Once upon a time I had a run in wind ensemble in C major that went up and down in 16ths, fivelets, sixteenth triplets, 7/1s, and a beat of 32nds (getting faster as it continued). I practiced using tortoise method for 3 hours on this run. It was 2 measures at 144 BPM. But by the end I had it at 160 without a missing note.
playing arpeggios helps for the Cma/Ami scales, especially with one hand. Another good thing to try is to play it left hand and right hand lead. It forces you to use your mind more and less muscle memory. The reason why we can't play the natural scales very fast is we don't use our mental skill to follow along. We can do it with all the other scales, so there's really no excuse - it's just harder because there's less to look for. It's about setting landmarks like what you talked about with accenting.
I’m a xylophone and we’re having auditions for pit next year and there’s kids coming up from the middle school who are pretty good and I wanna stay on game
Very generous of you to share so many excersises and also material to download from your webpage. Thanks a lot, this will come to good use. I also teach middle school and highschool percussionists :)
I'm going to try to do Flight of the Bumble Bee by Nikolay Rimsky Korsakov and I don't think I can play the whole thing through fast enough (maybe because I'm using down stroke). I'm a freshman in High School and one of the few people that play mallets the others can't play simple runs on and don't read well. So what do you suggest?
I'm freshman in highschool and I moved up to vibes but my instructor is telling me to play faster but when I try I get lost and and slow down a lot. Any suggestions?
Marimbalogy could you please do something like this for four mallets ind. strokes? I watched your video on the techinque and the proper rotations, but could you do a video like this with tips on how to get up to speed with four mallets or give me some advice? thanks!
Will Ow Hi there! The exact same information applies, that's why I just stuck with 2 mallets. High speed piston strokes at a slow tempo will train those muscles. The only big difference is that you don't want to the outside mallet to move a whole lot, so in the VERY EARLY stages of independent strokes you want to go in "Slow mo" to get the motion down.
Marimbalogy thanks! i have the motion down, i can play ind. strokes pretty well with pretty much no pain and minimal wobbling of my outside mallets. I just really want to play as fast as those dci players when they do crazy runs
Вы будете играть точнее в быстрых темпах, если поработаете над положением вашей левой руки. Избегайте положения, когда левая рука находится ближе к параллельному положению по отношению к пластинам инструмента(маримбы). К этой рекомендации добавьте более интенсивную работу пальцев и тогда ваша быстрая игра заиграет новыми гранями.😊🥁🤝
Ok, I'm having a slight problem with my left hand, as i speed up, instead of a normal down up down up mosition, it'll start doing a circular/oval motion, and tips on how to fix/work on it?
Hello! I would need to see a video. Sometimes this is caused by your wrist turning slightly sideways. Sometimes the fingers are in an odd position. Could you send me a short video clip?
@@Marimbalogy i am not able to send a clip. But one of the my fellow classmates did mention my wrists turning weirdly, so this difenatly helps clear things up. Thank you
Thanks, very useful lesson! Can you recommend any chordal voicings/arpeggio books that expands beyond only playing two octave scales/arpeggios up/down making it more musical? And is there a way to gain hold of your exercises?
I have an audition coming up and I feel like my roll consistently is something I really need to hit before the audition. It's not super bad, but I just need to take it to the next level, meaning there needs to be a good flow and transition between each roll- especially with the trills. What would you recommend?
It's hard to tell without seeing a video of you playing! So the general advice is work slow to fast gradually with a met. You can also try rolling up a scale, returning to the tonic note after each note of the scale so like C-D-C-E-C-F etc.
I have 2 weeks of band camp left and I have 3 runs all the runs are different too the tempo is 172 and the notes are 32nd is there any way I can learn them like super super quick
32 note runs at 172? Well I would ask your director for a re-write because that's not really possible. You can play 32nd notes in a fast burst at that tempo, but not like a full measure run.
Do you have a video on playing sixlets triplet 16ths or stuff like that on time? Im doing xylo for a marching band show and a lot of what I’m playing is 16ths which I’m okay with but I also have to play sixlets a bunch too and I’m nervous about messing those up
Sorry for the late reply, been on vacation. The same principals apply! You can also make practice files in Musescore and practice at different speeds along size the playback from Musescore!
