"Caleidoscópio" by Gene Koshinski (two-mallet marimba solo) 

The interplay of ideas in this is so wonderful.

The independence between the right and left hand that he gives is amazing

doing this for my solo this year. if the poly rhythm is getting to you, just give it some time, practice making each hand independent and dont lose confidence. took me two days to figure out the basic rhythm.

The only thing I dislike about this piece is that its too short. Love this composition.

For anyone wishing to develop their independence in the 15/16 polymelody, here's what I did: 1: Graph out the sum of the two rhythms. Start with a common denominator of the 3/16 (dotted eighth notes) pattern and the 7/16 (123-12-12) pattern: one measure of 21/16. Graph the two rhythms as if it's a kick and snare: say, the 7/16 pattern on top, and the 3/16 on bottom. The 7/16 pattern will fit thrice within the measure of 21/16, and the 3/16 pattern will fit 7 times within the 21/16 measure. Once completed, practice the two rhythms together, with two hands. Here's my best textual representation of the two together, with #'s as the 3/16 and +'s as the 7/16 (#+ is a double stop between both), with -'s as 16th rests: (#+)-#(#+)-#+#-(#+)#-(#+)-#+##+#- Repeated over and over and over... Alright, totally disregard the jumbled syntax above if you didn't understand it- it's an attempt at best. Essentially, once you get the two rhythms together as one rhythm between two hands, master it. It's strange (21/16), but if you can get that engrained into your muscle memory, the next steps will be easy. 2: Add pitches to the 7/16 ostinato. The pitches of the 7/16 are F#, E, and D. Once you know the rhythm mentioned earlier, put it on an idiophone. Implement those notes into whichever hand is playing the 7/16 pattern. Get this down to muscle memory. 3: Add the 3/16 pitches. With every repetition of a dotted eighth note (3/16), you switch to a different pitch. This is the largest bump, as the 3/16 pattern is written in phrases of 5 (hence the 15/16 time signature). Keep the combined rhythm from the first step in the back of your mind while your left hand switches between notes over the 7/16 pattern. Practice the third step slowly at first. Once accurate, speed it up. Ultimately, boil it down, then add all the ingredients back in. Here are all 3 steps, simplified into a sentence: 1: Learn what rhythm the two patterns make together 2: Add pitches to the treble clef pattern 3: Add pitches to the bass clef pattern. I hope that this helped anyone who had a hard time comprehending the material at play, and the execution of it. It is a challenging piece! Note: Forgive me if my detailed steps were a bit complex. It is not easy translating visual and physical information into text.

love this is as a percussionist but also as a genius composition.

RIP to the video I posted a few years back. Beautifully played, beautifully written, great to listen to. Nice work Gene!

About a year ago, I started playing percussion. Now I am a million times better than when I knew absolutely nothing. I got more into music for marimba, and this really stuck with me. I already got the book, and started practicing for Solo & Ensemble. Thank you for this composition, and hopefully I get a 1 this spring.

Absolutely gorgeous, elegant playing!

Great piece! Not sure if I would recognize it as a two mallet piece in blind test...

My god man this makes me want to play the marimba again. One of the most beautiful peaces I've ever heard👌

Gene Koshinski - Genius of percussion literature! 👏

I love this so much!!!

Love it! Great performance too!

This is a lovely marimba solo 😊

beautiful marimba, gorgeous playing

Lovely!!!

This is wonderful! Love the key changes haha

What a nice solo. Beautiful!

Its just amazing

This is such a beautiful piece of music. Definitely gonna try to learn it once I get the chance to play a marimba again.

I did this piece for my high school senior recital. Such a fun little piece.

Great piece playing it for my solo! It's so fun to have the independent patterns

This is such a charming composition :)

LOVE THIS

found someone on tiktok referencing this and had to come see it! This is marvelous! Thank you for your contributions to culture!

1:58 mmmm what a smooth transition

Perfect work-out music!!!

Wow. Known about this piece and heard it a handful of times, but this performance is just immaculate.

Nice. Beautiful touch. I like that your work is very concise. Thanks.

