Style

Advice from Burritt, Sejourne, and participants regarding playing Katamiya in the right style:

1. multiple levels of emphasis (make a clear difference between ghost notes, accents, tenudos, etc.)

2. groove! stress syncopations within dynamic framework

3. keep clear and simple for the audience

4. quarter note triplets do not have to be perfectly subdivided; piece can't be rhythmically square

"It's not what you say; It's how you say it."

-Thomas Burritt

Rolling

Here are various tips provided by Thomas Burritt and various participants:

1. Start practicing measure 1 chorale by blocking (16th notes or 8th notes seem to be preferred)

2. Progress to alternating hands in 16th note or 32nd note rhythm

3. Progress to varying roll speed to prevent listener from detecting individual stroke patterns

4. Relax hands and keep mallets low to lessen attack

5. Vary type of roll (traditional, ripple, independent)

6. Adjusting angle of mallets and playing area on the bar can also add variation to rolls

6. In rhythmic passages, start rolls with a double stop to keep rhythm clear. In less rhythmic passages (ie. measure 1), roll can be started with alternating strokes

7. Sing melody to help sense the direction of the phrases

8. Mallets can be graduated (softer to harder from left to right) to bring out specific voices

Initial Approaches to Katamiya

Here are several different and creative approaches employed by participants and Thomas Burritt:

1. "Break it down"

2. Start with rubber mallets, then progress to yarn mallets

3. Five coins approach: play a portion of music five consecutive times correctly

4. Practice rhythms away from marimba: with hands, on floor, on drumset, etc.

5. Analyze form and harmonic progression, determine style

6. Receive advice from the composer

7. Practice with metronome - on the beat and on the "and" of the beat

8. Obtain and listen to recordings

Introduction

As part of the Steve Weiss Music Interactive Contest with Thomas Burritt, I decided to create this site to compile information provided by the several participants. Please feel free to comment and add information I may have left out. Thanks!