Hi everyone,
Next week I will be out of town so Gordon will be teaching you instead. I believe most of you have had a lesson with Gordon before. He’s great! I will let him know what you have been working on in your recent lessons.
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Focus this week on the one-handed 16th note beats and also continue to review “Beggin’.” https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17pjkCZ1jfMdjwRqFBMaPIG_hKMb3gQGz?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Work on developing the proper motion in your right hand/arm to play the accented 16th notes on the hi-hat quickly. Just like we talked about in your lessons, it’s important to incorporate the elbow, wrist, and fingers, all working together in a specific way. Play each of the beats a few times and then stop and try again but slightly faster. If you start feeling any tension or tiredness in your arm, slow down a bit and don’t go any faster.
Elliot
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice playing through the first half of “Oh Darlin’” by the Beatles and the shuffle beats with fills: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10YGpSqgr9Z2SExyhXz7k1evG3C0t2VEc?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Remember that the most important part of the shuffle beat is the rhythm that is played on the cymbal: “1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 1…”. This rhythm is the same for both the regular shuffle beat and the half time shuffle. Practice playing both beats with each of the four fills at the bottom of the page. You also work on coming up with some of your own fills that fit with the rhythm of the shuffle and practice playing them around the drums.
Koel
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the new drum fills on page 2 of “Oh Darlin” and then work on playing through the song: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SCS8WVjfR1OZVlYmt8a1r2LTxo2NJOpN?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: The second chorus of “Oh Darlin” has more drum fills in it than the first chorus. Look closely at each drum fill notated on page two and practice them slowly. Then, try playing them all together in sequence. Once you feel like you have the hang of these fills, practice playing all the way through page 2 and put it together with page 1.
Sylvie
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice each of the steps to learning “Fool In The Rain” by Led Zeppelin: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KGeo9VGh3JOWzwpGhEe1DbXMRuQiG7lL?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Start with step 1 and make sure that you have the correct shuffle rhythm on the hi-hat: “1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 1….” Then move on to step 2 which adds more bass drum notes. Next, add the open hi-hat note in step 3. Once you feel comfortable playing step 3, have a listen to a recording of the song and see if you can play this beat up to the speed of the song. Finally, have a look at step 4 with the ghost notes added on the snare drum. This step will take the longest to learn, so don’t worry about playing it fast. Focus on making as much difference as possible between the volume of the ghost notes (soft) and the accented snare note (loud).