As I looked at my practice log for April, I noticed I had taken a 21 day break from practicing the marimba. First of all I need to realize that there were some good reasons (World’s Largest Trivia Contest being the largest) but that really is no excuse.
I have come back to practicing and am now able to play the entire Gordon Stout Etude #3 (from Book 1). This was a learning exercise as part of Dr. Thomas Burritt’s Percussion Axiom TV that many people have been working on completing for the last couple months. A couple notes before we get to my performance.
1) It is true that I can play the entire Etude all of the way though, but it is not performance ready yet. There are a number of wrong notes still.
2) This is the first performance where I was able to really think about the “groove” of the piece. Rhythm, dynamics, and note accuracy keep your mind busy in this piece but a major part of making music is connecting with the piece and telling the story to the audience. The “groove” is important. During m28-29 I finally started feeling this.
3) M20-25 had some problems which I usually don’t get wrong. I forgot where I was in the music for a few seconds.
4) M38-42 are “close” the groove is correct but the notes were not fully accurate.
5) I repeated m43-48 like the repeat from measure 1-6 . That is not correct therer is no repeat.
5) I am thrilled to finally play it all of the way through! As I have stated before, this would have never been I piece I would have played on my own. After taking the time to really work with it I do have to admit that I will keep this in my repretoire.
My next ask to the Percussion Axiom TV folks is to see their performances! I cannot be the only one and I would love to see other videos of progress on this piece. At minimum, head over to the Discussion part of Thomas Burritt’s site and state whether or not you completed it.
In future posts look for more videos of this piece as I get it performance ready and quite a bit faster.
Enjoy take 8 of Gordon Stout’s Etude #3!
nice that is pretty good thanks for posting all your vids and commments on perc. axiom tv! I didnt learn this song but i am hoping to be able to learn the next song that perc axiom tv does. Especially if it is something by rosauro since i am going to his summer camp!
thanks again!
Taylor Armstrong
Hey Jeff! Thanks so much. You are the most dedicated Axiomite! Really admire your “zest” and so glad to hear how you stuck with it the whole way. You are demonstrating EXACTLY what this show is all about. I hope you don’t mind that I tweet this out! Keep the comments and the effort coming….
Hi Taylor! Congratulations! You are now famous. There are now a lot of marimbist who know your name and will remember it. Thanks for leaving a comment and for suggesting new pieces for the next Percussion Axiom TV piece.
haha yes! hooray!