Mamma Mia

Fourth go around with Tambourine the Musical! I mean, Mamma Mia. And second go at the percussion book. It’s still just as fun. Double up on those Dancing Queen choruses and you play over 10,000 tambourine notes in the show! This time I added the Voulez Vous foot pedal triggered claps—it really does make a difference if you can do it!

Due to the space and people getting into and out of the pit, I had to adjust the setup from last time. Swapping the timpani and congas/timbales.

This was my third time playing Mamma Mia, but my first run at the percussion book. And I was SO PUMPED to play all the tambourine. You feel that beat? That’s the tambourine (oh yeahhhhh). Dancing Queen is my name, tambourine is the name of the game. I settled on five tambourines. The original percussionist used seven I believe, but some nuances were lost in how this production was staged so I felt good about the five I chose. Black Swamp Percussion sent me a couple headless tambourines they’re experimenting with and I put them to mighty good use.