Mallet Percussion: The Competition Collection: Mallet Instrument Book

These solos strike a balance between musical substance and technical accessibility. They're written to sound complete and satisfying to perform, even at elementary levels, without requiring the kind of advanced facility that intimidates younger players.

Percussion students preparing for state and local competitions, as well as any mallet player looking to expand beyond their standard method book. If you teach multiple mallet students, you have options for each player's readiness level without hunting through separate collections.

• Establish a consistent practice schedule leading up to contest; these solos benefit from steady repetition rather than cramming near the performance date.
• Record yourself periodically to catch rhythmic inconsistencies or dynamic imbalances that ear alone might miss during solo practice.
• Work through the easier solos first even if your student is capable of the harder material; they serve as valuable warm-up and confidence builders before tackling more complex pieces.

Pull solos from this book for your contest prep rotation, rotating students through different pieces each season so your program builds a repertoire file. The graduated difficulty also makes it useful for sectionals where you might work through an easier solo with newer students while advanced players tackle the intermediate selections.

• Mallet control and rebound management across multiple mallets
• Reading mixed meters and time signatures at elementary-intermediate level
• Phrasing and musical interpretation in solo context
• Performance stamina for contest-length pieces
• Independence between hands on pitched and unpitched percussion
• Dynamic control and articulation consistency