In this short video, professional French percussionist Lise Duarte Nunez explains how to properly hold a concert tambourine. CLICK IMAGE TO WATCH VIDEO
https://youtube.com/shorts/ZPi3b-jmd2A?si=rB48O4R41OY9WlbQ
When I was preparing to move to China to start my new job with the Wuhan Philharmonic, I had a rather large list of concerns. There were the normal hassles of moving to any city, such as securing an apartment, getting phone and Internet set up, plus navigating a new country! But, the most daunting task was deciding what to pack from approximately 15 years of accumulating gear! Some decisions were easy: I probably won’t need an assortment of cowbells, definitely do not need to bring my copy of the Blades book (although sometimes I wish I did have it on hand), and my panderio has always been a questionable purchase. Hopefully this list will help you decide what items to...
People often ask me, “Why do you have so many tambourines?” Usually this question comes from a non-percussionist. It’s a good question—one that many of us have answered a thousand times. When discussing this topic with colleagues, I often think of an editorial written by Bob Becker in 1989 titled, The Paradoxes of Percussion . I often make this essay assigned reading for my students and their parents. Here is a small excerpt as it relates to the purpose of building an instrument collection. Why own ten different triangles, thirty different cymbals, eight different woodblocks? Because the greater the choices among instruments of a given type, the broader the range of expressive possibilities and the greater the opportunity to make...
Many percussionists delving into the musical theater world, for the first time, find this new venture a bit daunting. Often the classical training acquired doesn’t fully prepare one for playing a musical theater show. The evolving process of performance preparation goes far beyond the reading of notes and rhythms. The theatrical percussionist must also develop a clear plan of instrument placement, technique strategies, and body choreography leading to consistent performance. It is equally important that once the instrument setup is determined, it is consistently employed throughout the preparation period. The following guidelines summarize an eight-step process that should give the new theater percussionist a better understanding of what will be necessary, especially in terms of planning. Step 1: Analyze...
