PUBLISHER: TUX People’s Music | © 2025 TUX People’s Music, LLC

My love & admiration for the percussion family began in my formative years. Both of my parents actively encouraged & supported my path to becoming a musician - my dad in particular was a percussionist who also participated in marching band & drumline. Though I began with learning piano (and, for a brief time, learning violin in elementary school), it seemed inevitable that my journey would progress to learning about all of the magnificent keyboards, drums, cymbals, & auxiliary instruments that the world of percussion has to offer.

As a performer, there was only ever one percussion instrument I wanted to learn how to play: timpani. In addition to the timpani’s supportive (and sometimes soloistic) role in large ensemble music over the years, the ability of this instrument to create musical structures, phrases, & expressions from a wide variety of mallets, colors, textures, & sounds continues to fascinate me to this day.

This series of methods books focuses on pedagogical development, suggestions, & techniques at various stages of learning how to play timpani.

Etudes & Solos for the Developing Timpanist is divided into four sections, each of which includes three etudes & one capstone solo. The book begins with teaching these techniques on one timpano drum, then gradually adds additional drums over time. These specific etudes & solos are therefore structured over a gradual learning curve. Experimenting with different types of mallets is highly recommended for this book so that the player can hear how the timpani responds. Sometimes, these differences & variances can be subtle, while in other cases, they may be more noticeable.

Solos for the Intermediate Timpanist is inspired by some of the most popular orchestral excerpts for this instrument throughout the centuries. This book features a wider variety of various styles & genres in order to provide the player an opportunity to work on technical & lyrical approaches to playing timpani.

Solos for the Advancing Timpanist, Volume 1 is partially inspired by Elliott Carter’s Eight Pieces for Four Timpani. This book features entirely original compositions of various genres & styles - several solos additionally feature a few extended techniques.