Stevens grip is a technique for playing keyboard percussion instruments with four mallets developed by Leigh Howard Stevens. While marimba performance with two, four, and even six mallets had been done for more than a century, Stevens developed this grip based on the Musser grip, looking to expanded musical possibilities. Stevens codified his grip and his approach to performance techniques developed during his studies at the Eastman School of Music in his 1979 book, Method of Movement for Marimba. In this book, Stevens explains that his grip is an evolution of the Musser grip, and it is sometimes called the Musser-Stevens grip. Grip In Stevens grip, the mallets are held loosely. The first mallet, which becomes the left-most mallet, will be placed between the middle and ring finger, with the little and ring fingers wrapped around the mallet and less than an inch of the mallet hanging past the end of the hand when the palm faces upward. The end of the second mallet will be placed directly into the middle of the palm. Once the end of the mallet is placed in the middle point of the palm, the thumb and pointer finger will pinch the mallet. The middle finger will wrap around the end of the second mallet to add support. The same placements of the mallets apply to the right hand, with the right-most mallet mimicking the first mallet’s placement and the third mallet mimicking the second mallet’s placement. When placed over a mallet instrument, all four mallets should be held at the same height and depth. Arms should bisect the two mallets held in each of the hands. The palms of the hands will face each other. The tops of the thumb nails will ideally face towards the opposite eye of the player, meaning that the top of the left thumb nail will face the right eye when in a playing position, and vice versa. Interval changes are accomplished by moving the inside and outside mallets independently of one another, as described in Stevens' book, Method of Movement for Marimba. As the interval widens, the inside mallet rolls between the thumb and index finger, such that the index finger moves from underneath to the side of the shaft, and the middle finger becomes the fulcrum of the cantilever. The outside mallet is moved principally with the little and ring fingers, although the first section of the