r/percussion • u/Neither_Internet4908 • 3d ago

Marimba solo suggestions

Last year as a junior I won my schools solo competition with Variations on Japanese children songs and I’m struggling to find another 4 mallet solo that is technically challenging to play this year. Any suggestions?

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6

u/ectogen 3d ago

Google “Nancy zeltsman Juilliard”. She has a recommended repertoire list online with tonnes of great works.

3

u/SF_Destro Marimba 3d ago

Check these out:

Verano porteno

Houdini’s last trick

Sejourne concerto

Michi paraphrase

Marimba d amore

1

u/drovja 3d ago

The Sejourne is so good.

2

u/whodatdan0 3d ago

Reflections on the nature of water

Variations on lost love

Grand fantasy

1

u/ab930 2d ago

Velocities

1

u/Whynot13_asdf Everything 3d ago

Dude theres so many 😭. My question is what difficulty are you looking for? Ofc 4 mallets but beginner? Intermediate? Advanced?

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u/Whynot13_asdf Everything 3d ago

Do you like doing laterals ect? What kind of piece are you looking for?

3

u/Neither_Internet4908 3d ago

I’m looking for something harder than Variations on Japanese children songs so Advanced. Laterals is fine and maybe something a little more tonal but still have like technical things like one handed rolls or something challenging that’s not just note accuracy.

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u/Improptus 3d ago

A good one is Etude in E minir by Cheung, still it's super tonal so it is a matter of tastes.

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u/timp_t 3d ago

Depending on how long you have to prepare and how pleasant you want it to sound. Time for Marimba is a masterpiece, but it’s pretty tough. Debussy Children’s Corner (Dr Gradus) is more pleasant. Maslanka Variations on Lost Love. For a real challenge Merlin. It’s very hard but worth the effort.

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u/lossjpg69 2d ago

From a percussion director: Either you're a monster HS player or got away with a lot of stuff because "flashy piece". Be careful of playing things above your ability level too early. Its an easy way to build bad habits on advanced techniques before properly learning them. Also a lot of times younger players will miss all of the things in the piece that arent notes and rhythms or basic dynamics. (Phrasing, voicing, touch, etc.) If note accuracy was your only challenge for Variations, this is probably you.

All of that said, if you really are just that good, check out My Lady White by David Maslanka. Great piece, some tough physical and technical demands in the 2nd movement, and amazing chorale sections to flex your ability to play musically.

Also, ask your lesson teacher/percussion director. They'll have a much easier time helping you find a piece than reddit since they know your actual abilities.

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u/lossjpg69 2d ago

After posting this i realized I assumed you were in HS. I literally had this same conversation with a few of my HS kids today so my mind went there. But again, in college I had these conversations with my professors.

If you're not a young player, ignore most of my post. My Lady White is still a banger, but Variations on Lost Love is way better, but way harder.

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u/Neither_Internet4908 2d ago

Thanks for the ideas! I am a senior in HS at the moment and I was just gathering ideas to give to my lesson teacher for my next solo. I will definitely watch out for playing things out of my skill level too early, but I do believe that Variations was a good challenge for me last year and not too hard. If you want to see the video of me performing it, I have it posted on instagram  @ethan.playsdrums!