Approach:

The way you carry yourself and do your job is making

impressions on people. We value our reputation as a class act
and we do not accept anything less. When we get to a show, we
expect everything to be cleaned, tuned, painted, and using the
show equipment where applicable. We also need you to do your
job quickly and with a purpose. The way you conduct yourself at
auditions is a good indicator of what you will do during the
season, and the staff will notice!

Stroke:
Playing outdoors requires an aggressive approach. We use
heavy marching style mallets. We also use a very aggressive
approach. The majority of the music will be played with the
Piston Stroke. This is where the mallet starts at the top of the
stroke, quickly strikes the key with as much velocity as possible,
and then returns to the top of the stroke. All of this stroke method
comes from the wrist, with the arm moving very little in sympathy
with it. You should practice this approach to prepare for auditions
so youre prepared to play the way that we do.

Grip:
Our 2-mallet grip is a back finger fulcrum. Wrap your back 3
fingers around the mallet and let your thumb and index finger sit
on the mallet for stability (but not putting pressure on it). The
power comes from your back 3 fingers and wrist. Your fingers
should not leave your palm or move at all, they firmly hold the
mallet without tension.
Our 4-mallet grip is the Stevens grip, on all keyboards. We rarely
will use 2 mallets in the show. We do this because the show can
be written more seamlessly because we can play a fast run right
into a permutated part without having a mallet change. That said,

you will need to start working on your 4-mallet chops NOW to be

able to make it through the music. This sounds intimidating but it
shouldnt be with preparation.
The grip and technique can be found in the book Method of
Movement by: Leigh Howard Stevens, and Simply Four by:
Giff Howard.
2014 ALLIANCE Front Ensemble

Posture:
! At Quest, we like to fill up the space behind the instrument
as much as possible with a commanding presence. To do
this, stand up tall and pull your head up and shoulders
backed until you are as tall as possible with out adding
tension in your neck and shoulders. Vibe players should
stand with their right foot on the pedal at all times and
Marimba players should be very flexible with their body
position.

Bar Placement:
To get the biggest sound possible, we always play right over
the resonator in the exact center of the key. Some fourmallet voicing or fast 16th note passages (the staff will define
what these are) will require the edge of the key, but we
define that as a group. Unless it is defined, use the center of
the key.
2014 ALLIANCE Quest Front Ensemble

Exercises:
All exercises should be learned with 4 mallets (including those
for 2 mallets). In addition, the ones marked with an asterisk
should be in all 12 major keys.
2 and 4 mallets: Lockjaw *
Green *
Green-OF* 4 Mallets
T-Stank (We will transpose this later) Deviate 8-16 Broccoli
!
!