Suite Pepper is a collection of solos for the four-mallet marimbist. Each piece addresses a particular stroke type in isolation. The solos can be learned in a sequential manner from the first to the last as intended, or in any order that the marimba player may desire. A marimbist may choose to only work on selected movements to enhance specific techniques. Suite Pepper is an excellent collection for anyone learning four-mallet technique.
Suite Pepper is a collection of solos for the four-mallet marimbist. Each piece addresses a particular stroke type in isolation. The solos can be learned in a sequential manner from the first to the last as intended, or in any order that the marimba player may desire. A marimbist may choose to only work on selected movements to enhance specific techniques. Suite Pepper is an excellent collection for anyone learning four-mallet technique. The solos, played in order, address the following stroke types respectively: 1. Double Vertical Stroke (parallel placement, mostly consistent interval) 2. Double Vertical Stroke (parallel placement, changing intervals) 3. Double Vertical Stroke (variable placement) 4. Double Vertical Stroke (chorale style) 5. Single Independent Stroke 6. Single Alternating Stroke 7. Double Lateral Stroke 8. Triple Lateral Stroke 9. One-Handed Roll Suite Pepper is dedicated to Lisa Rogers and my dear friend, Mike Perez. Over a decade ago, Perez suggested I write a series of marimba solos for students that would be accessible to the ear and enjoyable to play. Inspired by that charge and by my study of marimba pedagogy with Lisa Rogers, I decided to compose this collection. It is meant to serve as a musical companion to an article that I wrote on four-mallet marimba pedagogy for School Band and Orchestra magazine (November 2007). Although a number of good student works for four-mallet marimba have been written in recent years, these pieces are unique in that they address only one motion, or stroke type at a time. As a percussion educator, I felt the need for a collection of this nature to enhance my students- technical advancement in an enjoyable and musical way. The range required for the performance of these pieces is only that of a 4-octave marimba, which allows most every student percussionist with access to a marimba the opportunity to play them. About the Peppers... While composing the pieces for this book, I read an article in the Smithsonian about various peppers from around the world. Since a couple of the solos I had already written for this collection were 'south of the border- in style, I thought it might be fun to name each piece after a particular type of pepper. Thus, the idea for Suite Pepper was planted. Many peppers grow well in Latin America, so some of these pieces are infused with a Latin American flavor. 'scotch Bonnet- is a somber chorale that invokes a European tradition, although the actual pepper grows in the Caribbean. The naga jolokia pepper is from India, thus, Solo 5 utilizes a drone and odd time signatures. The final solo is based on a ground bass motif so I couldn't resist -Ground Pepper.-.
