by David Valdés
The Practice Blueprint
by Dr. Paul Buyer Have you ever been told by a director, instructor, or section leader that you “need to practice?” This vague statement can often leave students confused, deflated, and discouraged. Instead, what students really need is direction, help, and mentorship on how to practice, so…
Carmina Revealed (Part 2)
CARMINA REVEALED (part 2) Orff wrote the names of the instruments in German in the manuscript (of which I own a copy). He indicated the following: Pauken (5 kessel) Schlagwerk (5 spiele), 2 kleine Trommeln, 1 grosse Tromel,1 Schelle, 1 Triangel, 1 paar Cymbeln, 2…
New 2025 Catalog!
Announcing the 2025 Grover Pro Percussion Catalog: Celebrating 45 Years of Excellence! We are thrilled to announce the release of the 2025 Grover Pro Percussion Catalog, marking a major milestone in our journey—our 45th anniversary! Since 1980, Grover Pro Percussion has been at the forefront…
45th Anniversary Sneak Peek…
To mark our 45th (Sapphire) Anniversary, we’ve crafted a LIMITED EDITION 45th Anniversary Studio Pro Tambourine! This unique instrument boasts all three of our original jingle alloys: German Silver, Beryllium Copper, and Phosphor Bronze. Each jingle is painstakingly HAND HAMMERED to deliver a rich, chorally…
PAS Hall of Fame Interview
Neil Grover, the Founder of Grover Pro Percussion, is being inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in November 2024. His significant contributions to the percussion field as a musician, educator, and innovator are highlighted in this new interview with the Percussive Arts…
Neil Grover Talks Protégé™ Tambourines & Woodblocks
Protégé™ Series Tambourines Now Available!
Our new Grover Protégé model tambourines have been meticulously crafted to deliver unparalleled sound quality and exceptional value for budget-minded students and music educators. These tambourines seamlessly incorporate professional features, setting a new standard in the world of student-level concert tambourines. Key Features: Percussionists have the option to select from two professional-grade jingle…
Two New Tambourines Introduced!
Grover Pro Percussion, a trailblazer in the world of percussion instruments, is proud to introduce two new additions to its esteemed lineup – the Model T2/BC-H Headless Tambourine and the Model T2-PhBr-X Tambourine. These cutting-edge tambourines showcase Grover Pro’s commitment to precision craftsmanship and innovative…
Tchaikovsky’s “Arabic Dance” – Articulate or Roll?
by David Valdés “The Nutcracker” is a work that, despite being part of the repertoire and being performed/played very often (specially during Christmas), it is played with some mistakes due to a wrong interpretation of the instructions given by Tchaikovsky and the writing that he…
Our founder is the featured artist this month!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW WITH NEIL GROVER
Percussion Summer School Starts Now!
Our July summer newsletter contains over 20 great educational videos and downloads covering tambourine, triangle, castanets and snare drum. Whether you’re starting out, or a seasoned pro, there’s plenty of innovative information that will help you sound your best! CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR JULY…
The Advantage of Staggered Jingle Slots
Some manufacturers claim that “stacked” jingle slots allow for better response at very soft levels. We do NOT find this to be true and really do not hear any lack of clarity at soft levels with our staggered slot arrangement. In fact, THERE IS an…
NEW! Educational Essentials Guide
For some, selecting the right gear can be a daunting task! But don’t worry, we have developed a tool to help make selecting the perfect product both quick and easy… CLICK HERE to access our new “Educational Essentials” guide where you’ll be able to view…
Australian Percussion Academy strives for the stars…
The Australian Percussion Academy‘s, core mission is to provide the highest quality of percussive arts f education. They are producing young percussionists with strong fundamental skills capable of performing at the highest skill level. Under the direction of acclaimed percussion virtuoso, Sergei Golovko, the students…
Percussion Accessory Clinic w/Neil Grover
Watch Neil Grover’s 2023 PASIC presentation, “Percussion Accessories – Not as easy as you may think!”. Neil Grover’s PASIC 2023 Masterclass “Video used with permission. The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) is the world’s largest percussion organization, with over 5,000 members in over 80 Chapters across…
TMEA – A SMASH!
