Chorales and Beyond-Percussion: Percussion Method Book

Kevin Lepper's percussion writing throughout this book moves beyond the typical warm-up grind. The daily routines target the exact fundamentals your section needs, breathing control, intonation matching, chord understanding, while the three cycles per key ensure you're not repeating the same pages week after week. What makes this especially valuable is the flexibility built into every chorale: with all four parts written for each instrument, you can double lines, balance voices, or adjust your section's distribution without scrambling to rewrite anything.

Stepping into these chorales feels like coming home to solid harmonic writing with room to breathe. The percussion voices are crafted to sit naturally on the instruments, never awkward or needlessly florid, while the progression through major and minor keys mirrors what your full ensemble is likely working on elsewhere.

Percussion sections in developing concert bands and young ensembles that are ready to move beyond generic pad-and-mallets warm-ups. If your musicians struggle with pitch matching, need reinforcement on harmonic function, or simply benefit from structured daily routines that don't feel repetitive, this book delivers exactly that.

• Rotate which percussion voice leads each chorale cycle. Having timpani carry the melody one day, mallets the next, keeps everyone engaged and forces musicians to listen across the section.
• Lock the snare drum entrances first when teaching a new chorale. Crisp articulation on the downbeat anchors the harmonic progression for mallets.
• Record yourself playing a chorale and have students listen back individually. Self-hearing reveals intonation drift that goes unnoticed in real time.
• Assign one person per voice to serve as section lead during a given warm-up cycle. That responsibility sharpens focus and builds leadership among younger players.

Use this as your core percussion daily warm-up for the entire year, rotating through keys as your band progresses through its literature. If you're programming a chamber or all-percussion concert, the chorales work beautifully as opening numbers that showcase texture and harmonic sophistication without demanding advanced technique.

• Matching pitch across multiple percussion voices and articulations
• Reading and playing all four voices of a chorale across different instruments
• Understanding harmonic function and chord progression through direct performance
• Breathing control and long-tone development on pitched and unpitched percussion
• Distinguishing major and minor tonality across 10 closely related keys
• Developing consistent articulation and response across the percussion section