A WEEKEND WITH GIFF

The beatrix.org editors spoke with Sharon Sens, new with Beatrix' in 2012 and also new in the world of the front ensemble.

"I've been playing with Beatrix' for two months and also just that period with four mallets. Everything is pretty exciting and I didn't know what to expect. I did come prepared, because I brought tape and some band aids. Playing with four mallets for two days could result in some blisters, but fortunately I didn't need them. Friday we started (off course) with the warm-up. Normally we start playing immediately, but this time we started with some stretching exercises to warm up the muscles in our shoulders, arms, wrists and fingers. After that we began playing with two mallets, and soon after that we started playing with four. With the four-mallet technique you use three different movements of the wrist. These movements were paired with the words wrist, twist and flush. At first we practiced one movement every exercise and later different movements were combined into one exercise. The evening passed quickly, but fortunately we had more rehearsal time on Saturday. Saturday the rehearsal began at 9:00. Some Jong Beatrix members joined us in the morning. Again we warmed up our muscles and after that we played with two mallets for a short time, but quickly continued with four mallets. The metronome was used to stay on tempo. We repeated a number of exercises from the evening before. In the afternoon we applied different wrist movements to multiple exercises. This is a thing I still find very difficult, but it was really cool to be able to learn this from Giff. Beatrix' offers me a lot of opportunities and I can't wait to enter the field in a couple of months."

Michelle Willard has been with Beatrix' for a number of years, but also for Michelle it remains exciting when a renowned teacher is in front of the group:

"A large part of the group had Gifford as an instructor before. I too was there last year so I knew what to expect. Still I was very excited for what we would learn. With the two-mallet exercises we learned which hand we should look at when we play up or when we play down. Gifford gave us some practical information we can use during our shows, including listening directions and how we can practice fast melodies. Just like last year the focus was on the four-mallet technique. Every wrist movement was first applied in an exercise. Most of the time Gifford played something first and after that we had to try it ourselves. As soon as we were able to play an exercise, the tempo went up and we quickly continued to a new exercise. During the day, everybody got a lot of information on how to improve on technique. The most important thing is relaxation during playing. In the course of the weekend a lot of exercises were played. At a certain moment it became a little bit more difficult to memorize all of the exercises. But the will to learn was there and with a little more explanation and help from each other we managed to get through. We surely have enough to work on, but I only see that as a challenge.".

At the end of Saturday afternoon Gifford told a number of things to the whole percussion section, including advice on how to rehearse effectively. After that, Gifford and Peter-Jan (one of our staff members) played some well-known marimba music. This was very impressive. On behalf of the whole front ensemble we want to thank Gifford Howarth for a very informative weekend and we hope to see him back in the future!

Are you curious as to how Beatrix' works, and do you want to experience it? During December and January you are still always welcome at our corps. Our doors are always open and there will always be someone present who has some time to tell you something about Beatrix'. Will we see you soon in Hilversum?

Photos on this page were made by: Jeroen Ten Brinke