Introduction

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Lesson 24

Warm-up

warm-up checklist:

____measures 1-4: should be 6’ for accents and 2” for taps

____measures 5-6: all 6” strokes, try to make them sound identical

____keep fulcrum closed and firm (no gaps between thumb and index finger) ____keep elbows still, this will isolate your wrist turn

____no arm movement

____elbows should be about 1” away from your sides ____perform this exercise at Allegro

____perform this exercise at Adagio ____perform this exercise at Andante

____perform this exercise to two different recordings (play-a-longs teach you to listen)_

Reading

Mallets / theory – treble clef introduction

Theory - Theory is the analytical side of music. It tells us how music works.

Treble Clef – Treble clef is a very common clef in music.

Here is what a treble clef looks like:

The Treble Clef is also called a G Clef because the swirling line of the symbol stops on the second line up from the bottom which is the G line. Label the G:

The Treble Clef is made up of five lines (think of the acronym: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge). Label the five lines from the bottom moving upward. (E, G, B, D, F)

The Treble Clef is also made up of four spaces (think of the acronym: F-A-C-E). Label the spaces from the bottom moving upward (F, A, C, E).

Label all the lines and spaces of this treble clef:

Helpful Tip: When reading music while playing a mallet instrument always try to keep your eyes off the keyboard. You don’t want to stare at the keys because you will not be able to watch the music and/or conductor. Get in a good habit of using your peripheral vision when playing mallets.

Peripheral Vision – Peripheral vision is when you are looking straight ahead but you can still see above, below, and to either side. Try this experiment: focus on something directly in front of you and notice if you can still see your surroundings while focusing on that one object. So when

you are looking at your music notice how you can still see the outline of the keyboard in your peripheral vision – USE THIS SKILL!!!

Excerpts for Xylophone:

Excerpts for Vibraphone:

Auxiliary instrument – crash cymbals

Crash Cymbals – Crash Cymbals are used in marches and classical music. Many composers use the crash cymbals to add punctuation and excitement to their music.

Orchestral Crash – Orchestral crash is the term used for your most common crashes.

Flam Concept – Believe it or not, of the most important skills needed in cymbal crashing is the ability to play a flam! In order to get the maximum vibration form the cymbals we need to strike the side closest to us slightly before striking the portion of the cymbals that is away from us. This is the flam concept. When two cymbals are stuck straight on the sound is popped and lacking resonance and quality.

STEP 1 STEP 2

STEP 3 STEP 4

STEP 5

Crash Choke – A crash choke is a very short crash. Play a great quality crash and then dampen the cymbal quickly in your chest.

Staccato Dot Marking – A staccato dot marking is a small dot placed over a note. When a note has this staccato marking it should be played very short and muffled if possible.

New term – adagio

Adagio – Adagio is a tempo marking that means slow.

Creativity

1. Which is louder: cap accent or regular accent?_____________________

2. The tempo marking Adagio is: medium slow very fast

3. Fill-in the four spaces of the treble clef:

4. Fill-in the five lines of the treble clef:

5. What is peripheral vision?

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6. True or False: A crash choke is a short sound.

7. True or False: An orchestral crash is a short sound.

8. True or False: An orchestral crash is a long sound.

9. If a note had a staccato dot attached to it would you play a long or short sound?_______________

Listening games

1. Performer plays four orchestral crashes (two purposely poor and two purposely great in any mixed order). Class writes down performer’s name and circles the descriptions.

performer’s name ________________ orchestral crash #1: great poor

orchestral crash #2: great poor

orchestral crash #3: great poor

orchestral crash #4: great poor

2. Performer plays four crash chokes (two purposely poor and two purposely great in any mixed order). Class writes down performer’s name and circles the descriptions.

performer’s name ________________ crash choke #1: great poor

crash choke #2: great poor

crash choke #3: great poor

crash choke #4: great poor

3. Performer plays four crashes (a mix of orchestral crashes and crash chokes) all should sound great. Class writes down the name of the performer and circles either orchestral crash or crash choke.

performer’s name ________________ crash #1: orchestral crash crash choke crash #2: orchestral crash crash choke crash #3: orchestral crash crash choke crash #4: orchestral crash crash choke

Review

1. Compose a solo for xylophone using the pitches E,F,G in whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes.

2. Compose a solo for bells using the pitches F,G in quarter notes and eighth notes.

3. Get some ear plugs and a pair of crash cymbals. Practice orchestral crashes in a mirror. Play 10 crashes with a 5 second rest between each crash. Rest a few minutes then practice your crashes again. Watch your technique in the mirror and take note of the good and bad sounds you hear. If you look correct playing it will most likely sound correct. Orchestral crashes should sound full and resonant. Strive to perform 10 great sounding crashes in a row. Many

people cannot play great sounding crashes because they simply haven’t played enough crashes.

4. Make a recording of yourself playing crash chokes for 4 minutes leaving a space of 5 seconds between each crash choke. Listen to the recording and count the great sounding ones. Upon your next recording session your number of great crashes should increase.

5. Compose a crash cymbal solo using orchestral crashes and crash chokes. Give it an exciting title so your audience will be excited about your piece before they even hear it!

6. Explain the flam concept:

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“The Chicken & the Weasel” checklist:

____play the piece at two tempos (Allegro and Adagio)

____both: make a large contrast in sound between measures 1-4 and measures 5-8 ____bass: execute clean dampens on all rests throughout the piece

____both: sudden change to piano at the beginning of measures 13 and 14 ____compose an alternate ending in 2/4 and perform

____experiment: top line played on the dome of a suspended cymbal (ignore buzz strokes), bottom line plays crash cymbals (all eighth notes will be crash chokes, everything else is an orchestral crash, dampen on all rests), play at Allegro and Adagio

write your own experiment for this piece:

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