When I do "green" scales (I call them Krause scales) i do the extra note as the next note of the scale. I'm pretty sure I noticed that u used the next chromatic note after the scale. So like for me in c scale eaxtra note would be d but u did d flat. And I thought green and Krause where the same thing but whatever I can be wrong
Hello, I played the D natural on the green scales. I have never heard of the Krause scales, but from what I can tell from a quick online search is that it's the same thing.
Hey. Newbie here, thanks for the video very helpful.a question for you. The book I'm working out of is the first Mitchell peters book and it says when playing in the lower register its right mallet in front of left when playing multiple notes on the keys and you will intuitively know when to switch to left in front of right. It seems to me that at middle f on my 3 octave xylophone. Is that right? Please tell me Thanks.
For general playing, I like to tell my students to hit the exact same spots (slightly off center) with both hands. There is only a need to split the mallets high/low when playing really fast and really low to the keyboard. In that case it depends a bit on where your body is positioned to what you're playing.
When I try to use piston stroke.My wrists and fingers will get very tight. Under normal circumstances, no matter how the strength and speed change, you should relax your all arm , right?
I play electirc violin for my marching band, but I was put in to play xylophone and vibraphone for the first time. I have a chord on the xylophone in 6/8ths where a dotted quarter note=132 bpm but my right mallot is fine, because of my violin experience. I lock the left wrist and I don't know how to fix it in order to get faster. Any advice?
Without seeing it, the best I can do is tell you to go slow and big with a metronome and gradually speed up over many days. If you keep trying to overwork it before you're ready, it will be hard to break the habit. Can you get a music re-wright?
@@Marimbalogy I have a written in option to only play accents, but my band director said that I have to play everything because I'm "underestimating myself" 😭
@@Li-uj8rk I would advocate your own personal health. Locked wrists are not good and can lead to tendonitis or carpal tunnel. I would ask them to rewrite the part until you're able to play it pain free. If they don't agree to this, get your parents to contact them and tell them the same thing.
Which mallets do you recommend for a concert setting? I have a pair of IP f2s that are sturdy but I'm not sure if they are good enough for a concert setting. Thanks!
It sort of depends on what you're playing and the style in which you are playing. Also, who are you playing with? Mallets that sound good solo don't always sound good in a concert band. Mallets that sound good with low height Stevens technique don't sound good with high drum corps style strokes!
Which specific technique? There are some similarities between stick technique and mallet technique, but also some key differences in regards to your fingers.
@@Marimbalogy theres how he holds the sticks. Theres also use of all the hinges, ranging from a simple wrist or finger stroke, to the moeller whip stroke. What are differences in the use of the fingers?
@@steampunkhulk5559 You can use some Moeller on marimba. As far as fingers, unless you're going very fast and very low, fingers don't help much because there is little to no rebound. Most of the work is being done with the wrist.
When I play fast, my hands'll naturally tense up, and my knuckles turn white while playing. How do I play more relaxed? This is a really bad habit I can't seem to break over the years
Hey there! This is usually a sign that you're trying to go faster than your hands will allow. One tip though is the faster you play, the more you want to focus your grip on just the fulcrum. Don't squeeze equally with all fingers. (hopefully that makes sense)
How do i build wrist speed and get that burn feeling away from the marimba. If i dont feel that burn feeling am i doing it wrong? If i am doing it wrong what are common reasons as to why ? [I apologize if this is a lot of question just trying to figure out how to get better]
You don't have to have burn to build chops. It just builds them faster than if you don't. It's more important to have relaxed technique with no unnecessary tension. That will wreck your hands and prevent speed. As far as building away from marimba, you can play on a pillow to build chops (or a mattress pad). You can also use snare sticks and a practice pad, but it's not quite the same since the marimba doesn't rebound.
so when I do my runs, which is all unison runs at 168, our arms should be completely still, right? I would like to show you a recording of the bit from behind the marimbas. if it's ok with you.
Horrible Gamers Well, the arms move a little bit, but I've found my accuracy to be greater when my hips do most of the work. However if your run is only in the span on an octave, your arms are going to take a greater role. By all means, send away!