Any tips on visualizing this? I'm having trouble keep both of my hands independent with each other without straying from the static rhythms. Thanks

My teacher plays this after rehearsal I cant believe I found it

BRUH! That’s dope!

Beatiful music and respect for tehnique this ussualy play with least 3 4 sticks

I'm going to try this for solo and ensemble next year :) I'm super excited, and hope that piano helps with hand independence.

Bello e bravo!!!

Very beautiful

amazing

Made something of my own with this as inspiration!

A few months ago I would've never considered playing this but now my high school is about to bring Compound Autonomy to state solo and ensemble. If anyone knows what that is, I think it's good prep for rhythms like this.

2:02 favorite solo

Make sure you don’t give up practice and nail this peace. Take time with the measures and I’m sure you can get this tricky beat down

❤

Lovely piece, beautiful playing!

I wish they had this for UIL marimba solos

Slick

I'm gonna take a chance and learn this bruh

GENE

Is there any way I could buy this piece on its own? I would love to play this but don’t have the money to buy the whole book

0:50 is so happy and stuff idk this piece is really good

te amo Gene

Please do more of your TWO book! Maybe walking on the white? Or running with scissors!? Prelude Nuevo?! Homage??!!

Quick Question: Measure 29 & 37 sounds like you play G-Bb-C for the first three notes instead of the printed G-Ab-C. Is there an errata I'm missing, or was this a version edit? Just curious what the 'official' verdict is (and I personally like the jazziness of the Ab).

This sounds really peaceful at 0.75x speed

thank you for making such a quality piece of music. Edit: I'd really absolutely love to buy the book and learn this piece, but my school does not have a 5 octave, do you have any tips that will allow me to play this, but not remove any of its quality?

Awesome island sound. Question, never heard of a marimba, I called them xylophone since I was a kid, whats the difference? Thank you for your videos, great stuff. Love, peace and harmony to everyone, love Chris

0:48 is the best and hardest part of the song

I love this solo, but only have access to a 4.3 octave marimba, does anyone have any other songs that are similar

Is there a way for me to buy this solo alone instead of the whole book?

great piece may I ask what mallets you are using.

My marimba does not have the lowest d flat, what should I replace it with

Currently trying to learn this for my junior year in high school solo and ensemble. It is kicking my butt but I am getting some really good progress on it. I have 2 weeks to play it cleanly. I have learned it all but I just need reps on it.

Awesome man! Can you share the music sheet?

This solo reminds me of african music

If you don't mind me asking, but I'd love to know which mallets you are using. I'd LOVE to get some of my own! Thank you!

I have tears! 😭😭 so beautiful 💜 played this for my senior HS solo. Buuuuut you kept it the same tempo at the 2/4 (@52 sec). Was that a personal choice or did you intend for it to be played that way/write it that way? (Maybe I misread it lol)

What are those mallets?😍

Has anybody had any success playing this on a 4.3?

1:59

I am almost completely clean with this whole solo, the only part that's kicking my butt still is 0:49

This may sound crazy, but once I learned the 4 mallet technique, I never once considered going back to play 2 mallet solo repertoire and now I feel like I missed out on some good music. 🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️

I’m a freshman in highschool who isn’t great on marimba and needs a solo how hard is this to learn?

hey, so in my hubris, i chose this for my junior recital, and. i might die.

Can it be played on a 4.3 octave??

Does anyone know if any of the pieces in this book are playable on a 4.3?

Does this solo work on 4.5? Or can i only play on the marimba one 😓

This would be even better with a drummer playing the same thing just on share , hi hat and bass drum .

When the homies say "percusion is easy"🗿

0:11

I need this work in my music stand, give me the parties for free? Please

A nice little study. Complicated rhythms. I'm never quite sure how mallet instruments sound as solo instruments. To my ear, they are always crying out for an ensemble.

Sounds like music I'd hear in minecraft

What mallets are you using? They sound great! They are shorter than most that I have seen, could someone help me out?

4.3???

It’s okay I guess

fresh meat