Riversong (Solo 4-Mallet Vibraphone)

A lead-sheet version of Riversong, just like what a jazz musician would use, is first in this piece. In comparing it to the written-out version, you can place yourself in the shoes – and mind’s ear – of an improvising jazz musician and determine what decisions were made for harmonizing and accompanying the written melody. After studying the lead-sheet, you may enjoy further embellishing the written-out version or creating completely different variations of your own. There are countless possibilities.

Genre: Vibraphone (4-mallet) | # of Players: 1
Level: Medium Difficult | Duration: 4:00

Instrumentation
Vibraphone (3-octave)

Program Notes
A lead-sheet version of Riversong, just like what a jazz musician would use, is first in this piece. In comparing it to the written-out version, you can place yourself in the shoes – and mind’s ear – of an improvising jazz musician and determine what decisions were made for harmonizing and accompanying the written melody. After studying the lead-sheet, you may enjoy further embellishing the written-out version or creating completely different variations of your own. There are countless possibilities. The experience gained thereby will also help you in the future on passages of compositions that do not indicate chord symbols.

The written-out treatment of this lead sheet includes a variety of solid and broken chord textures and ascending and occasionally descending outlines of chords. Chords are stacked in thirds, fourths, and fifths, again for variety. Color tones (i.e. 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths) are frequently added; and some voicings are rootless, particularly on dominant seventh chords.