Hey, not sure why this didn't go to my email box. But I'll still answer ya :) Yes your arms aren't going to move very much if you're playing fast, but it should not feel tense. Your smaller muscles just take over.
how do i get familiar with the key board? I play the flute and with flute you just learn the fingerings and just stare at the music. But for mallet keyboards, you have to look at the music and look at what key you are hitting. How do pros familiarize with the keyboard and play music atthe same time? I have to memorize everything in order to play it. I see notes as “this key" and not "thats A natural". i would like to be able to learn music quickly
+fantasticpancake Most Marimbists can't learn music quickly unless they have had years of piano training. Most of us memorize all the music for 2 reasons, 1 - Yes it's hard to hit the right note while not looking but also 2 - most marimba music is so challenging to play that by the time you can play it, it's been memorized for a long time. However, that's not to say that you can't sight read and play at the same time. It just takes years of practice to get a good feel for the keyboard. Gordon Stout has a number of exercises the he called Ideo-Kinetics which help develop a feel for where the keys are. These can certainly help, but when it comes to performing live, most people will memorize because it's hard enough to hit the right notes when you're looking at the marimba, let along when your'e not looking :)
+fantasticpancake I know for me, I was taught to have the music stand down and very close to the bars of the keyboard, and you basically need to use peripherals
I just finished my DCI mallet playing career and I'm remembering how much I used watch your videos back in early high school. Thank you!
Once upon a time I had a run in wind ensemble in C major that went up and down in 16ths, fivelets, sixteenth triplets, 7/1s, and a beat of 32nds (getting faster as it continued). I practiced using tortoise method for 3 hours on this run. It was 2 measures at 144 BPM. But by the end I had it at 160 without a missing note.
Heck yea! Keep being awesome.
playing arpeggios helps for the Cma/Ami scales, especially with one hand. Another good thing to try is to play it left hand and right hand lead. It forces you to use your mind more and less muscle memory. The reason why we can't play the natural scales very fast is we don't use our mental skill to follow along. We can do it with all the other scales, so there's really no excuse - it's just harder because there's less to look for. It's about setting landmarks like what you talked about with accenting.
I have to do runs of 16th notes at 180 BPM and ya girl needs to practice this thank you
Same. It’s.. you know?
Same just 140 BPM but some aren't runs
Thank you for this. I’m more of a battery player but I’m pretty good at marimba. I just need to get better at it
You're welcome!
Tsunam!Papi same
I’m a xylophone and we’re having auditions for pit next year and there’s kids coming up from the middle school who are pretty good and I wanna stay on game
Very generous of you to share so many excersises and also material to download from your webpage. Thanks a lot, this will come to good use. I also teach middle school and highschool percussionists :)
Muchísimas gracias. Voy a practicar esos ejercicios.!!
15:44
Use a metronome with George Stone's stick control book.
I'm going to try to do Flight of the Bumble Bee by Nikolay Rimsky Korsakov and I don't think I can play the whole thing through fast enough (maybe because I'm using down stroke). I'm a freshman in High School and one of the few people that play mallets the others can't play simple runs on and don't read well. So what do you suggest?
I would really appreciate your help...
+Nathan Run break it down, learn it backwards, slow it down as hell, set a deadline,
I'm freshman in highschool and I moved up to vibes but my instructor is telling me to play faster but when I try I get lost and and slow down a lot. Any suggestions?
Go slow with a met and be sure that you're using "upstrokes". Getting lost means it's not in the muscles memory yet (or brain) :)
Marimbalogy could you please do something like this for four mallets ind. strokes? I watched your video on the techinque and the proper rotations, but could you do a video like this with tips on how to get up to speed with four mallets or give me some advice? thanks!
Will Ow Hi there! The exact same information applies, that's why I just stuck with 2 mallets. High speed piston strokes at a slow tempo will train those muscles. The only big difference is that you don't want to the outside mallet to move a whole lot, so in the VERY EARLY stages of independent strokes you want to go in "Slow mo" to get the motion down.
Marimbalogy thanks! i have the motion down, i can play ind. strokes pretty well with pretty much no pain and minimal wobbling of my outside mallets. I just really want to play as fast as those dci players when they do crazy runs
Вы будете играть точнее в быстрых темпах, если поработаете над положением вашей левой руки. Избегайте положения, когда левая рука находится ближе к параллельному положению по отношению к пластинам инструмента(маримбы). К этой рекомендации добавьте более интенсивную работу пальцев и тогда ваша быстрая игра заиграет новыми гранями.😊🥁🤝
This entire time I thought I was really bad at mallets because I had trouble with c scale runs
Ok, I'm having a slight problem with my left hand, as i speed up, instead of a normal down up down up mosition, it'll start doing a circular/oval motion, and tips on how to fix/work on it?
