Burton grip

The Burton grip is a method of holding two mallets in each hand in order to play a mallet percussion instrument, such as a marimba or a vibraphone, using four mallets at once. It was developed by jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton.

It is formed as a variant of the cross grip, with the mallets held as follows:

Seen with the palm facing upwards, the inside mallet is placed and crossed over the outside mallet. The end of the inside mallet is held with the little finger, and outside mallet is held between the index and middle fingers. The thumb is generally placed inside the inside mallet, but it sometimes is placed between the mallets to widen the interval. The inner mallet (generally used for melodies) can be separately articulated by gripping with the index finger and the thumb and pivoting over the outer mallet. When necessary, the outer mallet can be separately articulated by widening the interval so the mallets come as close to a right angle as possible and giving a swift downward flick with the wrist and middle and index fingers.

See also