We recently returned from the Texas Music Educators Association annual convention in San Antonio. It was a terrific three days of meeting and talking to music educators and percussion students. Everyone love our exhibit, especially the new products on display. Here a quick tour of…
LIEUTENANT KIJÉ AND A PECULIAR TAMBOURINE TECHNIQUE
We all know Prokofiev´s “Lieutenant Kijé” and its overly famous snare drum part, but the tambourine one in the fourth number, “Troika”, tends to go unnoticed. Prokofiev wrote a circle above the first quarter-note of each bar: This is the same notation that Glazunov had…
Excellent Advice On Executing Finger Rolls
The Boss…
A Grover Pro tambourine was recently spotted in Bruce Springsteen’s new video, “Nightshift”. Our tambourines are widely used in today’s contemporary music scene with such iconic musicians as “Funk Brother” Jack Ashford, Martha Reeves, Rhiannon Giddens, Sheryl Crow and many others…
Neil Grover To Present @ PASIC’22!
We’re thrilled to share that our founder, Neil Grover, has been invited to present a Symphonic Lab at PASIC ’22! His session, “Percussion Accessories: Not as easy as you think!” will be held on Friday, November 12, 2022 in room 205. Students in need of…
NEW ROSEWOOD CASTANETS!
Frustrated by having to choose between castanets that sound good but have no adjustment, and others which have adjustable tension but lack clarity and richness of sound? ¡Olé! Then our GWC-2R castanets are for you! Once you try them you’ll fall in love with the…
Prince Igor’s Tambourine Mystery (part 2)
by David Valdés In the previous article we got to know the tambourine part of the “Polovtsian Dances” was written by Glazunov and not by Borodin. We now can pull the thread to try to figure out the meaning of that notation and the technique…
Tambourine Shootout!
Percussionist Mark Kuliini recently posted a video comparison of five Grover Pro tambourine models. This is an excellent, concise video that presents the sonic textural differences of some of our most popular tambourines. Here is a time stamp to assist: 0:46 single row Beryllium Copper/Phosphorus…
NEW! Percussion Footrest
Grover Pro Percussion, world leaders in high quality percussion products since 1980, has introduced an innovative solution for percussionists of all skill levels. Designed in collaboration with professional percussionist Kirk Gay, the new Grover Pro Percussion Footrest is a versatile performance tool which will prove…
Grammy® Award Winning Band Selects Grover Pro!
The Grammy® award winning band, Hanky Tanky, was recently featured on the PBS Newshour. They are bringing back a musical genre known as “Gullah” music, which has been lost to popular culture. The tambourine plays an important part of this musical genre and we’re delighted…
Check Out Our New 2020 Catalog!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR NEW ONLINE 2020 PRODUCT CATALOG!
Tour Our PASIC Exhibit
PASIC ’19 – A Smashing Success!
We’ve just returned from our greatest and largest PASIC exhibit ever! Along with our sister brand, TOCA, our booth was consistently filled with excited percussionists, eager to see and play some of the world’s finest percussion products! If you’ve never experience thousands of passionate percussionists…
The Fallacy Of In Line Jingles
There are a number of percussion myths that are circulating, such as “warming up crash cymbals”. In all my years of playing cymbals with both the Boston Pops and Boston Symphony, I have never played a crash where I think the cymbals spoke late –…
Casey Cangelosi Does It Again!
Percussion Quick Tip: Play Fast Tambourine Passages
When it comes to playing loud, fast passages on tambourine, especially when the tempo is too fast to play using one hand, the fist/knee technique proves invaluable! CLICK THE IMAGE TO LEARN MORE…
New Spanish Silver Tambourine Video
Click here for more information on our new Spanish Silver tambourine!
Spanish Silver Tambourine Now Available!
