Carolina Gold Front Ensemble

2009
Carolina
Gold
Percussion
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Welcome
Thank you for your interest in the percussion program here in Carolina
Gold. This will be the primary material used to determine your position in
the ensemble as well as being used in all rehearsals. For rehearsal dates
and times, please visit www.Carolina Goldbands.com.

Included in this package are exercises and technical descriptions as well

as audio files you can use in the developmental process of learning the
music and technique. In order to play these files, you should have a
media player that can play MP3 audio.

We urge you to read and comprehend the technical descriptions as well

as memorize the music. Your success in the ensemble directly relates to
your ability to understand everything that is asked of you. We expect our
musicians to be mature, intuitive, teachable, humble, physically fit and
can afford the time and financial commitments as well as always strive to
be the best they can possibly be. Being a member of the percussion
program at Carolina Gold is a big commitment, but it is extremely
rewarding and life-changing.

We hope that you get the most from your experience and we look forward
to working with you!

- Carolina Gold Percussion Staff

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Front Ensemble
A few tips...

The majority of your time should be practicing with a metronome.

Don’t teach yourself to play the wrong way.

Know the exercises thoroughly. Nothing is more frustrating for a

student than not being prepared for a rehearsal. Learn all of the exercises
in all keys and variations and be able to play them in a variety of tempi.

Spend some time playing on other instruments. Less than half of the
keyboard players will be on a marimba, yet most players tend to spend
most of their time practicing on them. Take some time and play on a
vibraphone or xylophone. Be able to play comfortably on all keyboard
instruments.

You don’t need to be on an instrument all the time. Many of our

exercises can be learned playing on the floor. This allows you to focus on
your technique without the stress of missing notes. This can be very
handy if you have limited access to an instrument.

A word about timpani…

The timpanist is the only soloist in the ensemble. While being a
challenge, this also provides a student with a unique perspective and
experience. We encourage anyone to consider this position because of its
significant role in the percussion program at Carolina Gold.

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Keyboard Technique
Guidelines
Posture
The way we stand behind our instruments not only allows us to be
successful musicians, but also creates an atmosphere of professionalism
to the audience. Remember: before you play your first note, you are
judged on how you look behind your instrument.

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Torso should be upright with
the shoulders and arms relaxed. How far away from the instrument you
stand will be determined by which exercise you are playing. Generally
speaking, you should be standing where both manuals are easily
reachable. Many players make the mistake of standing too far back, and
then have to lunge or overextend to reach the accidental manual. There is
no one perfect place; in fact you should be compromising by shifting
your weight forward or back depending on which manual you are playing
at the time. Note: While standing with your feet shoulder width apart,
place one foot slightly in front of the other. This will give you better
balance while shifting between manuals.

Keyboard Height and Arm Placement

To determine your instruments proper height, let your arms hang down
at your side. With your shoulders relaxed, bring your arms up and rest
your hands on the keyboard just like you were setting them on a table.
Your forearms should be angled slightly down. If the angle is too steep,
you need to raise your instrument. If your arms are flat or angled up, you
need to lower your instrument.

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Mallet Placement

Whenever possible, we strive to play every note in the center of the bar
directly over the resonators. While there are many schools of thought on
this subject, for our purposes this allows us more consistency is sound
quality and projection. This will often mean you will have to play with
mallets next to each other.

Rebound
Never do anything to inhibit the free rebounding of the mallet. The
grips we use will facilitate this, but remember to allow the mallet to
rebound after each stroke. Under no circumstance should you finish an
exercise with the mallets down near the bars.

Two-Mallet Technique
Grip

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Our two-mallet technique can be described as a “rear fulcrum” grip.

The mallet is held primarily with the back two fingers which allows for
more arm to be used in the stroke producing a fuller sound and to allow
for more rebound.

With about 2 inches of the mallet extending from the back of the hand,
wrap the back two fingers around the mallet. Then lightly wrap the
remaining fingers around the mallet, with the index finger slightly
extended. The rear two fingers hold the mallet and the remaining fingers
“guide” the mallet. Avoid pinching the index finger and thumb. This
provides a sharp, brittle sound and restricts the rebound. The palms
should not be flat, but rather turned slightly inward at a natural and
comfortable angle. The wrist and arm should form a natural angle that
puts no stress on the wrist joint.

Stroke
From a resting position about ½” inch above the bar, the motion is
initiated by the mallet head, followed by the wrist and arm in a fluid,
seamless motion. The mallet head should move directly up, not at an
angle. Nor should it move in or away from the body. Upon reaching the
top of the stroke, the mallet is brought down by the weight in the back of
the hand (where the rear two fingers are holding the mallet). As the
mallet comes down, the wrist turns to accelerate the mallet into the bar.
The mallet should be completely level as it strikes the exact center of the
bar. After contact is made, the looseness in the front of the grip allows
the mallet to naturally rebound, thus initiating the next stroke.

