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Easy method to accomplish really nice chordal rolls. For vibes as well as marimba

Playing beautiful 3 and 4 mallet chordal rolls is a goal all vibes and marimba players should work toward. Yes, vibes players mostly use the pedal to sustain notes, but sometimes using a roll is better. Here is a simple, easy to learn method you can use to play really nice rolls for 3 and 4 part chords. The trick is to have each mallet strike the bar at a different time, creating smooth legato sound.

RIP Terry Breese

I want to acknowledge the life of a teacher and friend who passed away suddenly at the age of 61 last week Saturday May 8, 2010.

I started takeing drum lessons from Terry when I was 7 yrs. old. I continued with him until I was 15 yrs old and had a friendship with him through out my life. Terry was an excellent teacher, always encouraging, supportive and gave me a good reality check a couple of times when I needed it. He was never demeaning, just a regular guy, and a very nice and caring one at that.

Sarabande from Bach's Sonatas & Partitas for Violin by Ted Wolff

This piece, a sarabande from Sonata IV in D minor, is a slow thoughtful piece and a good 4 mallet exercise. Use the 4 mallets for melody lines as well the block chords. For instance, in bar 6 you’ll find it handy to use 4 to play the wide intervals in the line. The same approach should be used in bar 23 where the melody line jumps around a lot.

Emmanuel Séjourné - Marimba 6 mallet fun

Hi all,

I'd like to introduce for those who don't know him Emmanuel Séjourné, a great mallet master here in France.

He's a great pedagogue, composer, player, with appart from mastery, humor and fantasy.

He's playing here a marimba piece with six mallets, a few partners... and fun!

His website: http://www.emmanuelsejourne.com/

Enjoy!

- M