Hello! I would need to see a video. Sometimes this is caused by your wrist turning slightly sideways. Sometimes the fingers are in an odd position. Could you send me a short video clip?
@@Marimbalogy i am not able to send a clip. But one of the my fellow classmates did mention my wrists turning weirdly, so this difenatly helps clear things up. Thank you
Thanks, very useful lesson! Can you recommend any chordal voicings/arpeggio books that expands beyond only playing two octave scales/arpeggios up/down making it more musical? And is there a way to gain hold of your exercises?
I know a lot of people use to read out of a church Hymnal!
I have an audition coming up and I feel like my roll consistently is something I really need to hit before the audition. It's not super bad, but I just need to take it to the next level, meaning there needs to be a good flow and transition between each roll- especially with the trills. What would you recommend?
It's hard to tell without seeing a video of you playing! So the general advice is work slow to fast gradually with a met. You can also try rolling up a scale, returning to the tonic note after each note of the scale so like C-D-C-E-C-F etc.
@@Marimbalogy Thank you so much!
12:28 thats right hahaha XD
I have 2 weeks of band camp left and I have 3 runs all the runs are different too the tempo is 172 and the notes are 32nd is there any way I can learn them like super super quick
32 note runs at 172? Well I would ask your director for a re-write because that's not really possible. You can play 32nd notes in a fast burst at that tempo, but not like a full measure run.
pray for your hands and take a leap into the abyss
Do you have a video on playing sixlets triplet 16ths or stuff like that on time? Im doing xylo for a marching band show and a lot of what I’m playing is 16ths which I’m okay with but I also have to play sixlets a bunch too and I’m nervous about messing those up
Sorry for the late reply, been on vacation. The same principals apply! You can also make practice files in Musescore and practice at different speeds along size the playback from Musescore!
That’s a big fuckin marimba my man
hahaha thanks! Pretty standard size now-a-days
When I do "green" scales (I call them Krause scales) i do the extra note as the next note of the scale. I'm pretty sure I noticed that u used the next chromatic note after the scale. So like for me in c scale eaxtra note would be d but u did d flat. And I thought green and Krause where the same thing but whatever I can be wrong
Hello, I played the D natural on the green scales. I have never heard of the Krause scales, but from what I can tell from a quick online search is that it's the same thing.
Hey. Newbie here, thanks for the video very helpful.a question for you. The book I'm working out of is the first Mitchell peters book and it says when playing in the lower register its right mallet in front of left when playing multiple notes on the keys and you will intuitively know when to switch to left in front of right. It seems to me that at middle f on my 3 octave xylophone. Is that right? Please tell me
Thanks.
For general playing, I like to tell my students to hit the exact same spots (slightly off center) with both hands. There is only a need to split the mallets high/low when playing really fast and really low to the keyboard. In that case it depends a bit on where your body is positioned to what you're playing.
Is a piston stroke also suitable for xylophone？
。
Sure is!
Marimbalogy let me guess. The strength is different and the rebound height is different 👀👀
When I try to use piston stroke.My wrists and fingers will get very tight. Under normal circumstances, no matter how the strength and speed change, you should relax your all arm , right?
You may be overdoing it. Every muscle should relax very quickly after the stroke. There is isn’t arm motion in piston strokes!
Send me a video of you want and I can look!
I play electirc violin for my marching band, but I was put in to play xylophone and vibraphone for the first time. I have a chord on the xylophone in 6/8ths where a dotted quarter note=132 bpm but my right mallot is fine, because of my violin experience. I lock the left wrist and I don't know how to fix it in order to get faster. Any advice?
Without seeing it, the best I can do is tell you to go slow and big with a metronome and gradually speed up over many days. If you keep trying to overwork it before you're ready, it will be hard to break the habit. Can you get a music re-wright?
@@Marimbalogy I have a written in option to only play accents, but my band director said that I have to play everything because I'm "underestimating myself" 😭
@@Li-uj8rk I would advocate your own personal health. Locked wrists are not good and can lead to tendonitis or carpal tunnel. I would ask them to rewrite the part until you're able to play it pain free. If they don't agree to this, get your parents to contact them and tell them the same thing.
is there any way to prevent the bottem of my arm hurting when playing a run fast
+DEAD SD Burning is good, it means you're building chops. Pain is bad. It's hard to tell without seeing you play. Care to send a video?