At a moderate tempo, the stroke is 90% wrist motion, 10% arm motion.
As the tempo increases, the stroke will become more wrist-oriented and
the mallets will stay lower to the bars. As the tempo decreases, the stroke
will become more arm-oriented, and the mallets will come higher off of
the bars.

Rebound

When playing with two mallets, never let the mallets stop moving. The
mallets will never stop or slow down near the bars, nor will they stop at
the top of the stroke.

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Four-Mallet Technique
Grip

Here, we use the standard Stevens grip when playing with four mallets.
With the hand turned sideways in a “handshaking” position, the outside
mallet is gripped with the bottom two fingers with no more than a half-
inch extending beyond the back of the hand. The inside mallet is
balanced between the center of the palm and the curled-in index finger.
The middle finger secures the mallet in the palm, while the thumb rests
on top of the index finger. For more information on the Musser-Stevens
grip, see Leigh Howard Stevens’ “Method of Movement” or Gifford
Howarth’s “Simply Four.”

A few common problems regarding 4-

mallet grip…

Keep your hands turned on their sides. The angle of the hand is very
different from the 2-Mallet technique, but it is very common to confuse
the two.

No pinching, please. Only squeeze the fingers enough to keep the

mallets from flying out of your hands and across the room. Believe it or
not, squeezing your fingers employs muscles in your shoulders. That
transference of tension can quickly hamper your ability to play quickly
and with a relaxed approach.

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Keep the thumb and index finger across from each other. Don’t over-
curl the index finger or pull back with the thumb. This “locks” the mallets
in place and prevents quick interval changes and good tone production.
(It also leads to tension in the hands. See “No pinching, please” above.)

Stroke

For the purposes of building strength and flexibility, all four-mallet

exercises in this packet should be learned first using only the wrist. Arm
motion should only be incorporated once sufficient wrist strength has
been achieved.

Prior to the stroke, all four mallets are lifted simultaneously by turning
the wrist upward while leaving the arms in their original position. It is to
this position that the mallets should return after each and every stroke.
Also, only move the mallet or mallets that are being used. The others
should remain up. Don’t allow stationary mallets to “sag” or “wiggle”
along with the others.

Specific stroke types will be discussed along with the corresponding

exercises.

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Fundamental Exercises

Octaves

This exercise is designed to work on rebound and double-stops while

using large muscle groups to develop a round, warm sound. The player
should avoid flams at all costs and ensure an even sound between the
hands.

This exercise should be played in all keys at a variety of dynamics

and tempi

Green
G.H. Green

“Green” is our scale exercise. Players should be comfortable playing in all

keys (major and minor) and in all modes and should be able to play it
from 60-200 bpm. At all but the fastest tempi, strike the note in the
middle of the bar. As you approach 160-170, begin to use the edges.
When striking a note on the edge, go all the way to the edge. When
playing on the edge, the mallet should literally be

half on and half off the bar. Try to match the sound of the edge to that of
the center.

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This is a good time to discuss how we lift in preparation to begin playing

as scale-like passages present a particularly difficult problem.

With a double stop or single-hand exercise, we lift one note value’s

length prior to playing. For instance, if you’re playing eighth notes, you
would lift on (actually, just after) the “and” of 4. If you’re a more
physically-oriented learner, think of it the following way. We want our lift
to feel like a rebound, and with good reason. If the lift feels like a
rebound, which means the mallet is moving at the correct speed before
we play the first note. This makes playing in tempo and with a good tone
at the beginning of an exercise much easier. It means that the first note
will sound like the fifth note (which is not as easy as it sounds).

With “Green,” though, the hands do not start together. We must perform
a “two-handed lift.” One mallet (the first hand) is going to move before
the other. When playing this exercise, most players immediately lift both
hands together, causing the mallet to move at two different speeds on
the first two notes, thus ensuring that the beginning of the exercise does
not sound even. By moving one hand and then the other in rapid
succession, both hand speeds are the same, and the beginning of the
“phrase” is linear and even.

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Seiko

“Seiko” is designed to be played slowly, around 50-80 bpm. This is the

first exercise that deals with double vertical strokes. Essentially, each
hand is playing a double stop. The wrist will bend down, striking the bars
with a level shaft. The lack of tension in the fingers will allow the wrist to
rebound back to its original position quickly and smoothly. Be sure to
keep the wrists turned properly (with both mallets level) as you strike to
avoid flams.

Also keep in mind how your wrists are positioned while playing the
inversions, especially in other keys. They should be in a natural position
and free of any tension.

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Independence

This is our basic exercise to deal with single independent strokes.

Always remember to rotate your wrist around the other mallet. Avoid
bending your wrist to produce each stroke. Also be sure to start this
exercise from the up position and that the mallets that are not playing
are remaining as still as possible.

