Tetherball

 new notes

Tetherball is (at present) two books of music for 6 percussionists, or any 6 musicians. Each "tetherball" explores some specific rhythmic, performance, or musical idea, and is played in a kind of "rotation": each player plays each of the (usually) six parts, so that the orchestration changes with respect to the score. In general, each piece is one page, and there is a great deal of instrumentational and other types of lattitude given to the players.

old notes

Tetherball is a set of 11 pieces (so far) for six musicians, each playing a different percussion instrument (or anything that makes sound). The different pieces, each six measures long, are of varying difficulty, ranging from a level appropriate to 7-9th graders first learning music to very, very difficult. Each piece is a study in one particular rhythmic technique, and each requires the players to rotate through all six parts, while keeping the same sound. In this way, the pieces reorchestrate themselves as they go. The first two pieces were originally written for the 7-9th grade class at the Runnemede School, Lebanon, New Hampshire, Jody Diamond, music teacher.

(11/25/07)