I've recently begun learning the most famous piece for the marimba "Two Mexican Dances". Now as we all know this is a very challegening piece, with rhythm, style, musicality, technique and everything else were taught in lessons. I'm a third year University student and I feel that the piece is approperiate for my level and my colleagues levels. However, talking to other players, teachers, and viewing other recitals, I've seen and heard a number of VERY young players, who, no doubt, have incredible technique, but NO right playing difficult pieces. In my opinion this is absurd, I think it is inapproperiate for teachers to subject younger students to a piece that requires a skilled and knowledgable player. Younger students should focus their attention on pieces SUITABLE FOR YOUNGER STUDENTS!!! Gomez and Rife, Peters, even some spencer piece are great. It breaks my heart to hear beautifully writen pieces played bad, or with no feel and musicality. The younger performer can only learn the notes and this is what we hear. I know it's difficult being a younger player. You feel you must rush through and be a great player before everyone else. But this does nothing but hurt the standards of percussion and and YOUR playing!! You must wait.....be patience....learn and play pieces that are your in you musical, stylistic, and expressive range! It's NOT about learning the notes, playing this instrument ANY instrument, its about the beauty of music. A chimp can learn notes but a human is capable of musical expression. Please, younger students, don't subject yourself to false playing. Stay within your playing limits. Be proud of the pieces your playing and play with your heart, whether its Rain dance or Sea reflections, these pieces are great and musically changing! If you teachers are pushing you to play pieces you feel your not ready for , question why they are doing that. IF YOUR NOT READY,YOU CAN'T PLAY IT. you must be able to sight read your piece to study it! I'm sorry if anyone takes offense to this, but I feel the younger generation does not apperciate these beautifully crafted pieces. This is also my opinion. Thank-you, Greg

I agree with you that many less-experienced performers are all to often out-stepping their musical boundaries with pieces they study. I must argue, however, that to lay a blanket statement about age and musicality. There are many YOUNG players that grasp concepts must faster than do some older players. I'm certain that there are players much younger than third year music majors that can perform Two Mexican Dances superbly well. I am only seventeen, and I'm not one of those aforementioned students- I do feel that I have a good grasp of many concepts, which largely comes from some very solid instruction (if you'd like any further explanation of that, feel free to e-mail me)- but I have encountered the rare high-schooler who can play such pieces quite impressively. Also, I understand your statement about sightreading, but again- that doesn't function very well as a gauge, because again, there are a lot of young players who can read like mad, but still can't play the MUSIC those black marks suggest. So, in essence, I agree with your main theme that it is important to take one's musical development slowly, as doing so will lay a firm foundation that will build him up to be able to achieve greater heights ultimately, but I must disagree with many of your comments inside of that.

This is usually the type of comment that gets me going for this simple reason: Why does it matter what people are playing? I have heard many marimbists talk about this subject and I feel it doesnt make any sense, if they are not your student dont worry about it. Also, I have heard many high school marimba players play many amazing pieces that some could not fathom playing in their undergrad years. And I will agree it seems that great pieces like The Mexican Dances and the Creston are played a lot and rather poorly, but that doesnt mean that someone should go into the fact that all younger players should not play x piece because it doesnt make sense. Yes there are set progressions for building up your playing to play harder pieces but not all pianists start off with the same few pieces to be legit in playing a standard peice as most think marimbists should. Not everyone needs to play Yellow after the rain, tear drops, all the etude by musser/stout/smadbeck/whatever in order to approach a peice like frogs.
But if you are really concerned about playing pieces that are too hard most of it is because the average percussionist begins in 6th or 7th grade and doesnt begin playin marimba until much later. If all marimba player started playing at the age of 4 like pianists and violinists then of course a peice like the Mexican dances would be a good peice for someone in 4th or 5th grade so maybe think about that compared to other instruments while addressing the integrity of the marimba.

You complaint sounds to me like this: "Since I could not play the mexican dances until my third year in college, then no one should play the mexican dances until their third year in college"

Everyone is not in the same boat. You should not use the fact that you suck as an excuse to complain. Get over it, and get your butt into a practice room.

There is no formula - each person is at a different stage and has different values in music...let us celebrate the accomplishments of others instead of criticizing why they are incorrect in their approach.

what you're talking about is making music, and to be short, you can only make music once you have an understanding of what you are doing. (i don't understand german, so i'm not going to enroll in a 4-year college program to speak it). people will play 'mexican dances' with poor technique and/or no sense of the emotion/feeling/essence/life that they are createing (or re-creating) in the process. the same is with any other instrument. though in the world of percussion literature we're a bit without a wide variety of "hard" pieces to play (and maybe even a clear picture of how our repertiore should work - i.e. as a pianist, i wouldn't play the rach. 3 before i could play a chopin etude.

so i agree, i suppose.

i don't think so just cuz the great Gordon "the yellow dart" Stout was spinning records since he was three foo. i'm sure his teacher, Snoop Dogg, wouldn't have been gettin' him down with musicality. Just think, if snoop had not of encouraged the record spinning there would be no Mexican Dance or Vertical Doggy Dance, whatever.
Come on greg, we're not curing cancer here. It's just tunes.
Oh yeah, just for the record: Dave Herb is a tool.

If a person learns a piece, and they grown and expand as a musician as a result of learning a piece, than the integrity of the music is not being compromised. As musicians we can learn just as much from a bad performance as a good performance. And there is no rule saying that a person can't return to a piece that they learned previously (perhaps before they were technically and musically ready to play it) and approach it again with a higher level of musicianship. The important thing is to learn from the music and to become a better musician.

Let me state one thing - I am "young" - but at a mere 17 years down the road of life, I find I am quite capable of expressing myself musically. Now, I know I am no great almighty percussionist, but how can I possible get any better by studying pieces that I can sight read? Exactly what is suitable for younger students? Well, that's up to the instructor or student. Part of musical expression is orginality; if I played every piece exactly the way you did, then I would be nothing more than a Xerox Machine. By the same token I'm not going to take Claire de Lune and play it radically differently (although it might be cool). If you always stay within your limits you'll never get anywhere.

hi you suck and you don't know anything about music.