This exercise should be played in a variety of keys and tempi

Arpeggios
This is our basic 4-mallet arpeggio and inversion exercise. Begin this
exercise very slowly, around 40 bpm, to ensure proper technique. Make
sure when you move to then next inversion, the mallets are in proper
position to efficiently play the next set of inversions, meaning:

As you play the first 2 notes, the left hand will move directly over its next
set of notes (opposite for descending), thereby allowing for efficient use
of motion around the instrument.

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STOP!
DO NOT CONTINUE IN THIS PACKET
UNTIL ALL OF THE PREVIOUS EXERCISES
ARE COMFORTABLE!

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Ensemble Exercises
The next few pages contain exercises that we use as an ensemble to both
warm-up and work on various timing and listening issues we may face
throughout the music. All of the previous material should be learned and
continue to be mastered. Doing so will make you stronger as an
individual player, thereby making the ensemble stronger as a whole.

Scharton
Garrett Scharton

This is essentially a double-stop exercise. The player should avoid flams

at all costs. This is also a great exercise to work on independence
between melody and accompaniment. The melody (right hand) must be
brought out slightly more than the stationary line (left hand). In doing so,
it is very easy to produce flams.

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67
Alan Miller

“67” is named for its ideal starting tempo: 67bpm, though you should be able to
perform it at a variety of tempi. This exercise stresses double stops and note-
value changes and is the first exercise involving independence of the hands.

Keyboard players should keep a few things in mind…

1) In the first eight bars, there is a moving line and a stationary line. Balance
the hands accordingly avoiding any flams.
2) When the note length changes, the change will occur on the second note.
For example, in measure 9 when the 16th notes begin, beat should feel
the same as previous 8 bars. The “e” of 1 is the first note affected by the
note value shift. It is there that a change of rebound, mallet speed, and/
or grip pressure will occur.

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Version B
Alan Miller

“Version B” uses two of the three main strokes: double vertical strokes
and single independent strokes.

Measures 1-6 use double vertical strokes. Remember to keep the wrists
turned properly.

Measures 7-23 to the end employ single independent strokes (unless

you’re playing very fast, at which point they would become single
alternating strokes, which we will not discuss here). For these measures,
move only one mallet at a time. The wrist does not “bend” down but
rather “twists,” with the stationary mallet acting as an axis around which
the hand turns. This concept is crucial to creating a full and controlled
sound. Before moving on to the next note, the first mallet must fully
rebound back to its original position. Then the next mallet begins to
move. Avoid “flipping” the hand from side to side like a see-saw.
Remember, these are called single “independent” strokes because each
mallet is moving “independently” of the others.

Start this exercise very slowly (around 50 bpm) so

you can control and define the technique. You
should be comfortable playing it at all dynamic
ranges, from 50-150 bpm.

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Laterals
Sean Combes

“Laterals” employs the third and final stroke type we will discuss: double
lateral strokes. Double laterals are basically two single independent
strokes sped up and combined into one fluid stroke. However, while this
is considered one “stroke,” there are three discrete motions: 1) The first
mallet moving downward and striking the bar. 2) The wrist turning,
elevating the first mallet and bringing the second down to strike the next
bar; and 3) The second mallet rebounding to its original position.

When playing this exercise, avoid letting the second mallet “flop” onto the
bar. Turn the wrist strongly and produce a tone equal to that of the first.
Due to the amount of wrist strength needed to play double laterals, one
should postpone this exercise until the previous two stroke types are
mastered. Attempting to play double laterals before attaining the
requisite wrist strength will result in an uneven and unsatisfactory sound.

Also, at almost all tempi, even though this is a lateral exercise, the eighth
notes will be moving at a speed that requires the player to execute single
independent strokes. Don’t get sloppy by trying to play lateral strokes on
the eighth notes.

Again, you should be comfortable playing this exercise between 50-150

bpm and at a variety of dynamic levels.

Use the following mallet permutations in addition to the one written.

Variations First 16 bars Second 16 bars

Written 1234 4321
1st variation 1243 (Stevens roll) 4312
2nd variation 1324 4231
3rd variation 1423 4132

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4-2-1 Grid
Alan Miller

Before learning the next exercise, familiarize yourself with the following
progression of 5ths. The exercise will be much simpler to read after
doing so.

“4-2-1 Grid” is essentially a “stick control” exercise for 4-mallets. It

is recommended that you spend a lot of time playing this one “on the
floor” before attempting the progression. Strive for an even sound from
mallet to mallet regardless of the permutation. The goal is not merely to
“get the notes,” but to make the exercise sound smooth and linear. There

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are a number of variations, some of which are very challenging (more so

mentally than physically). Be able to play all variations at all dynamics
from 50-140 bpm.

Base Permutation Variants

2341 3412
Written 1234
4123
3214 2143
1st variation 4321
1432
2431 4312
2nd variation 1243
3124
3124 1243
3rd variation 4312
2431

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