One of the distinguishing features of the traditional Spanish tambourine (sometimes referred to as a Basque or Gypsy tambourine) are jingles that are fluted (or crinkled). This effectively dries up the resonance of the instrument while at the same time adding a focused richness to…
Grover Tambo Sighted At Lennon’s 75th
In demand session percussionist, Taku, is a busy guy. Along with our friend Kenny Aronoff, he performed as part of the house band on the John Lennon 75th Birthday Celebration at Madison Sq. Garden in NYC. The show was broadcast worldwide on CBS. Here’s a…
35th Anniversary “Limited Edition” Tambourine
2015 marks our 35th year in business. We’ve grown from a basement operation to one of the most respected percussion manufacturers in the world! To commemorate our milestone achievement, we have created a special “Limited Edition” 35th Anniversary Tambourine. We will only produce 60 of…
Sheryl Crow Presented with Studio Pro Tambourine
Last Friday night I played a concert at Tanglewood with the Boston Pops. The featured artist was Sheryl Crow. Did you know that Sheryl is a former music educator and was a composition major in college? I had the opportunity to present Sheryl with one…
Hear Us On New Diana Krall Tracks
Virtuoso percussionist Rafael Padillo sent us this link to a new track from Diana Krall. Rafael’s subtle playing of our tambo on this track is both elegant and effective!
Which Model Tambourine Should I Buy?
One of the most common statements we hear from percussion students is, “My teacher told me to purchase a tambourine, but I don’t know which one to choose“. Given the fact that we offer 28 different models this is not surprising! Our time-tested model T2/GS…
Grover Pro Sightings
As our tagline states, Grover Pro products are found in the world’s finest concert halls being played by the world’s finest percussionists! Here are pics of our products recently being used by two of our top professionals.
Learn Why Our Tambourines Are Considered The World’s Finest!
It’s no secret that our concert tambourines are revered by percussionists around the globe! What you may not know is that we have pioneered many new features and have literally redefined the standard for concert tambourines. CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO EXPLAINING AND…
Looking For A Fun Tambourine Duet?
Our good friend, Bobby Lopez, has written Conversation for two tambourines, a fun duet for concert tambourines that showcases techniques (both commonplace and otherwise) often found in orchestral tambourine playing. The piece is a running dialog between the two players as they execute articulated grace…
The Percussion Section – A Minor Miracle by Joseph Jones
I’m often asked if there are different personalities among musicians who play different instruments. It is an extremely difficult question to answer; after all, it is hard to stop laughing when one is laughing that hard! To explain this to someone who has spent little…
Bantamweight™ Series Tambourines Now Available!
Weighing 15% less than our other pro-level tambourines, Grover Pro Bantamweight™ Series tambourines are easier to grip, control, and play! The Bantamweight’s shell is narrower in depth, resulting in a professional-quality instrument which can be played with ease and dexterity, especially by younger percussionists and…
Five Tips To Perfecting A “Thumb Roll”
Many young percussionists have trouble executing a tambourine thumb or finger roll. While it is a relatively easy technique to master, students often ignore spending the time necessary to develop good technique. Here are a few tips to expedite the learning process: Keep the thumb…
Do Yourself A Favor by John Parks
One of the biggest lessons I learned out of school was that subbing in professional orchestras did not mean playing snare drum, xylophone, or bells–or timpani. It meant being really, really good at the stuff I never played in lessons (other than for audition preparation)–triangle,…
PASIC ’12 – A SMASH!
We just returned from the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), held this year in Austin, TX. During the 3-day event over 3,000 percussionists gathered for clinics, masterclasses, performances and a exhibits filled with the world’s top percussion products. This year we celebrated our 30th…
The Best of All Possible Worlds
A percussionist’s instrument preference is highly personal. It depends on many factors, including stylistic preference, concert hall acoustics, ensemble size, technical ability, etc. It would not be an over-generalization to say that some percussionists prefer symphonic tambourines with a healthy amount of resonance, while others…
Tambourine Lesson From Dr. John Parks IV
Here’s a great new tambourine lesson from Florida State University Professor John Parks. In addition to his duties at FSU, John performs with the Tallahassee Symphony and is the President-Elect of the Percussive Arts Society.
