Magical Mallet Melodies
5 expandable keyboard trios with optional percussion
Magical Mallet Melodies by Alejandro Gonzalez is a charming collection of five expandable mallet keyboard trios with optional percussion parts. Aimed at younger students, the pieces progressively help students develop their keyboard technique and musicianship in a chamber music setting.
The pieces progress comfortably from two- to three- and, finally, four-mallet technique, allowing students to have some basic proficiency with four-mallet playing by the time they have played through the entire collection. Students will also encounter a range of key signatures as well as 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures.
Each piece requires only a single glockenspiel and low-A marimba at a minimum. However, they are all expandable to include other keyboards as well as optional percussion parts for a more dynamic musical experience.
This product contains the following works:
- Waltz of the Insects | Med-Easy | 1’20”
- Ripples in Time | Med-Easy | 1’45”
- Foggy Nights | Med-Easy | 2’30”
- The Enchanted Woods | Med-Easy | 2’30”
- Wind Chimes After the Storm | Med-Easy | 2’30”
Magical Mallet Melodies ships as a fully bound booklet and includes individual parts in PDF format for either printing or tablet viewing.
Minimum instrumentation:
- Glockenspiel or vibraphone
- Marimba (low A)
May expand to include any of the following:
- Xylophone
- Additional marimbas, glockenspiels, and/or vibraphones
- Drumset (kick drum, snare drum, 2 toms, cymbal)
- Drums — bass drum, snare drum, 2 toms
- Cymbals — suspended cymbal
- Accessories — triangle, tambourine, mark tree, 2 woodblocks (high/low), rain stick or ocean drum
Reviews
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Matthew Geiger –
Loaded with five progressive ensemble works featuring a keyboard trio and expandable percussion accompaniment, Magical Mallet Melodies is a great resource for younger percussion ensembles with limited instrumentation. Each piece is between one and three minutes long, providing plenty of concert repertoire if combined, or even a great sight-reading resource to help practice those skills in a variety of keys. Although each piece could be performed using only three players, the full realization needs a few more players to cover the percussion parts, plus possibly adding more mallet instruments and players for a richer sound.
Alejandro Gonzalez provides numerous options for variation and flexibility in instrumentation for each work. Although the ensembles could be played by three players (one on bells and two sharing a low-A marimba), each work includes two optional, written percussion parts. With the addition of the percussion, the pieces could now be played with five to seven players, and doubling the mallet parts creates even larger ensembles. All five pieces would be perfect for any middle or high school ensemble, especially those with limited resources of equipment or personnel numbers.
The pieces follow a similar structure in composition, although the technical challenges increase with each piece. For example, by “Foggy Nights,” the third in the set, the marimba players are using three mallets, and they are using four by the final piece, “Wind Chimes After the Storm.” Gonzalez creates variety through differing melodies, grooves, and scales for each piece, although the use of similar timbres throughout provides less interest than other collections. Regardless of the similarities, there is enough diversity that one could find something enjoyable in several of the works based on their preference — my personal favorite being “Ripples in Time.” I recommend checking out each piece in the Magical Mallet Melodies collection if you are programming for developing ensembles.
—Matthew Geiger
Percussive Notes
Vol. 63, No. 2, April 2025