Iowa All-State 2018

It’s that time of year!

This year’s etudes are a mix of fairly straightforward and quite challenging.  I have recordings of each one here, as well as with my suggestions below.

Snare Drum: Cirone, Portraits in Rhythm #21

Every student I work with says something about the tempo on this piece (eighth=184) feeling slow.  Cirone himself plays it faster in his example video, but I recommend not straying from the written instructions, especially when the judge is hearing it over and over the same way.

The piece is centered around agogic accents: slight stresses or a sense of direction into the first note of each barred grouping, very much like the placement of dance steps.  The first measure, for example is 4+3, whereas the same notes in m3 are 3+4.  I suggest playing these flat first for note accuracy, and adding the stresses anywhere it feels natural.  Over-use of this type of phrasing can sound really awkward, so keep it subtle and dance-like.

Cirone has many suggestions in the Study Guide edition of the book.  They are all fine but none of them are strictly necessary.  There are alternate interpretations of all his suggestions which are equally valid.

There are four places I have my own suggestions:

1. Rolls in line 3.  Cirone says separate them with soft releases.  I think that sounds awkward so I roll straight through with agogic stresses.  If you can play them separated in a way that is musically satisfying that’s fine too.
2. 7/8 groupings in lines 5-6.  I use the agogic stress in the first bar with the waltz-like sticking RLRL RLLRL.  The last two 16ths pickup in to the next bar.  At this point I simplify the stresses and group it as 4 sets of the rhythm (1e&a 2 &).  The following 2/8 bar is a long pickup to the 5/8, where I return to the waltz-like feel with the sticking RLRL RLR.  I find this keeps things easy to follow but retains the dance quality.
3. Short crescendo groupings in lines 6-7.  The very next thing that happens.  I don’t believe a 3-note crescendo is a thing, that’s just three dynamic targets.  I play this passage like rungs on a ladder.  Each note is assigned a dynamic 1-5 and I play each note in that place almost like I had it orchestrated to five wood blocks or something.  Therefore this passage is played: 12345 135 135 12345 with each number sounding the same each time it’s played.
4. The last thing is the 32nd figures at the end of line 8.  Cirone famously dislikes “diddles” and always suggests single stroking these passages.  I play them as doubles with a little stress to make sure they are equal to the notes around them.  They should NOT sound weaker than the surrounding notes, or be mistaken for “inner beats” or “diddles” as in a rudimental style, because that’s out of character for the piece.

Marimba: Stan Dahl Etude #3

This etude is in a Latin/Caribbean style, similar to last year.

The first three lines are a repeated pattern over 4 notes with a little added each time.  The 4 notes are all whole steps apart.  Practice just the first three bars of each line with a metronome carefully and be able to effortlessly switch between each line.  Then do the same for the last measure on each line.  Put the whole section together after all of that, transitioning between each element with ease.  Put the metronome on every 16th note to clean the rhythm, then on beats 1 and 3 only, then beats 2 and 4 only to check your pulse.  Take your time with this section.

The next three lines are a left hand ostinato against a right hand rhythm.  Start in m17, playing the full part in each hand by itself.  Then play the full part of one hand and just the rhythm of the other hand slowly, then put it all together.  The rhythm of the right hand fits the phrase “I like chi-cken with lots of gra-vy and | I like…”, which sounds funny until you do it and it makes complete sense.  Once all that is done, go back to m13 and do the additive rhythm as written.  The last beat of m20 is slightly different so take note of that.

The next section is a typical roll passage.  Learn it by first playing all four notes at once and filling each beat with triplets.  That will establish the pacing and shifting between notes, and avoid any “accidental phrasing” later.  I recommend ending each four bar phrase with only the first two notes of the triplet to establish a clear break.  Once all that is clean and pacing smoothly, do it again with hands alternating 6-tuplets, left hand first. After that, loosen up, listen to the bar sound and play with alternations out of time.

The final section is simpler than it looks.  The 7/16 bar rhythm is the first 4 notes of m1.  The notes themselves are the same all-whole step pattern, moving up by a half step in each bar.  Block them out in 2-note pairs before alternating as written.  The paired notes in m39 and m41 are a Major 3rd apart, rising by half step.  Block these as before.

m45-48 are all the same G major scale, starting on different notes.  Clean it with a metronome on 16ths like in the first section to make sure the rhythm is exactly right.

Timpani: Barry Dvorak Etude #9 

This is probably the most difficult etude overall this year.  The amount of dynamic control over long passages and the dampening need to keep the sound clean adds a lot of demand to what’s on the page.  Fortunately, the second page is a near-mirror of the first.

