2009 Carolina Gold Front Ensemble Packet

Carolina Gold Front Ensemble

2009 Carolina

Gold Percussion

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WelcomeThank 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

2009 Carolina Gold Percussion – FRONT ENSEMBLE

http://www.Carolina

http://www.Carolina

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Front EnsembleA 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 GuidelinesPosture

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 TechniqueGrip


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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.

StrokeFrom 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 TechniqueGrip

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

GreenG.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

ArpeggiosThis 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 ExercisesThe 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.

SchartonGarrett 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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67Alan 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 BAlan 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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LateralsSean 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 barsWritten 1234 4321

1st variation 1243 (Stevens roll) 43122nd variation 1324 42313rd variation 1423 4132


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4-2-1 GridAlan 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 VariantsWritten 1234 2341 3412

41231st variation 4321 3214 2143

14322nd variation 1243 2431 4312

31243rd variation 4312 3124 1243

2431


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2009 Carolina Gold Front Ensemble Packet

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Transcript of 2009 Carolina Gold Front Ensemble Packet