Mallet Solo Recommendations

[DanielPedroza]

Hello Snare Science community,

I am a music major and I will be playing as many as four different mallet solos through the semester. I was planning on doing at least one xylo solo and marimba solo, but I don't really have anything in mind yet. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[TheKingofNone]

I'm learning Spiral 2 by Eric Sammut, it's great. About 3 minutes long.

[squirrelqueen]

Well, it all depends on what you want/what your learning goals are. Do you want something pretty? Try "A Cricket Sang and Set the Sun" by Blake Tyson or "Virginia Tate" by Paul Smadbeck. Do you need to explore the world of Japanese marimba composition? Try Tanaka's "Two Movements for Marimba." As far as xylophone solos go, you can never go wrong with a Green rag such as "Fluffy Ruffles."

So yeah, my two questions for you are what are vague desires for what you want to play (pretty? atonal? transcriptions? fast/choppy? etc) and what is your currently playing ability? I'm more than happy to offer more suggestions based off of the answers

[TheKingofNone]

Ooh, Virginia Tate is Great. Essentially anything by Smadbeck, honestly.

[lij2015]

Astral Dance!
I'm playing it for college auditions and its SOOO fun

[DanielPedroza]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the great suggestions so far!

As far as my skill level goes, I'm no prodigy with four mallets. The only four mallet pieces I have played are ...Like a Burden Too Heavy and Cold Light, but the technique is definitely down, so I wouldn't say that any difficulty is out of my reach. Oh, and the solos generally have to be on the Solo and Ensemble list (or whatever list is the standard rep for whichever state you reside). The goal is to learn as much music as possible from the list, not necessarily the hardest pieces out there, so that in the future when I am teaching, I have experience playing what they will be playing so I can assist more directly. Pretty much any high school-level percussion literature and above is appropriate. Also, not having ever studied four mallet technique through high school, I missed out on the "standards" of marimba literature, and because I don't know a whole lot of them, throw some names my way.

Also, if anybody knows specifically about any good xylophone pieces, preferably solo pieces, any info would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to do a xylo piece this semester, but I have yet to find any good literature in my go-to sites, and I wouldn't have access to a percussion quartet to back me up, for example, if I were to do "Fluffy Ruffles".

Thanks again!

[Jason]

Some good four mallet practice ones are from the book Impressions on Wood , which has a bunch of level 4 marimba solos. I also like Galactica which is also a 4. (This is in the florida grading system.)

[NGPercussion]

Here are a few instructional books to help you develop your mallet chops:
http://www.steveweissmusic.com/product/ ... llet-books
http://www.steveweissmusic.com/product/ ... llet-books
http://www.steveweissmusic.com/product/ ... llet-books
http://www.steveweissmusic.com/product/ ... llet-books

Aside from that, here is a list by Nancy Zeltsman of recommended literature for beginner to intermediate levels:

Beginner
Carulli, Ferdinando Andante (transcr. Kite)
Peters, Mitchell Sea Refractions
Peters, Mitchell Waves
Pimental, L./Moore, J. The Solo Marimbist, Vol. 1
Beginner to Intermediate
Brown, Thomas A. Mexican Murals
DeLancey, Charles Rosewood Blues
Gomez, Alice Marimba Flamenca
Gottry, Josh Irrelevant
Houliff, Murray Two Pieces
Pimental, L./Moore, J. The Solo Marimbist, Vol. 2
Rosauro, Ney Seven Brazilian Children Songs
Wittiber, Benjamin Autumn Marimba
Zeltsman, Nancy Four-Mallet Marimba Playing
Zivkovic, Nebojsa J. Funny Mallets, Book 1

[moobarick]

Any one of the Four Rotations For Marimba by Eric Sammut are solid choices.
I'm playing number 2 right now, it's lots of fun