Gary Burton demonstrates the Burton Grip

[pbkblackbelt]

Stephens Grip is With your hand turned over so your fist is vertical, so it is more sturdy than demonstrated.

[bryan770]

I am such a huge fan of Gary Burton. I love playing four mallet vibraphone parts. Just something about it that makes you feel like you're on top of the world.

[Conn210]

@bryan770 Dang right!

[SpedunkTV]

Why does he remind me of Palpatine...

[jimova72]

I really admired and I am fan of Gary Burton

He is very honest to say that about the grip. In Chiapas Mexico, the traditional marimba players used that grip since 100 years ago, and they don't know Gary Burton, they called traditional grip. In Mexico we call that the Traditional grip, and the "Traditional grip" used in Japan we called "Japanese grip". So please, Gary Burton say it, is not Burton Grip, always Americans wants to be the owner of all things in the world.

[Conn210]

@jimova72 There is a difference between traditional and Burton grip though. Are you not mistaking it for actual traditional grip?

[wadoryu2u]

we all know Leigh Howard Steven's method is the easiest and best method and is the most widely accepted by the percussion community and taught at colleges and music conservatories in the US, so everyone, go do that...

[gh3master1199]

@wadoryu2u Umm no. Personally I find Burtons easier and much better.

[wantatank]

@wadoryu2u yes and no, steven's grip is widely accepted by collages and music conservatories, but burton is widly bcome accepted as the prime grip for vibraphone, as the mallets are more flat to the board than stevens, and stevens grip is not the the "best" grip, each grip: crossgrip (traditional), musser, burtons and stevens have their pros and cons, stevens has wide intervals and mallet independance, as burton has better intervals short of an octave and it is easier to learn...im 15

[oxysean]

when i was a field captain i would teach the burton grip to younger players so they could get used to up and down as well as rotational arm movements. it's really easy to learn. stevens is more difficult because you have to learn two different wrist movements and muscle groups percussionists don't use (rotational and vertical)

[arthas63794851]

@oxysean The musser grip only uses 1 type of movement and that is rotational. The burtan grip uses rotational and vertical.

[vibeplayer125]

"when your around the house....listening to records...." lawlz

[numanuma20]

I'd love to learn to play a vibe.

[mallets2012]

i am a marimba player and when i first learned to play with four mallets this grip was WAY easier than that other grip!

[boybawang9997]

vibes is an instrument i always wanted to play anyone know a cheap set of vibes i can find cuz they are all expensive.. :(

[Conn210]

@boybawang9997 the way you'll find them cheap, is if it's really old and worn out, or damaged.

[drummerboy2591]

@boybawang9997 you have to check craigslist constantly. At least a few times a week. I just picked up a 1971 musser one nighter that is in very good shape and I paid just over $1,000 for it. That is inexpensive in the world of percussion considering the cheapest new musser vibraphone is slightly over $2,000. Then you also have to look into finding one with graduated or ungraduated bars. It's preference on that really.

[rosskay]

@boybawang9997 you can rent them too.

[SSBBmaster10]

Lol I use the musser grip, and when I saw this video like 10 times, I thought," THis is too hard I just can't do it! Back to Musser!"

[laughingtiger123]

he's awesome. No soul, mega anticeptic. Bobby Hutcherson all the way.

[laughingtiger123]

I've heard about Gary's "grip".. LOL Gary, drop the "r"...

[Timpani4ever]

this explanation about the traditional grip is not very good. Im playing the tradiotional grip and there is no moment where the thumb comes arround to push the mallets together. The thumb is always at the same position.

[Conn210]

@Timpani4ever yeah he didn't explain stevens well either

[Timpani4ever]

@Conn210 Maybe the Burton Grip is just a result of "Gary Burton didnt learn the traditional technique right?" xD?

