I'm normally a drummer; I don't consider myself a mallet percussionist in any way, shape, or form. I play tenors (marching and indoor), played bass drum last year (marching and indoor), play set (in jazz band), and the usual variety of concert percussion (advanced level parts; they are usually snare, timpani, and bells or chimes, but also there has been some accessory percussion thrown into the mix). I can have to write in note names for my bells/chimes parts, haha.

Anyway, for Solo&Ensemble this year, my buddy and I did a Marimba duet. Haha, we were both on the same skill level. We weren't being overzealous though (it was an extremely short but pretty whimsical-sounding piece). We got a "Good" rating (much to our surprise of getting the music a week before...)

That inspired me to start learning how to become a better mallet percussionist; now I'm determined haha.

So, for next year, I signed-up for the piano class at my school as well. (Ha, Social Studies online in turn.) Would anyone agree that piano helps better one's familiarity with mallet percussion? I like piano as well as mallet percussion, so I thought the experience would help.

Just wanted to share that nice little tale with everyone. Haha.

In my experience, having some knowledge on piano HAS made mallet playing easier to understand, maybe not to actually execute, but definitely to comprehend. In playing piano, you become accustomed the basic left hand = bass/tenor, right hand = soprano/alto set up in a 4-voice part, which is very applicable to 4-mallet playing. Also, you become more accustomed with chord structures and placements, and it makes that a little bit easier also with four mallet playing. Finally, the biggest thing, which is usually the biggest downfall for battery-based percussionists trying to attack mallets, is it makes you better at melodic reading. People have such a difficult time with reading melodic lines at a percussionist which is ignorance, in a sense, and a bit insulting, and is a big part of the reason that some musicians degrade and misunderstand percussionists.

The one thing that piano playing will not help you with is gaining an independence from staring at your keys the entire time you play. When you learn something new, don't just memorize and regurgitate. Practice learning how to look at the music while playing around the keys, and on tough licks that are high in naturals or all accidentals, THEN look at the keyboard. I absolutely HATE it when I see a mallet player staring down at the keyboard the entire time. When you learn how to read, then you're committing melodic interpretation to long-term memory, while memorization is just a short term memory thing.

Let me give you an example.
Read the following, look away, and see if you can repeat it word for word:



See? It's not that hard to do. Memorization is low-level. If I asked you two months from now what that said, however, you probably would NOT remember. Which is why when you look at a staff and see a note that is 2 ledger lines above the staff in treble clef, you can figure out the note and say "oh, that's a C," memorize the music with the C6, and ultimately play it correctly in a performance. Then when you look at a new piece of music with that same exact note, you have to "count" your letters up again, and figure out the note and repeat the process. Learning to become a better reader is practicing more long-term memory skills, and ultimately become a better performer. Once you learn how to ride a bike and commit that to long-term memory, you'll never forget. Same goes for music. Once you learn and commit to your long-term memory where each note is located, then you'll never forget.

Piano playing is always a great thing to pick up, all in all. It will be applicable toward mallet playing in some regards, but in addition to that, it will help you a TON when and if you face music theory situations. I wish I had a drive to learn piano better when I was younger so I could use it to my advantage now in my theory class.


Anyways, sorry about the philosophical input on this, hopefully you understand what I was saying. I tried to answer your question, give you a little tip, and give you a bit more information about your question all in one.

Happy percussing!
B

Bcaviness, thank you very much!! That was very informative! I appreciate all the thought you put into that reply.

Once Winterline is over (tenors, ya!), I'd like to take time to getting more used keyboard. So yes, I will heed your sage advice. Thanks again.

(I need to focus on only Winterline tenor-practicing for now haha. I'm sure you understand.)

I know this is kind of a double post, but I don't want to make a new topic to express my related ideas.

So I just went to a leadership synergy camp-like event in my area, and there was a specific division in the camp concerned with percussion leaders. There was a place for the battery leaders (like me), and then a place for pit leaders. However, once during the camp, we met up with them and played some exercises together; and I was awed by their talent! They were totally "throwing-down" (that's what the cool kids call it these days, right) with their four mallet grips!

After seeing them, I now really want to further expand my knowledge in mallet percussion! It is amazing and looks like it is much more difficult than, say, tenors.

Anyway, I'm going to be a leader next year, and we are having an all-newby pit next year, with no instructor for it. So, I feel like since I know enough about pit that I should help teach. At the camp, I learned some very awesome teaching-methods as well as pit basics. Any ideas others would like to share with me? That would be great.

So ya, I'd like to hear what others think. Thanks!

It will help with mallet percussion, but it'll also help your overall musicianship grow by leaps and bounds. You'll become familiar with keys, chords, scales, and all sorts of structural things that will be a HUGE help if you ever try writing or arranging.

The Piano will help a lot with mallet percussion but it will also help overall. I played piano before I got into percussion and it helped me as far as reading and sight-reading as well. The technique is something that you will have to do on your own without piano. Do a lot of sight-reading because that will help you so much with mallet repertoire, especially 4 mallet pieces.