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This piece was published first in 1935 and is one of Mr. Cage's very earliest compositions for percussion instruments. It is a fantastic exploration of percussion and also of Mr. Cage's aesthetic.

In Mr. Stevens’ own words:Through this book the author attempts to shed bright light into one dark corner of the marimbist's art: the mechanical principles of good technique.This text and its author is the most comprehensive analysis of the "Steven's" four-mallet marimba technique. It's an essential workbook for all students and performers who practice the "Steven's" grip and has placed itself firmly in the lists of standard repertoire and resources.The book features hundreds of exercises, discussions about the grip and the concepts surrounding muscle movement, as well as pictures and diagrams of the grip and its implementation.

This book is perhaps one of the most commonly used snare drum method at the college level. In the foreword of the book Anthony Cirone states he hopes that "Portraits in Rhythm lends many hours of informative enjoyment to those who may use it" and it has done just that!

This book is a collection of songs arranged for keyboard percussion instruments with piano accompianment . The editor states that the book "offers the advancing instrumental soloist an array of materials graded from easy to more challenging. An assortment of musical styles has been included to give variety and to allow an opportunity for the musician to develop interpretive skills."

Challenging quintet written for four timpani, three mallet instruments, and other common percussion instruments.

A beautiful and interesting piece. Imagine a musician...alone in a giant auditorium. What will he or she do? Perhaps roll a lush chord and listen the marimba hum. Perhaps strike the bars hard to feel the mallets against the hands. Perhaps play snippets of melody to hear it reverberate in the theatre. Perhaps rip through some fast patterns, loudly, so they float around the room and return to the marimba like a boomerang to accompany the musician through more patterns. That's my perspective of this piece. It's about a musician enjoying the instrument and listening to it in a beautiful room. It's an intimate experience and one which an audience rarely witnesses. I believe that Christopher Deane gathered these moments and arranged them into a thoughtful form; he's presenting this very personal and private 'play' to the audience.

The piece serves well as either a rudimental or concert snare drum study. Certainly, the figures can be realized in rudimental style, but the notation doesn't adhere stricly to the "typical" rudimental notation (i.e. there are no stickings written, and the rolls aren't marked as measured rolls). As such the performer might approach this solo from either a concert or rudimental perspective. Either way, the piece is successful and interesting. Rhythmically, the piece is more complex than a typical "march"-style solo. The performer will experience changing meters, some polymeter, and dramatic dynamics.

This piece is well written and enjoyable. It's a great way for the developing 4-mallet student to grow more comfortable with single-independent and double-lateral strokes. It's a groove piece and patternistic.

Like other contemporary band methods this booklet is colourful while being helpful and very well organized. For those band directors who have used Best in Class or Standard of Excellence with their young bands, Accent on Achievement is a fresh presentation of similar material. And like its competitors, this method is accompanied with supplementary materials, a director's edition (score), evaluation tools, and the like. This particular booklet is interesting, and perhaps excellent for private instruction, as it combines all the elements of the other two (2) books into a single text: Percussion (S.D., B.D., Accessories), and Mallet Percussion.

This book is one of the most comprehensive pedagogical resources to date in the field of percussion. It is intended as a guide or reference for use by percussion instructors; but is just also valuable to students of percussion as it is to teachers. It is used in many universities in percussion techniques or methods classes. However, it's discussions of percussion's history, bibliography, and pedagogy make this an essential resource for anybody involved in academic percussion study.