Beyond the Horizon

8 Early Solos for 2-Mallet Marimba + Track

BEYOND the HORIZON is a set of eight pieces in a colorful variety of musical styles that offers novice mallet percussionists engaging and manageable opportunities to hone their performance skills. Though written as mallet solos with pre-recorded backing tracks, these tunes also work well for percussion ensembles of two or more players - whether doubling the mallet part or playing the optional percussion or drum set parts included with six of the pieces. All eight pieces may be played on a 4-octave marimba, with several playable on a 3.5 or even a 3-octave instrument.

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Program Notes

BEYOND the HORIZON is a set of eight pieces in a colorful variety of musical styles that offers novice mallet percussionists engaging and manageable opportunities to hone their performance skills. Though written as mallet solos with pre-recorded backing tracks, these tunes also work well for percussion ensembles of two or more players - whether doubling the mallet part or playing the optional percussion or drum set parts included with six of the pieces. All eight pieces may be played on a 4-octave marimba, with several playable on a 3.5 or even a 3-octave instrument.

I’m a firm believer in giving students and other aspiring musicians music to play that is worth playing and enjoyable for listeners. Each piece in this set is designed to help develop beginning mallet players’ skills but also to be musically compelling enough in its own right to make it an attractive, easily-prepared recital/concert solo option for more advanced players. The backing tracks that accompany these pieces each create distinct sound worlds, and I've tried to make them both detailed and subtle enough that the music will wear well for both performers and listeners with repeated performances. It was a lot of fun to write and put these tunes together and I hope you'll thoroughly enjoy playing them!

- Kit Mills

Grade Level: 2
Copyright: 2021
Number of Players: 1
Duration: 24:00 total
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Category: Solo Works

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Instrumentation

Marimba (4-octave, but some 3 & 3.5-octave)
Electronic Track
Optional Percussion Parts