Against the Grain is an upbeat piece in 7/8 for mixed percussion instrumentation. With a relentless 2+2+3 pattern throughout, this is a great option for early high school students. Multiple techniques are peppered across this piece such as playing with the handles of mallets and scraping a marimba resonator. Standard instrumentation makes this an easy choice for teachers who are looking for a piece that’s engaging, not too hard or too easy, and is less than four minutes long. The melody and underlying groove came to me during a fun snowball fight with my kids that ended with an epic wipeout (by yours truly) on our sled.