.”
3. He proceeds to rip through Moose the Mooch.
4. He then demonstrates the voicings and suggests that in some instances I should pedal with the left foot instead of the right foot like on the piano.
5. He offers suggestions for improvisation, like using the voicings to help determine my note choices in a solo, the use of grace notes on the vibes, and where to put in ghost notes. Groovy.
6. We discuss writing in stickings.

I’m off and running. In anticipation of the next class, I will buy a used glockenspiel and the recommended etude book for mallets. I already own a xylophone. My goal is to jam on the Mallet kat with my jazz friends and to play competently the mallet book (Glock, xylophone, Mallet kat as a Marimba etc.) in the Metropolitan Silver band.

David