Stevens Grip versus Burton Grip
AUSTIN SMITH
PROFESSOR HOLM
10/7/13
When comparing the videos demonstrating the Stevens Grip versus the Burton Grip, I found that neither trumps the other in supremacy. They both possess qualities that would be needed for different styles. In the first video, Gary Burton playing with Chick Corea, the grip that he invented, The Burton Grip, was crucial for the style he is playing. He was playing Jazz Vibraphone, and the burton grip is designed to have a smaller interval range, which allows the player more freedom in playing melodic passages. When Burton was playing, he would play chords for when Corea was soloing, and Corea would play blocked chords whenever Burton would solo, which he did by kicking out the lower mallet in his hands, and be play melodic passages with just two mallets. His mallets seemed to be covered in tightly wound cord.
During the marimba concerto played by Nebojsa Zivkovic, he was utilizing the Stevens Grip, which allows for a more open and spread interval. When using this grip, it is hard to do what Burton did, which was kick out a mallet to play melody, but usually this type of grip is used to strict
PROFESSOR HOLM
10/7/13
When comparing the videos demonstrating the Stevens Grip versus the Burton Grip, I found that neither trumps the other in supremacy. They both possess qualities that would be needed for different styles. In the first video, Gary Burton playing with Chick Corea, the grip that he invented, The Burton Grip, was crucial for the style he is playing. He was playing Jazz Vibraphone, and the burton grip is designed to have a smaller interval range, which allows the player more freedom in playing melodic passages. When Burton was playing, he would play chords for when Corea was soloing, and Corea would play blocked chords whenever Burton would solo, which he did by kicking out the lower mallet in his hands, and be play melodic passages with just two mallets. His mallets seemed to be covered in tightly wound cord.
During the marimba concerto played by Nebojsa Zivkovic, he was utilizing the Stevens Grip, which allows for a more open and spread interval. When using this grip, it is hard to do what Burton did, which was kick out a mallet to play melody, but usually this type of grip is used to strict