Sticking Categories: A Practical Application in Contemporary Literature for Four-Mallet Marimba

Abstract

In contemporary literature for four-mallet marimba, performers must make decisions concerning how to utilize each mallet in order to best perform a piece with musical and visual aesthetic interpretation. In these pieces, sticking decisions fall intoone of three categories: notated, implied, or open.

Each of these categories features its own types of challenges, particularly when used in music that differs stylistically. This document is intended to clarify how each category functions, as well as to provide a concise list of how to approach making a final sticking decision for a passage of music. In order to do this, examples from of each category are provided from the repertoire. Additionally, an in-depth study of passages from three contemporary solos shows ways to approach the pieces by examining my own decisions, as well as decisions from professionals in the fields of performance and education.

The document culminates with a step-by-step methodology of the decision-making process I used and provides resources for further study in the form of an annotated bibliography.