Hi students and parents!
Here’s what I want everyone to be working on:
Jacinto: Play along with Back in Black, paying special attention to the figure we talked about. If playing along with the track is not comfortable yet, it is okay to play without the track. Slow practice makes for clean execution. It’s always good to practice slow.
Asher & Ezra: Please work on the dotted figures we talked about. Remember: we are talking about odd-number groupings (3 to start with) on an even note grid (8th notes to start with). 3 8th notes make up a dotted quarter note, hence ‘dotted figure’. Group in 3 8th notes by playing RLL. 2 bars of groove, 2 bars of the dotted figure. Make sure to keep track of the beat in your head and crash on beat one. PRACTICE THIS TOGETHER. Also, for Ezra: please pick up a copy of The Art of Bop Drumming by John Riley!
Chloe: Play the beat from Thumbs along with the track. The bass drum comes on the syllables ‘keep’, ‘on’, twid’ and ‘thumbs’. Snare drum comes in between. Be careful not to turn the beat around by accident (doing it on purpose is A-OK, but I can tell the difference!)
Brad: Listen to some music, man! Recommended songs: AC/DC “Thunderstruck” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM), Pink Floyd “Another Brick in the Wall” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5ApYxkU-U), and…here’s Steve Gadd drumming a bit. He’s a great one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9cyLwUjhk0
ALL STUDENTS: Please acquire a copy of Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer by Ted Reed. No big rush, but we will be working with this book! You can find it on my teacher page: https://music-lessons.ca/teachers/david-zada/