Description

Price: $35

Program Notes

When I composed Song Book, Vol. 1 for solo marimba in 2011, I did so with an emphasis on songwriting techniques as opposed to academic, compositional structures. Through this songwriting lens, I created little “tunes” with simple melodic and rhythmic hooks, some of which were conceived away from the marimba, through singing.

With Song Book, Vol. 2 (2017), I wanted to stretch the boundaries even further. This collection of five songs requires the marimbist to play and sing simultaneously, featuring the marimba as a singer-songwriter instrument, much like an acoustic guitar or piano. It is my hope that Song Book, Vol. 2 helps expand the scope of the marimba beyond a solo, classical instrument, and demonstrates the instruments versatility within the songwriting genre.

Baila: My mother was born in Mexico and I was born in the United States. She wanted me to maintain some connection to Mexican culture, so we would travel to Mexico every summer to attend a 300 person family reunion. It was fun and beautiful. There was loud music, plenty of food, and of course, dancing. Baila, which translates to “dance”, is sung in Spanish. It tells the story of a family member teaching me to dance.

Truth Is Now Opinion: This song was written sometime after the 2016 presidential election.

Ghost Arms: This is a song about a boy, a girl, love and death.

Bird’s Eye View: This is the very first song I wrote for marimba with voice, around 2009, and has remained unpublished until now. It’s a love song at heart, but a sad one too. I wrote it for my wife (then girlfriend) as we both came to the realization that my travels would be a normal part of my life, and her life too.

This Little Light: This arrangement of the traditional spiritual This Little Light of Mine reflects my gospel / tejano upbringing, where church musicians would commonly take a traditional spiritual and re-arrange it in their own style. Along with singing, this song requires the performer to play left hand marimba while playing shaker in the right hand.

Vocal Range: I’ve included each song in two different keys to help facilitate different voice types. All five songs are arranged for middle voice and also for high voice or low voice 8vb. I encourage performers to experiment with both versions to find what works best for their voice.

Chord Symbols: I’ve included chord symbols for each song to help performers transpose songs if necessary. Chord symbols can also help performers play the piece with others if desired.

Song Book, Vol. 2 was commissioned by a consortium of musicians whose support brought this music to life:
Ben Pitt (organizer)
Cole Andrade
Andrew Bockman
Sarah Brooks
Brian Calhoon
Joanna Chen
Tyler Cunningham
Peyton Esraelian
Caleb Evans
Noel Holloway
Christina Hurlbut
Brandon Ilaw
Eri Isomura
Michael J Jones
Saki Kurata
Tyler Mashek
Rebecca McDaniel
Neil McNulty
Alex Mendoza
Paulina Michels
Reed Puleo
Nicholas Samuel
John Smigielski
Doug Smith
Tyler Tsunekawa
Colin Williams
Thomas Yagisawa
Yi David Yang
Yongyun Zhang

Order Information

Product will be automatically sent after purchase, and there is a download limit of two (2) downloads for seven (7) days after purchase.

Physical copies are available from Steve Weiss Music.