[Conn210]

@Timpani4ever haha

[tenniscrazy2]

@Timpani4ever Actually, he's right. When you use the traditional grip, the thumb and index finger push the mallets apart to play wide intervals (as he demonstrates at 0:57) and then the thumb comes around the mallet to push them back together.

[Timpani4ever]

@tenniscrazy2 no the thumb dont comes around. you must find a thumb position where you can open the mallets and closed it without moving the position of your thumb. otherwise it would take to much time in faster pieces.

in this video his forefinger is also moving what is not right. the forefinger is always at the same position like the thumb and he is also bent.

[tenniscrazy2]

@Timpani4ever That makes sense, but all of the famous marimba players I've seen who use traditional grip open the mallets with their thumb and index fingers, then close with their thumb. If you watch Evelyn Glennie for example, she always seems to open and close the mallets that way.

[Timpani4ever]

@tenniscrazy2 Evelyn is using the Burton-Grip...

[tenniscrazy2]

@Timpani4ever Oh...nevermind...

[ConradJacob]

and btw, the example you gave on how you should start playing the piano isn't really the wisest thing to do. your other fingers might get undevelopped and will get even weaker if not properly practised with.

[Conn210]

@ConradJacob he was saying not to do that when learning to play the piano

[ConradJacob]

Great video, it explaines alot.

ive been playing for about a year now, with 2 mallets. cant decide on what grip im gonna use, i havent really tried any yet. I've been seeing all kinds of grips, Fulcrum's grip, stevens grip, burton's grip

[alexeipaish]

@ConradJacob Well I'd say it depends on what you're playing. I'd use stevens for marimba where you may need really wide stretches, then use fulcrum or burton for vibes. Of course that's just a preference!

[MidwestChopper9]

So clean, so good. So legit.

[Conn210]

@awake1370 ok? idk what your trying to tell us

[sannehuijbregts]

thanx for posting, really helpfull!

[seventhst]

genius musician

[Conn210]

@seventhst 'tis true

[iwant2piece]

hey does anybody know where can i get his book for burton's method of movement?

[Conn210]

@iwant2piece Try Amazon or Google shopping.

[yrsnkd]

My school's only got one vibraphonist. I already play guitar and bass, so I have some backing in music; I wanted something that I could get a fresh start with. So tomorrow I'm renting one for the summer for $15; and damn am I glad I watched this, I am SO using 4 mallets, straight from the start! Let's go!

[Conn210]

@yrsnkd great thinking there!

[dudemon321]

its funny watching such a virtuosic vibraphone player try to demonstrate the stevens grip lol. Reminds me of when I tried to play vibraphone for the first time with the standard cross grip

[Conn210]

@dudemon321 yeah when I first saw it, I was like ahh, painful to my eyes!

[nepalipork]

he's a good teacher

[sarahbasel]

Thanks Conn210 for uploading this video and thanks Mr. Burton for creating this video! It is priceless to hear and see how to play with a certain grip from the man who actually invented it! I also found it very interesting to see how he came up with the concept!

[IRACEMABABU]

Merci beaucoup pour cette TRES utile vidéo, par le maître du vibraphone moderne. Vive YouTube !

[Conn210]

Um I don't speak French. But I'm guessing you said something like, "thanks for uploading this video on how to play vibraphone?"

-You're welcome

[IRACEMABABU]

@Conn210 .I said :" Thank's a lot for this VERY useful video, by by the master of the modern vibes. Greetings for YouTube !"

And greetings from France...

[Conn210]

You're welcome!

[TromboneofLMMS]

also my band director always uses the musser grip when she uses 4 mallets

[TromboneofLMMS]

im gonna try and use this grip.

[iamtheonetolive]

steven's grip is soooo much better.

[gnargnarrads]

@iamtheonetolive Stevens inherently sounds bad on vibraphone. Playing Stevens requires you to be able to walk around the instrument to reposition yourself properly; Burton grip averts this problem very conveniently as it allows you to keep one foot on the sustain pedal at all times. This is impossible to accomplish with Stevens unless you violate some very fundamental rules of his. A good rule of thumb is Stevens for marimba and Burton for vibraphone. Just FYI from someone with experience.

