Sheet Music by Percussion Music Composer Todd Ukena

The Devil, Daniel and Duane

$6.00

The Devil, Daniel and Duane by Todd Ukena
(xylophone or marimba solo)

Of course the title does get it’s idea from the story “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Stephen Vincent Benet. After that though there is really no relation at all. (If you want to make up a story about it, go for it! The way the solo is written, the Devil has the last word.)

The solo uses three themes (representing the Devil, Daniel, and Duane) arranged in rondo form (A B A C A, A – Devil theme, B – Daniel theme, C – Duane theme.) The form of each phrase is ABA’. This makes the solo really easy to learn!

If you have ever played “Furioso and Valse” by Earl Hatch you will recognize the triplet pattern, DEF. It was the germ of the idea for this solo. The “Devil theme” uses that pattern a lot. Experiment with a couple of different stickings, r r l & r l l. (These are great as an exercise for double bounces on snare drum since you get very little rebound on a xylophone or marimba. This use as an exercise is the main reason that it is the main theme and comes back two more times.

The “Daniel theme” (or B section) pictures a playful kid skipping around, clueless that the devil is even around. Most of this theme must be played with a left hand lead, (something all of us have to work on now or later.)

The ‘Duane theme” (or C section) pictures a rather tall, lanky,(I see a redhead with freckles, myself,) gentle, thinking “everybody is okay” kind of kid taking large, ponderous steps. You can see this represented by the large interval leaps in the melody. This forces the beginning player to use their peripheral vision in seeing the whole keyboard.

The “Devil theme” ends this piece. It is literally repeated three times. Though not written in the piece, use a slight retard in the last four measures to end the solo.

(See? The Devil had the last word!)