Author: Jack Van Geem

Title: Four Mallet Democracy for Marimba

Description: This book is designed to develop independence of mallets in four mallet playing. The exercises and etudes focus on one hand at a time, so that the player can focus on the motions of each mallet intently. The sections include the following: Single Hand studies, Interval Studies, Rotation Studies, Single Mallet Rotation Studies, Mixed Rotation Studies, Parallel Motion Studies, Parallel Chromatic Movement Studies, 4-Mallet Arpeggio Studies, Further Rotation Studies, and Advanced 4-Mallet Chromatic Studies. Each section is made up of exercizes to address the specific goal of the section, as well as etudes that bring together each exercise. The final section is a solo piece for marimba that ties together the whole book. Entitled Passacaglia-Improvisation, the piece is devilishly hard and really requires the indepedencies of mallets that has been developed over the course of the book.

Annotated by Greg Simonds