How the Marimba Made Me a Better Drummer

Learning the marimba in college actually made me a better drummer in two different ways, and I think these are relevant lessons to share with you guys even if you’ve never been into classical percussion.

I imagine some of you guys saw that title, though, and were like - “what in the world is a marimba??” In case you’ve never been involved in the percussion world of timpani, xylophone, chimes, marimba, and all the crazy stuff that makes up the percussion section in an orchestra… Here’s what a marimba is (the marimba is on the right, and a xylophone is on the left):

This was the "backstage" additional practice space in our music building. I spent a lot of time back there!

Most folks recognize a xylophone when they see one. Think of the marimba as a “bass xylophone” - basically a xylophone that goes much lower and therefore has much larger wooden bars. These bars are usually made of rosewood, and they’re not cheap. A nice, 5-octave marimba might run you about $10k, but the sound of one in a large concert hall is incredible. But enough about marimba specifications. We want to learn something today that helps us as drumset players…

I spent four years in music school earning a degree in “Percussion Performance.” My musical studies included drumset but leaned very heavily toward classical percussion, especially 4-mallet marimba. (That’s where you hold two mallets in each hand so that you can play four notes simultaneously on a marimba.) Now the challenging thing about a marimba is that you can’t just strike any part of the wooden bars and hope for a great sound. You have to be precise - very precise.

Each wooden bar is suspended by a sort of bungee cord that runs the length of the entire marimba and passes through holes cut through each bar. That “floats” each bar so that it can resonate nicely. However, you have to strike the bar directly in the center, or within an inch of the end in order to achieve the nice, resonant tone that you want. Otherwise you’re striking too close to where the cord runs through, which gives you a dry, dead sort of tone that usually isn’t desirable.

In my marimba studies I had to learn to only land my mallets on either the center of each bar or on the ends of each bar (playing on the ends is helpful when playing on the “black keys”). If I ever hit the node where the cord ran through, I was reminded by my teacher to be more precise. When practicing a four-mallet piece, I had to listen carefully and practice slowly to make sure I was getting the best tone out of every note that I played. Every single note needed “intention.” Every note needed to sound like I meant to play it, no matter the dynamic. Tone was everything.

I also had to learn how to quickly navigate from one note to another. I heard a teacher describe marimba mallet technique as “you’re pulling the sound out of the bars.” In other words, lift your mallets up after each note as if you literally had to “pull the sound” out of each bar. Obviously you’re not actually “pulling sound out,” but there is a benefit to doing that. You ensure that the mallet quickly makes contact with the bar then leaves it to resonate. By quickly striking it then lifting the mallet off, you’ve ensured the most “live” tone possible out of the wooden bar. You’ve also set yourself up for success traveling to your next note.

The big thing with marimba technique (and keyboard percussion technique in general) is that you want to play each note, knowing where you’re going next. Your mallets have to constantly travel in arcs from note to note. If you’re leaving a G then going up to the next G, your mallet needs to rebound off to the right so that it’s already heading directly to its next location. This is the only way you can play quickly, getting clean & precise sounds the whole time. This is why physically “pulling the sound out” is important. It keeps your mallets moving and smoothly traveling up and down the keyboard.

So what does all of this mean for us drumset players??

• [1] Strike each drum on your kit with the purpose of achieving the best tone possible. I took that same “marimba approach” to my drums, and I began thinking about striking more for tone. This caused me to make sure I was hitting the center of the toms (or just off center for a tad less attack and more resonance), and being specific about how I struck my snare. If I wanted a particular rimshot sound, I made sure to do it consistently. Otherwise I made sure to strike the center of the snare every backbeat to ensure a comfortable, consistent groove.

Getting great tone out of toms is super essential. It’s easy to go crazy in fills and not pay attention to where your sticks are landing. Check out all the stick marks on your drumheads and see how accurate you really are. There needs to be a strong concentration of markings within that 3-4” zone in the middle (though I’m sure somebody out there has managed to keep their dark spot down to 1-2”). Practice all fills slowly, making sure to hit the middle of the drum. Gradually work the tempo up, making sure to maintain that level of accuracy and tone precision.

• [2] Strike each drum or cymbal with the intention of going to the next one. In other words if you’re playing a tom fill, always know where you’re going next. Let the sticks rebound in that direction so that they’re already arcing to the next drum. This makes navigation around the kit so much easier! Practice doing this slowly so that it will become more natural at quick tempos. For an in-depth lesson on this, check out this video on kit navigation. I was already doing this on drumset to a degree when I started on marimba, but intentionally thinking through those arc motions on the kit helped my fluidity even more.

To sum all of this up, learning marimba taught me how to strike something accurately and consistently, getting the best tone possible and fluidly navigating from note to note. But you don’t have to learn marimba in order to do this really well on the kit. Practice these things yourself on your drumset. Listen to the sounds you’re getting, not just from your drums but from your cymbals as well. Let your sticks bounce off the surfaces like you’re “pulling the sound out.” Let your sticks travel in smooth arcs from one piece of the kit to another so that you can maneuver quickly and smoothly in the midst of a fast fill. Remember that the shortest distance between two drums is an arc!

I’d love to hear your feedback on this rather “unconventional” email lesson. If I had a marimba in my studio, I’d make a video version of this. Tell me how you’re able to use these tips to improve your sound and fluidity on the drums!

That’s all for today. God Bless,

Stephen

P.S. - I almost forgot that I have an old video on the channel of me and a fellow percussion student in college playing a marimba duet at my senior recital. Go check it out if you’ve never heard marimba before. It’s pretty cool, and this piece is a really fun challenge to play.