5 Things To Remember When Playing Tambourine
Playing a concert tambourine at a high level of proficiency takes patience, practice and good technique. Like any percussion instrument, it is an accessory that serious percussionists make the time to practice and master! THE FIVE TIPS TO REMEMBER For general playing hold the tambourine…
How to Purchase Concert Percussion Accessories
Here’s some general percussive advice geared towards my music educator colleagues. This piece, original written for SB&O magazine, serves to provide insight into the task of acquiring proper basic percussion accessory instruments. The percussion instruments covered include: concert tambourine, piatti or hand cymbals, woodblock, temple…
“Ain’t No Woman Tambourine Like The One I Got”
Percussionists will tell you that we’ve been making the world’s best concert tambourines since 1980. Did you know that our tambourines are also used on lots of Hollywood movie soundtracks, Broadway shows, TV shows, in Cirque du Soleil presentations and on mega-hit records by today’s…
The New Grover Pro Tunable Tambourine
Joby Burgess Tours with Peter Gabriel
Everyone knows that Grover Pro products are used in the world’s finest concert halls, but did you know that our products are omnipresent in the LA studios, on Broadway and with top touring acts like Peter Gabriel? We had a chance to catch up with…
Factory Visit
Naples Philharmonic (FL) Principal Percussionist Jim Dallas visited our factory today. Jim was on a New England trip visiting both the venerable Avedis Zildjian Company and Grover Pro Percussion too. While he was here, Jim informed us that he really loves our new X-Series Synthetic…
Grover Tambourines – #1 On The Charts!
We just received word from Nashville studio drummer Rich Redmond, who told us that our tambourines are heard on chart topping – #1 contemporary hits by some of Nashville’s best country artists! Here’s what Rich said: “Hey there guys! I wanted to send you an…
We’re Turning Heads… LITERALLY!
Check out the great update to our tambourine page! We’re starting to employ a new rotational photography technology which gives you the ability to see our products from new perspectives. Simply drag the tambourine image with your mouse and you will be able to see…
Caixa Trio and Grover Pro Tambourines
Check out Julie Hill, Julie Davila, and Amy Smith of The Caixa Trio playing an amazing composition with Grover Pro Percussion tambourines!
New Educational Videos
We’ve added new educational videos to our “Tech-Talk” feature on this web site. Three new videos feature both Neil Grover (on holding the tambourine and triangle), and Indiana University Professor John Tafoya (on timpani stick grips). Holding a Tambourine Holding a Triangle Timpani Grips with…
PASIC 2010…UNBELIEVABLE !
We just returned from PASIC 2010 held this year in Indianapolis. It was a tremendous show and a smashing success for us! Thousands of percussionists checked out the wide range of super-high quality products on display in the Grover booth. Here’s a short list of…
Grover Tambourine Groovin’ In New Orleans!
Boston based percussionist Andrew Jones was recently gigging in New Orleans with Ronnie Spector, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as the lead singer of the Ronettes. Andrew was using Grover Model T2/GS German Silver tambourine. “I took the new…
Playin In The Rain…
Recently, we ran a new PAS ad with a photo of Neil playing our new “X-Series” tambourine in the rain. Well, we’ve received so many comments about the new ad that we decided to post it here for all to view. We’re glad that so…
PASIC 2009 – A Huge Success !
We’ve just returned from PASIC 2009 in Indianapolis and we had a fantastic show! Our exhibit was consistently mobbed by percussionists anxious to see the new line of G3 Concert Snare Drums, our new Bronze Pro Hammered Triangles and new “X-Series” Synthetic Headed Tambourines. We…
Visit Us At PASIC…
2009 marks our 28th consecutive year of exhibiting at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. This year, the convention is being held in Indianapolis, November 11th -14th. In addition to the hundreds of triangles, tambourines and mallets we’ll have on display, we’ll be unveiling some…
We’re A Hit In Japan!
It seems that the percussion community in Japan really appreciates the high quality and great sound of our hand-crafted tambourines. Recently, we received a record tambourine order from our distributor in Tokyo. When we packed the order for shipping we realized that a “photo op”…
I’m Playin’ In The Rain…
We’ve been deluged with rain the past few weeks here in New England. It has created the perfect opportunity to take out one of our new SERIES-X synthetic head tambourines and put it to the test! I (Neil Grover) suited up and went into the…
NEW SYNTHETIC HEAD TAMBOURINES AVAILABLE !
With summer around the corner, we have something very special for those of you who have been after us to manufacture a tambourine that can be played easily at outdoor venues on the hottest, most humid days. Working with our friends at Remo, we’ve developed…
