Technic Today, Part 1: Auxiliary Percussion (Tambourine, Wood Block, Triangle, Claves, Maracas, Suspended Cymbal & Sleigh Bells) Book

Ployhar's Technic Today series treats auxiliary percussion with the same systematic rigor your wind and brass players receive. Rather than treating percussion as an afterthought, this book ensures your mallet and hand percussion players develop proper technique and independence from day one, building ensemble consistency and balance across the entire band.

Purposeful and methodical. Each exercise targets a specific technical challenge—mallet control, rhythmic clarity, dynamic sensitivity, articulation precision. Progress feels incremental and earned rather than rushed.

Auxiliary percussion players in intermediate concert bands who are working through Band Today, Part One or any comparable intermediate method. This book is essential for percussionists who need focused technical exercises tailored to the instruments they're learning in band.

• Establish clear stick height and rebound control before introducing dynamic variation; consistent technique at soft volumes prevents compensatory tension that undermines precision.
• Rotate through different implements (hard and soft mallets, different beater types) during exercises to develop the muscle memory needed for quick changes during rehearsal.
• Practice passages at deliberate tempos that allow for clean articulation and clean decay; rushing leads to smudged attacks and blurred ensemble cutoffs.
• Record individual exercises and listen back to identify timing inconsistencies that may not be obvious in real time.

Assign exercises from this book as weekly homework assignments that correspond to the difficulty level and instrumentation your band is encountering in Band Today, Part One. Use it as your primary supplemental resource for auxiliary percussion development rather than pulling techniques from multiple sources, maintaining curricular continuity across your program.

• Mallet control and rebound technique across multiple implements
• Clear articulation and precise stick attack on unpitched percussion
• Dynamic control from soft to loud on hand percussion instruments
• Reading and executing rhythmic patterns with accuracy
• Coordinating hands independently on instruments like suspended cymbal and triangle
• Developing muscle memory for quick transitions between instruments