Burn is good, means you're building muscle. Pain is bad. So I guess it depends on which you're having!
Which mallets do you recommend for a concert setting? I have a pair of IP f2s that are sturdy but I'm not sure if they are good enough for a concert setting. Thanks!
It kinda depends on where you are playing. I will generally use one model harder than what I would use in a practice/carpeted room.
It sort of depends on what you're playing and the style in which you are playing. Also, who are you playing with? Mallets that sound good solo don't always sound good in a concert band. Mallets that sound good with low height Stevens technique don't sound good with high drum corps style strokes!
Is the technique that bill bachman uses for tenors applicable to marimba playing two mallets?
Which specific technique? There are some similarities between stick technique and mallet technique, but also some key differences in regards to your fingers.
@@Marimbalogy theres how he holds the sticks. Theres also use of all the hinges, ranging from a simple wrist or finger stroke, to the moeller whip stroke. What are differences in the use of the fingers?
@@steampunkhulk5559 You can use some Moeller on marimba. As far as fingers, unless you're going very fast and very low, fingers don't help much because there is little to no rebound. Most of the work is being done with the wrist.
@@Marimbalogy thanks for the help
When I play fast, my hands'll naturally tense up, and my knuckles turn white while playing. How do I play more relaxed? This is a really bad habit I can't seem to break over the years
Thanks for chiming in!
Hey there! This is usually a sign that you're trying to go faster than your hands will allow. One tip though is the faster you play, the more you want to focus your grip on just the fulcrum. Don't squeeze equally with all fingers. (hopefully that makes sense)
How do i build wrist speed and get that burn feeling away from the marimba. If i dont feel that burn feeling am i doing it wrong? If i am doing it wrong what are common reasons as to why ? [I apologize if this is a lot of question just trying to figure out how to get better]
You don't have to have burn to build chops. It just builds them faster than if you don't. It's more important to have relaxed technique with no unnecessary tension. That will wreck your hands and prevent speed. As far as building away from marimba, you can play on a pillow to build chops (or a mattress pad). You can also use snare sticks and a practice pad, but it's not quite the same since the marimba doesn't rebound.
@@Marimbalogy thanks for the help
Anytime!
I love to PISON stroke
Where can I find the summertime music sheet
The book "Up front" on Tapspace.com
so when I do my runs, which is all unison runs at 168, our arms should be completely still, right? I would like to show you a recording of the bit from behind the marimbas. if it's ok with you.
Horrible Gamers Well, the arms move a little bit, but I've found my accuracy to be greater when my hips do most of the work. However if your run is only in the span on an octave, your arms are going to take a greater role. By all means, send away!
Marimbalogy I would but it would have to be through an e-mail. its not very clean considering its still during band camp.
Hey, not sure why this didn't go to my email box. But I'll still answer ya :) Yes your arms aren't going to move very much if you're playing fast, but it should not feel tense. Your smaller muscles just take over.
how do i get familiar with the key board? I play the flute and with flute you just learn the fingerings and just stare at the music. But for mallet keyboards, you have to look at the music and look at what key you are hitting. How do pros familiarize with the keyboard and play music atthe same time? I have to memorize everything in order to play it. I see notes as “this key" and not "thats A natural". i would like to be able to learn music quickly
+fantasticpancake Most Marimbists can't learn music quickly unless they have had years of piano training. Most of us memorize all the music for 2 reasons, 1 - Yes it's hard to hit the right note while not looking but also 2 - most marimba music is so challenging to play that by the time you can play it, it's been memorized for a long time. However, that's not to say that you can't sight read and play at the same time. It just takes years of practice to get a good feel for the keyboard. Gordon Stout has a number of exercises the he called Ideo-Kinetics which help develop a feel for where the keys are. These can certainly help, but when it comes to performing live, most people will memorize because it's hard enough to hit the right notes when you're looking at the marimba, let along when your'e not looking :)
+fantasticpancake I know for me, I was taught to have the music stand down and very close to the bars of the keyboard, and you basically need to use peripherals
+awsomerc171 Yep. I used to play all the Green exercises and force myself to not look down. That made me develop a feel for the keyboard
do the iPhone ringtone