Hey, I am trying to learn 4 mallet technique, but i am not great at mallets. I can hold my own with 2 mallets, but whenever i got to 4, i get totally lost. Which technique should i be using to start off with? Which is easier to control for somebody who only has snare/tenor chops and no 4 mallet chops? Please Reply. <BR>Peace Out!<BR><P>------------------<BR>Adam Burch <BR>Lakewood HS Center Snare<BR>AIM SN: Quad God23

The best way to hold 4 mallets is to start with the ones between your middle and ring fingers, let it rest on the center of your palm and choke up just a bit. Then the one that most people tend to get wrong is the ones held by the thumbs and index and middle fingers. Let the butt of the mallet rest in the middle of your palm. To strike with the inner mallets turn your wrist like a bass player kinda, like you're turning a doorknob. To hit with all fours, just hit like tenor players only use nothing but wrist. That's your keyboard technique lesson for today.<P>------------------<BR>Rickey Alvarez<BR>PHS Tenor<BR>AIM SN: penis

I love the concert style I learned for 4 mallet..(I believe it is the Musser method) but have your 2 mallets like normal and then the other two between ring and pinky fingers. Real easy to hit high octave pop-accents and separated enough to not get in the way of the other mallet. Still easy to hit 4 notes.

every rendition ive ever seen of the musser had the second mallet between the middle and ring finger, how can you control it with just your pinky?also, when using the other grip, i believe its called stevens or something to that affect, be sure to keep the outer mallet on top, meaning, when the mallets cross in your palms, the one on the outside needs to be on top(underneath if youre looking at it palm up)

For those of you who want to learn how to play 4 mallets....purchace a book entitled, "Method of Movement" by Liegh Howard Stevens...the one who originated the Steven's grip. It's a great book to learn 4 mallet technique.

There are TWO main four mallet grips used today: the stevens and the burton. Usually the instrument you play decides which grip you use. <P>*Stevens:<BR>-more commonly seen on marimba<BR>-mallets do not cross; however, one is placed between middle and ring finger and other is counterbalanced on pointer finger and middle finger, and controlled with thumb<BR>-keep hands vertical; in other words, thumb is on top and rest of hand isvertically underneath that<BR>-this grip provides a lot of independence between each mallet, and allows the player to do a one handed roll (advanced technique of this grip)<P>*burton: <BR>-used mainly on vibes more than anything else<BR>-mallets are crossed; place one between thumb and pointer and one between pointer and middle finger<BR>-outside mallet is on top<BR>-hand is not vertical, but, instead, it is flat<BR>-this grip limits independence between mallets because of the crossed sticks, which is why it is rarely seen in marimba solos <BR>-this grip provides an excellent way to hit impact notes on mallet instruments better than stevens ( this is why it is used on vibes because chords usually must be powerful)<P><BR>Although each grip is designed for a specific instrument, there are some individuals who swear by one grip and one grip only and manage to perform just as well as everyone else. It's all personal preference. The grips are designed to make the playing easier. This four mallet grip conflict is similar to the traditional versus matched grip argument in snare playing, except using the wrong grip could limit your playing to a certain level.<P>

Drummerwoman and John make excellent points,drummerpearl.I have some articles from the old MODERN PERCUSSIONIST magazine about four-mallet technique.I can either e-mail or snail mail them to you.(Snail mail would be easier for me,because I'm not good with scanning.Let me know if you'd like a copy of the articles.

i just got my vic firth newsletter and figured this seemed like post-worthy material. its a 4 mallet warmup exercise, the newsletter directly says :<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Verdana">quote:</font><HR>Designed to give the percussionist a basic physical and mental warm-up, Charles Pisarra's "4 Mallet Warm-Up Sequence" may be just what the intermediate/advanced keyboard student needs. Download the PDF file for <BR>high quality output on your printer, ready to pass out to your students:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.vicfirth.com/emailclub/pisarra.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.vicfirth.com/emailclub/pisarra.html</A> <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR>i didnt view the music because i dont have adobe acrobat (cuz my crappy computer always crashes when i run it). just passin along the info.<BR><P>------------------<BR>-Kevin<BR><B>NHS Percussion</B> <A HREF="http://www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums" TARGET=_blank>www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums</A> <BR> punk@drumlines.org <BR>"We must learn to live together as brothers or we are going to perish together as fools" <BR>Martin Luther King Jr.

One thing drummerwoman didn't mention about Burton grip: the reason for putting the outside mallet on top (while you're playing, plams down) is to provide power for that outside mallet. Jazz vibe players take advantage of this when playing fast, two-mallet lines.

There are two other major grips as well, Cross Grip(also called traditional) and Musser.
Cross Grip is the same as Burton except, as you're playing, the outside mallet is underneath. This has similar limitations as Burton in terms of rapidly changing intervals but provides a more secure grip for chords than Burton does. A lot of orchestral players will use this for xylo parts for just that reason. Keiko Abe uses cross grip and she's been known to break frame rails because she hits so hard.
As a side note, Keiko seems to have overcome the interval limitations of Cross Grip pretty well.

Musser Grip is the same as Stevens except for most playing your palm is facing the floor so your hand is flat. When playing rolls you turn your wrist so your hand is vertical. You still have a lot of independence, but are limited in how wide of an interval you can play.

There are also all kinds of hybrids of these four. For example, I play something that's between Musser and Stevens. I still have all the flexability of Stevens but it's a less rigid and more normal position for my wrists. It also makes double stops a bit easier.

Vic Firth has a set of quicktime videos on its website that teach you how to play with four-mallets... Ive never played four-mallet before and this is what Im using to learn the musser grip right now