Mallet Dampening Pt 2
In Mallet Dampening Part 1 we learned how to dampen melody notes with the mallets instead of using the pedal. Doing this allows us to incorporate chords and melody together, just like a piano can do. Mallet dampening allows the chords to sustain while keeping the melody notes from ringing together and making a big mess. Review Mallet Dampening Part 1.
In this lesson we will look at more advanced mallet dampening techniques using only one mallet instead of the 2 mallet method we learned in lesson 1. Here is a short video to introduce how this is done:
The need to do one-handed dampening will come up whenever your left hand is too busy with the accompaniment to help your right hand with the melody. If, for example, your left hand is playing arpeggios, your right hand will probably have to handle all the dampening of the melody notes by itself. Remember too, the purpose of mallet dampening is to allow you to provide full sounding chords with the left hand (requiring that the pedal be down) while playing clean melodies with your right. Mallet dampening enables you to keep the melody notes from ringing together.
One-handed mallet dampening will only be needed for melody notes that are a whole step or half step apart. In the video the melody for “Blue in Green” moves down in steps – E to D to C to Bb to A to G to F. The right hand plays the E, then the D and immediately slides back to press out (dampen out) the E. Thus, the 2 notes sound clean and distinct. We don’t want them to ring together!
When the melody moves from the C to the Bb a different dampening method is used. After playing the C the right hand uses the knuckles of the middle fingers to press out (dampen) the C, and at the same time using the mallet to play the Bb.
This may sound confusing, but think about how your hand moves when you knock on a door. Your wrist is straight, your hand is shaped like a fist, and you use joints in the middle of your fingers to rap on the door. These are the same joints you use to dampen out the note (C) while striking the Bb note with the mallet. Watch the video again to see how it’s done then try it out.
Pick some simple tunes to try out these mallet dampening techniques. You don’t need to come up with an elaborate left hand part. Just play a single chord tone, perhaps the root with your left hand and play the melody with your right. Use the 2-handed and 1-handed dampening methods you’ve learned to play the melody cleanly. A couple of tunes to try might be “Yesterdays” by Jerome Kern, or “My Romance” by Richard Rodgers.
When you try one of these tunes remember to keep the pedal down for the duration of each chord, usually 2 beats or 4 beats. Use your mallets to dampen the melody while the pedal is down. Using mallet dampening will take your vibes playing to the next level.
If you enjoyed this lesson please give a small donation if you can using the paypal link below:
Themocracy
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now. Keep it up!
And according to this article, I totally agree with your opinion, but only this time!