Dragon Rider

SKU: CF.YPS261F

ISBN 9781491164013. UPC: 680160922802.

Performance NotesA long, long time ago, dragons roamed the countryside and tormented the towns. Our hero has always dreamed about not killing a dragon but riding one. When the hero finds the dragon, it terrifyingly shrieks out warnings. Eventually, the dragon lays down and allows our hero to climb on. Then, we hear as the dragon magically flies with our hero on board. The dragon's shriek themes are still present, but are beautiful now, instead of scary. Having ridden the beautiful creature, our hero triumphantly returns to the village.Conductor NotesThis piece has many tricky accidentals in both keys. When the key changes are on a line break in a part, courtesy accidentals have been added. The conductor may want to explain that courtesy accidentals mean take note of the key signature. The dragon shriek solos (mm. 39–47) should be performed as raucously and loudly as possible. A superball mallet is a rubber bouncy ball on a stick; these can be purchased online. The mallet is rubbed on the instrument to create vibrations. You might also experiment using a superball mallet on the inside of a grand piano plate to be played simultaneously. Feel free to lengthen these measures (41 and 46) and get creative to make your dragon sounds last longer and be as loud and scary as possible. Perhaps these instruments could be staged in front of the band. Search YouTube for Superball mallet drum head or Superball mallet piano, or even How to build your own superball mallets..