[iamtheonetolive]

@gnargnarrads actually. the grip depends on the music and placement of grip. i'm personally better at steven's grip. i will occasionally use burton's grip depending on the music. oh, and btw, good for you for having experience, but i know my shit, don't treat me like an unexperienced player.

[gnargnarrads]

Bad Stevens technique is a notorious cause of carpal tunnel syndrome. Attaching a sustain pedal to a Stevens player's foot will indeed result in hyper-extensions and weak sound on obscure chords. No disrespect intended here, I just think music-related injuries and poor sound should be avoided at all costs :)

[Conn210]

I play stevens mostly and that was a very bad example of stevens grip, but that's not what the vid is about. But with stevens you can play more difficult things on marimba.

[xilometal]

im trying to use 4 but i dont know what to play. i can use 3 and play some triad pieces but do you have any rock/metal piece sugestions?

[Conn210]

Well just use 4 and double the root note of the triad or something like that. But I don't have music or anything for rock/metal pieces. You could try finding the midi files of those songs and import it into finale or sibelius.

[obstreperousdrum]

Has anybody else found Burton easier to learn than Stevens'? I'm not trying to say that one is better than the other by any means. They both have their place. But, it seems that, because of the stability in any crossed-grip, learning Burton has been easier than Stevens'.

[Conn210]

Like you said one grip is good for certain things while the other is good for other things. I learned to play with Steven's so I think it's easier.

[halfasemitone]

You're right. It is easier to learn Burton because of it being a crossed grip. There's a lot of muscle building you need to do with the Musser. Musch more building than Burton, but you still have to build muscle for Burton also.

[gnargnarrads]

@obstreperousdrum I definitely found Burton to be the most intuitive of the three. I do have a weakness for Stevens, though. I found the work necessary to get some Stevens chops to be very rewarding in the long run. I consider myself more a marimbist than a vibraphonist.

[Conn210]

yeah me too

[bandgeekalways]

muscer grip?? Isn't it Stevens grip? huh...

[Conn210]

First of all, it's spelled Musser, and second this video is on Burton grip, not Musser or Stevens.

[bandgeekalways]

Well, I'm sorry if I don't know how to spell one simple thing. And I KNOW it's about the Burton grip, but DUH, at 4:42 he demonstrates the Musser grip, and I thought it was called Stevens grip, not Musser.

[Conn210]

Oh sorry, but Steven's and Musser grip are basically the same thing.

[iamtheonetolive]

steven's grip has your thumbs facing up, whereas musser's grip doesn't.

[Conn210]

ok, they're very similar

[zuzrwolrd]

for all the people who helped making this video= thankyouthankyouthankyouthanky­outhankyouthankyou

[EraserMonster]

I guess two mallets technique can single out a lot of technique problems since it's simpler...

[solomiotube]

this is a very very helpful video!! thank you

[vampiracy]

I love how bad he is at Musser/Stevens xD Not a huge fan of Burton, but I'm gonna have to learn it anyways =/

[percphs]

I know you only have 54 views, but thanks for uploading.

I was taught the Stevens' grip by a guy that was taught directly from Leigh Howard Stevens. Which is cool. But I had never really had a great lesson over Burton's grip. It was nice to hear him explain it. That puts me at ease. I used to hate playing with the Burton grip because I wanted to make sure that I was doing it right, and that I didn't slip into bad habits. :-)

Thanks again.

[Conn210]

That's cool.

I learned Steven's grip first too

[percphs]

I want to be able to play really well with Burton, too. Because I've always wanted to. Like, during certain songs and all. But... I need to work on it. I'll start tomorrow. It just feels so awkward from Stevens'.

[jusepaug]

Thanks. It's much easier to play now :D