Mental and Manual Calisthenics for the Modern Mallet Player

Elden Bailey

General Info

Year: 1963
Edition: 1st Edition
Publisher: Warner Bros. Publications
Difficulty: Advanced
ISBN: 978-0-7692-7886-5
Cost: Book Cost - $19.80   |   Supplemental Books - $0.00

Overview

A collection of 249 technique-building exercises and 34 special contemporary studies for the advanced player of mallet instruments.

Chapters

Chapter I:
Chapter II:
Chapter III:
Chapter IV:
Chapter V:
Chapter VI:

Reviews

Student Reviews

Organization: The table of contents is listed at the beginning of the book, starting with a list of special studies, information about the author, a foreword, introduction, and dedication, and fifteen sections, half of which are listed as special studies. The sections are as follows: Section I – Repeated Notes; Section II – 45 Scale Studies and Warmups; Section III – Major/minor thirds and chromatic studies; Section IV – Ornamentation and Embellishment; Section V – 15 Diminished Seventh Chord Exercises; Section VI – Exercises and Studies for Arpeggiated Triads, Perfect Fourths, and 7th, 9th, and 11th chords; Section VII – 64 Hand Coordination Warmups; Section VIII – Double Stops; Section IX – Contrary Motion. The list of special studies section mainly covers jazz and blues arpeggiations and exercises.

Content: Most of the book contains playing examples and warmups for the reader, with some writing thrown in, although the writing included is helpful and adds to the book. The sticking for each exercise is provided and made legible by boxes placed around the letters. Some etudes and studies are included but are not listed in the table of contents and can be hard to find when fingering through the chapters so they will have to be marked to be found easily.

Uses: The author says that the book is intended for advanced players, and I would have to agree. At first, the book seems overwhelming with the amount of notation written on the page, but it eventually thins out to just the notes themselves and the alternate stickings provided by the author. I would only use this book with a college student or older as high school students could become confused or distracted with the formatting to be able to play some of the included exercises, although I would make copies of some of these pages to hand out to students to provide warmups or exercises.

Rating: This book would be best used as a warmup and exercise book by advanced students, as the author claims and would not serve quite well as a method book. It has its uses and could help provided material for the percussionist to refine and maintain their mallet fundamentals as well as work their muscles. 3/5. User:Hondogracias

Works for Percussion by this Author

Bailey, Elden. Mental and Manual Calisthenics for the Modern Mallet Player. Warner Bros. Publications, 1963.