I recommend the lowest drums: 32″, 29″, 26″

For dampening, the marked spots are mandatory, and in addition to that there are many places where dampening one or more drums will keep the sound clean and allow the higher drums to be heard.  Usually notes can be dampened with fingers in the playing spot, however, because of the loud dynamics before many dampened spots, it may be a good idea to dampen to the side by 6 inches or so to prevent buzzing on the head.  Don’t dampen harder, as that just makes more noise.

Measures 1-3 require returning to a soft dynamic after a crescendo over and over.  Keeping the hands very loose and the fingers open will allow this to happen.  Do it slowly to get the gesture down and never apply pressure with closed fingers or the tone will “splat”.

The down beat of m5 is at forte as marked.  After that, for the sake of clarity, only the accents remain at forte, the rest of the notes on the low drum are very soft.  In m7, on beat 3 the full part returns to forte.  It is useful at this time to mark some reference dynamics and dampening to make this long decrescendo work.

1. The end of m7 is mf, then decrescendo in the end of m8
2. m9 is mp, dampen the low drum at the start, decrescendo at the end
3. m10 is p as marked, dampen the low drum at the start

Start m11 on the left hand and do not cross your hands at any point in this measure.  Again, dynamics and dampening marks for this long crescendo.

1. m11 naturally crescendos down the drums, so play flat until the last beat and crescendo there.
2. m12 is mp, dampen the middle drum as you play the bottom drum both times.  Crescendo slightly though the last two beats
3. m13 is mf, crescendo through the last two beats a lot
4. m14 is a big f.  Don’t splat the notes.  Very loose fingers.  Allow the stick to rebound way back up with no resistance from your hand after each note.  Dampen the previous note while playing on every beat for clarity.
5. m15 is a huge, open, relaxed roll.  Because the notes is so low, the roll speed itself is also very slow.  Start with a roll speed which is obviously too slow and speed it up until the tone blends to a single sound.  Hold the initial dynamic for at least one full count before softening.  Spread the hands apart 8 inches or so to help warm the tone.
6. m16 center the hands again to get a more articulate sound for the softest notes.

The tuning is weird.  Practice singing the “tuning song” F-Bb-Eb going up and then F-D-Ab going down.  Sing it a lot and play it on a marimba to really get it solid.  I suggest tuning the high F octave off the low drum first.

For the rest of the piece, reverse all your markings, except m29, 30, and 32, where the bottom drum needs to be dampened.

There is a slight edit at the end of my video where I added an extra note and didn’t have time to rerecord.  Be careful you don’t do that on the audition!

Crash Cymbals: Aaron Williams Etude #8 

This is a tough one.  Set a metronome to eighth note = 272 and clean the rhythm of each measure with hand claps before even picking up cymbals.

There are four dynamics indicated.  f should be comfortable, as it requires the most dampening and needs room for accents.  mf is a mellow version of the same thing. p is very light with an emphasis on moving slow for a low tone.  The ff in the last bar needs to be deeper than f for an obvious contrast.

Tambourine: Aaron Williams Etude #8

Tricky dynamics.  I look at them more as accents than dynamics, and that makes it easier to see what to do.  First of all, set yourself up with a stand between you and the judge so the loud/soft roll effects at least seem to work a little better.

Starting in m3 I rest the tambourine on my knee and play directly opposite where it touches.  This reduces the sound the most for a stable, low pp.  I then play the f notes in bars 3-4, and 7-9 with an Up/Down motion from hand to knee, sticking to my knee at the end to set up the next pp note.

The finger roll in m5-6 is a bit misleading.  There is no way the ff on that roll will match the ff from bar one, so don’t try.  SHOW a big start to the roll and hold that big tone before lowering the dynamic as you lower the tambourine to your leg.  It’s very helpful to put marks along the edge of the rim so you know where to start, how many marks you cover before reducing your dynamic, and where to end.  This builds in an element of consistency which is often overlooked.

The shake roll in m10 is also a bit misleading.  It’s really hard to start a shake roll soft.  Get a good tone and SHOW the dynamic by starting low and raising the tambourine through the crescendo.  The stand blocking or appearing to block some of the sound helps this to work.

m12 to the end is really fast.  If you can play all the 16ths with a fast single stroke that’s fine.  If you need to use a knee/fist thing that’s fine.  I use a heel/toe/toe type motion I developed from conga and pandiero playing.  It works great for me but I can’t recommend one method over another.  You need to experiment.  I accelerate my accent in m14 for more impact and then open my hand to slap the last note.  The slap could be a closed knuckle knock as well.

Good luck on auditions!  I hope this is helpful.  I’m always happy to answer any questions, just ask!