Keyboard Mallets (2 mallets)

Grip for 2 Mallets

1. The Fulcrum

• The fulcrum is located between the thumb and forefinger
• Wrap the fingers around the mallet starting from the little finger and working forward
• The main contact points on the mallet are the thumb, forefinger and little finger.
• The forefinger should be 'out' and relaxed, not curled under the mallet

2. Hand and Mallet Positioning

• Keep the hands flat and parallel to the ground
• Position hands approximately two inches above the plane of the keyboard (a perspective too high or too low will result in a diminished sound quality and potential injury).
• Mallet heads should be together and in the Up Position

3. Stance and Body Positioning

• Feet should be at least shoulder width apart (the distance between the feet will vary from layer to player because of height differences).
• Weight should be distributed evenly with the knees slightly bent and relaxed.
• The relationship of the body to the instrument should allow the mallets to comfortably strike the center of the 'natural' keys.
• Move laterally up and down the keyboard, keeping the mallets in the center of the body.
• Do not bend forward at the waist.

Sound Production

1. Piston Stroke

• When striking the keyboard, always use the piston stroke (the mallet head begins in the 'up' position, strikes the instrument, and then returns to the 'up' position.
• Play in the center of the bar. Do not 'stack' the mallets. this will result in a loss of tone.
• The location of the 'set point' (of the mallet heads) will be relative to the dynamic that is being played (if playing softly, the set point will be much lower than playing loud).
• Keyboards product very little rebound, therefore the piston stroke is the key to fluid motion.

2. Grip Pressure

• Do not apply pressure between the thumb and forefinger when playing legato strokes.
• To increase articulation, apply pressure between the thumb and forefinger.
• This increase (or decrease) in pressure should not affect the wrist motion.

Stroke Breakdown and Guidelines

1. Play from the wrist

• The wrist should have a knocking motion, with the wrist hinging at the base of the forearm.
• Avoid 'lifting' the arm/forearm. The wrist initiates the stroke, with the motion of the stroke being felt through the head of the mallet.

2. Path of Mallet

• The mallet head should travel in a straight path into and away from the instrument.

3. Adhere to Dynamic Levels

• Length of stroke should be consistent right to left hand.
• Do not overplay attacks of releases.
• Dynamics are achieved through adjusting the length of the stroke. Striking surface harder or softer will alter the style of the stroke, resulting in a change of articulation. Consistency in tone quality is dependent on maintaining the style of the stroke within the given dynamic.

Other Resources for 2 Mallet Technique

Keyboard Mallet Technique - The Grip and Basic Stroke by Kirk Gay (PDF)

Playing zones

A playing zone is the area where the mallets hits the bar. The keyboard is made of 'natural' notes, of the lower board and the 'accidentals' (flats and sharps) or the upper board. For the naturals, the optimum area for striking the bar is in the center. For the accidentals, the same is true, but in order to facilitate playing the instrument, striking the bar on the bottom produces a nearly equal quality tone. Striking accidentals on the bottom of the bar requires less arm motion when playing the instrument.

Avoid playing over the string at all cost. These areas are known as "nodes" or "nodal point" and produce an undesirable, non-resonant sound.

Mallet Choices

Choosing the right mallet to use for a particular piece of music is a skill all its own. One look through a percussion catalog and one soon realizes that there is an enormous variety of mallet types for all keyboard instruments. Every mallet produces a slightly different sound on any keyboard instrument, from very soft to very loud and with a very percussive attack to almost not attack at all.

To begin to understand how to choose a mallet, one must first understand how mallets are made. Mallets have essentially three basic parts: the shaft or handle, the core and the wrap.

Shafts

Mallet shafts are predominately make of either rattan, birch wood or some sort of synthetic material such as fiberglass. Rattan handles are very flexible and are preferred by many players because the shock of striking the keyboard is somewhat absorbed in the shaft, thereby lessening the shock to the player's hands. Several drawbacks to using rattan shafts are that the length of the mallet is generally a bit shorter than birch and the rattan has a tendency to warp, resulting in a slightly curved shaft.

Birch shafts are very light weight but remain straight and resist warping. They tend to be longer than rattan handles and therefore a slightly larger interval range with playing with four mallets. Many players feel a greater sense of control and accuracy when using birch handles.

Shafts had with synthetic materials typically are of lesser quality although there are some instances of sufficient quality depending on use.

Core

The core of the mallet is hidden from view since it is wrapped with yarn, but the core is probably the greatest variable when it comes to producing different sounds. Cores are made from a variety of materials from very hard to very soft rubber and a variety of synthetic plastics of various density. Cores can also be wrapped with another layer of material such as rubber, felt or moleskin.

Some mallets are unwrapped. Unwrapped mallets are generally for xylophone and bells, but can also be used on marimba and vibraphone. Unwrapped mallets generally produce a more percussive attack, although this is still dependant on the density of the material. A soft rubber mallet may still be softer and less percussive than a wrapped mallet.

Wrap

Most mallets for marimba and xylophone are wrapped with yarn or twine. Mallets can be wrapped tightly or loosely with soft or hard yarn or twine. All of these factors affect the sound of the mallet. Incidentally, different manufacturers choose different colors of wraps to identify the different styles of mallets they produce. This scheme varies greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer so comparing "blue" mallets from different manufacturers is not way to determine is they are comparable.

In order to choose the right mallet, it is usually necessary to experiment with different mallet types until you find the one that works best with the musical selection. Because there are so many variables that affect mallet sound, a huge variety of sounds can be produced on a single instrument. The same principle applies to almost every percussion instrument. This is one of the things that makes playing percussion instruments so exciting!

Learn how to wrap your own mallets.
Another link on wrapping mallets
More links on wrapping mallets