How do you make music on that thing? A method with original etudes for the aspiring solo jazz vibraphonist
Miller, Matthew Ethan
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125315
Description
Title
How do you make music on that thing? A method with original etudes for the aspiring solo jazz vibraphonist
Author(s)
Miller, Matthew Ethan
Issue Date
2025
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Moersch, William
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
McNeill, Charles
Committee Member(s)
Taylor, Stephen
Flores, Ricardo
Department of Study
School of Music
Discipline
Music
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
A.Mus.D. (doctoral)
Keyword(s)
Jazz
Vibraphone
Solo
Unaccompanied
Percussion
Vibes
Texture
Arrangement
Language
eng
Abstract
The last hundred years has seen the complete development of the vibraphone, from conception through becoming an accepted instrument in the jazz community that is increasingly common at jazz performances. Innovators of vibraphone technique, such as Gary Burton, have enabled the vibes to function as an unaccompanied solo instrument, a role that is typical for piano or guitar. Despite this increased opportunity for solo performance, there remains a void in available literature that students of the vibraphone may study in order to gain the necessary
musical and technical skills to perform unaccompanied.
This project presents a sequence of original etudes, informed by recordings of Gary Burton, Tony Miceli, Chris Dingman, Walt Dickerson, Jason Adasiewicz, and others, that will guide a student through the most common techniques used by unaccompanied jazz vibraphonists.
Over the course of learning these etudes, a student will develop a palette of textural approaches they can use in solo performance. Following the instructions provided with the etudes, the student will also be able to improvise their own arrangements of unaccompanied tunes in a variety of unique ways, rather than simply regurgitating the material presented in these etudes verbatim. The goal of this instructional material, as should always be the goal in music education, is to allow the student to develop their own, well-informed voice in the music.
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