Toboggan by John Herndon is a delightful work for young percussionists depicting a short, fast ride on a small sled. The piece starts by capturing the excitement of finding new-fallen snow. The descent swishes and jingles at high speed through sudden direction changes, patches of rough snow, and the gentle rising and falling of fresh powder. Toboggan ends, as sled rides often do, with a playful crash into a snowdrift.
The piece makes for a great introduction to mallet percussion using mainly stepwise motion for the melody and supporting roles. The accompanying orchestral battery parts should fall well within the range of most beginners.
This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.
“Toboggan” is a simply delightful work by John Herndon for beginning or intermediate percussion ensemble that depicts a short, fast ride on a small sled. At least ten players are needed, and the piece uses standard percussion instruments that should be found in every band room.
The composer states, “The piece starts by capturing the excitement of finding new-fallen snow. The descent swishes and jingles at high speed through sudden direction changes, patches of rough snow, and the gentle rising and falling of fresh powder. ‘Toboggan’ ends, as sled rides often do, with a playful crash into a snowdrift.”
The parts are expertly written to accommodate the varying levels of a middle school percussionist while providing a fun challenging experience for all. It is especially excellent that “Toboggan” gives players a chance to apply some basic technical skills (scales, natural sticking, reading, and dynamics) that most beginning and intermediate percussionists would be working on already.
“Toboggan” would be a welcome addition to any fall or holiday concert and will help codify important skills for percussionists.
—Joe Millea
Percussive Notes
Vol. 55, No. 1, March, 2017
Toboggan by John Herndon is a delightful work for young percussionists depicting a short, fast ride on a small sled. The piece starts by capturing the excitement of finding new-fallen snow. The descent swishes and jingles at high speed through sudden direction changes, patches of rough snow, and the gentle rising and falling of fresh powder. Toboggan ends, as sled rides often do, with a playful crash into a snowdrift.
The piece makes for a great introduction to mallet percussion using mainly stepwise motion for the melody and supporting roles. The accompanying orchestral battery parts should fall well within the range of most beginners.
This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.
“Toboggan” is a simply delightful work by John Herndon for beginning or intermediate percussion ensemble that depicts a short, fast ride on a small sled. At least ten players are needed, and the piece uses standard percussion instruments that should be found in every band room.
The composer states, “The piece starts by capturing the excitement of finding new-fallen snow. The descent swishes and jingles at high speed through sudden direction changes, patches of rough snow, and the gentle rising and falling of fresh powder. ‘Toboggan’ ends, as sled rides often do, with a playful crash into a snowdrift.”
The parts are expertly written to accommodate the varying levels of a middle school percussionist while providing a fun challenging experience for all. It is especially excellent that “Toboggan” gives players a chance to apply some basic technical skills (scales, natural sticking, reading, and dynamics) that most beginning and intermediate percussionists would be working on already.
“Toboggan” would be a welcome addition to any fall or holiday concert and will help codify important skills for percussionists.
—Joe Millea
Percussive Notes
Vol. 55, No. 1, March, 2017