Percussion Methods

Robert Schietroma

General Info

Year: 1991
Edition: 2nd Edition
Publisher: RonJon Publishing, Inc.
Cost: Book Cost - $22.05   |   Supplemental Books - $0.00

Chapters

Chapter I:
Chapter II:
Chapter III:
Chapter IV:
Chapter V:
Chapter VI:

Reviews

Student Reviews

Organization: The Table of Contents is organized by chapters, with the first being about goals of a course, suggesting this book would be used as a guide in a college-level methods class, in conjunction with other materials. Instead of going straight to instruments, the book then delves into classification of percussion instruments, maintenance, percussion rehearsals and ensemble notes, and musical performance of a percussionist before going to standard instruments. It then goes into instrument substitutions and percussion terminology before finishing with a detailed Latin American section, drum set, and method books.

Content: A surprising amount of content in this book is focused on organizing and figuring out the logistics of running a percussion ensemble or managing a percussion section in a larger band. Even more surprising, there is not a snare drum section in the book, as “Fundamental Studies for Snare Drum” by Garwood Whaley is listed as a required material for the aforementioned course and would assumedly cover the snare drum section part of this book. I was pleasantly surprised to see the mention of how a student’s stance should be when playing at a keyboard instrument or even a tambourine! Small details like this run through every percussionist’s mind at some point, so it is nice to have a resource that gives insight to little things like standing while using an instrument. The chapters covering percussion substitutions and terminology was great to see, as I am sure there are very few ensembles which have every percussion instrument listed in any literature they come across, so giving examples of how to substitute missing or unplayable instruments with others is a great help. The terminology section translated words and instrument names from English, French, German, Italian, and South American which could be helpful when reading orchestral music which is usually not translated to English. The Latin American instrument section was one of the most detailed I have come across in most method books, and the drum set section covered most of what drummers may run into when reading music, with a brief page-long section showing how cymbals and different drums on a set may appear on charts. The method books were categorized by section and listed varying levels of difficulty.

Uses: Due to the word density of this book and the absence of pages and pages of playing examples and etudes, I would say this book is directed towards an instructor or future instructors. Most of the concepts mentioned in this book are more relevant for instructors than students, with an exception being college students or aspiring teachers.

Rating: Since this book covers concepts which are usually neglected in most percussion method books, such as the logistics of managing a percussion ensemble and what desirable traits such be expected from a percussionist’s playing, I feel this book would be a great addition to any instructor’s stack of resources. Granted, due to the certain concepts presented in this book, it may be more relevant to anyone other than an elementary school instructor, although some concepts such as maintenance of instruments could still be utilized by the instructor. 5/5. User:Hondogracias

Works for Percussion by this Author

Schietroma, Robert. Percussion Methods. Addison, TX.: RonJon Publishing, 1991.