This page is where some of the things I mention in my clinics and masterclasses live online. Keep scrolling down to see everything.
Arkansas All-State Etudes
If you’re looking for help with Arkansas All-Region and All-State Percussion Auditions, here are some play-along tracks that might be of some help. The notated rhythms are duplicated by the melody in each snare etude play-along. If you have any questions, you can email me by clicking on the envelope icon at the top or bottom of this page. - Dr. Tyson
Snare Etude Play-Alongs
Power of Ten (Play-along for Cirone Etude 10)
Written to demonstrate how to think melodically (and harmonically) about the rhythmic content of snare drum solos. Written for piano with string orchestra, It is based off the rhythms of Etude 10 from Cirone’s Portraits in Rhythm.
There are two mp3s here. One at performance tempo, the other 72 bpm. The tracks start with a one measure intro.
Power of Ten at practice tempo (59 bpm)
Power of Ten at marked tempo (69 bpm)
Play-along for Cirone 23
A brief “piano concerto.” The solo part is built on the rhythms from Etude 23 from Portraits in Rhythm.
Download the play-along by clicking here or on the link above. You can also watch a video I made all the way back in 2009 by clicking here. It’s a 9 minute lesson on Etude 23 followed by a complete performance. (My apologies for the “old video” sound.)
Play-along for Cirone 39 (Ten Tiny Rhinoceri)
An orchestral piece based on the rhythms of Etude 39 from Portraits in Rhythm by Anthony Cirone (the title is an anagram of “Cirone Thirty-Nine”). You can us this as a play-along for the etude. Click the main link above to download the version at the written tempo. There are two mp3s below at slower tempos.
Keyboard Percussion Play-Alongs
Bach Violin Concerto in A minor (1st Movement)
Bach Violin Concerto First Movement play-along track at 96 bpm
Bach Violin Concerto First Movement play-along track at 76 bpm
Goldenberg Etude XX (Bearded Ogre Logjam Tune)
The title Bearded Ogre Logjam Tune is an anagram of “Goldenberg Etude Twenty.” I hope the play-along tracks below help with your accuracy, consistency of tempo, and phrasing. There’s a brief intro on each track to establish the tempo.
Etude XX accompaniment practice tempo (72 bpm)
Etude XX accompaniment performance tempo (85 bpm)
Bach Violin Concerto in A minor (3rd movement)
Learning this piece for Arkansas All-Region and All-State auditions? Click the link above to download the midi play-along track of the orchestral accompaniment. This track’s tempo dotted quarter equals 112 bpm.
Need a slower version for practice? Here’s the same accompaniment at dotted quarter equals 92 bpm.
Scale Exercises
This exercise uses the ii-V-I chord progression in a bossa nova style. The sheet music for the scale patterns can be downloaded below. There are also play-along tracks at four different tempos.
Sheet music for Bossa Nova Scale Exercise
More play-along tracks, resources, and articles below
We Ride at Dawn (mp3)
Written as a play along track for Etude 13 from Intermediate Snare Drum Studies by Mitchell Peters to help demonstrate how to play snare drum with musical (and even melodic) phrasing and gestures. Download by clicking the link above.
14 Etudes for Snare Drum
You can download a play-along track for Etude No. 1 from my 14 Etudes for Snare Drum by visiting this link.
Downloadable PDFs
Marimba Mozambique
Step by step notation of how to learn the rhythm and sticking for the “Gadd Mozambique” on marimba (that can then be applied to drum set)
In Defense of Unserious Music
A short article about composing and listening to all kinds of music
Sleight of Hand: The Illusion of Sustain
A short article about the musical applications of rolls on the marimba
Finding Your Voice
A preview article for my 2012 clinic/performance at PASIC in Austin, Texas. The presentation focused on getting started writing your own music.
Resources for Sight Reading Practice
Rhythmical Articulation by Bona
Bona’s collection of short etudes has helped improved the sight reading of generations of musicians. This pdf will work well in electronic format. Because the scan is of a very old copy, it would be best to convert to black and white adjust the contrast to help remove the discoloration of the aged pages. Otherwise, printing may take a very long time. Or, you can buy a new copy of the book for around $10.
First published in 1919, this book covers a great deal ground on all the orchestral percussion instruments. This is just an excerpt that contains the studies for keyboard percussion.
George Hamilton Green Xylophone Lessons
In the 1920s, xylophone virtuoso George Hamilton Green offered a series of 50 xylophone lessons by mail. They are now in the public domain. I own original copies of six of the lessons. The paper is old and fragile, but I’ve scanned them and made them available below (Lesson 13 is missing the Ragtime insert). I hope that others who own some of the lessons or his xylophone solos that are now in the public domain will scan them and make them freely available. If you have originals of Green’s works and need help scanning or creating PDFs, let me know.