I was wondering if anyone out there in Internet land has figured out a good sticking for the left hand ostinato in Dream of the Cherry Blossoms. I am referring to the one starting in measure 16.

If you have any suggestions on any other part of this piece it would be greatly appreciated as well!

Thank you

well, i use burton grip, and all i really do is; outer mallet for the low A, then the rest of the notes are the inner mallet. so if i'm not mistaken, its 4-3-3-3-4-3-3-3. this is obviously easier said than done. i'm also left handed, so it would probably come easier to me than to a right handed person. it just takes some getting used to. this ostinato might seem impossible at first, but it will get easier. Also, remember, the melody (right hand) is more important than the ostinato bass line. so dont worry if you hit a couple wrong notes in the ostinato because no one will really notice, BUT try to always hit the low A that are on the beats, that is a very important note, and defintely DONT hit any wrong notes in the melody. just my 2 cents. good luck. 😉

Thats a good question. When I first began woking on it I played it 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 . However, I played this piece in a lesson I took with Michael Burritt, and he suggested I play it 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 2. He also told me that the low A and B are the most important nots in the ostinato and to make sure they sing above the others. I hope this helps.

Jordan Stern