Hi everyone,
This was the last week of regular lessons before the holiday. Next week some of you will have make-up lessons. You should have gotten an e-mail from the admin team about this. Please call the school to confirm your make-up lesson. Here are your practice assignments for this week:
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: #21-24 from the “Lesson 4” sheet.
How to practice it most effectively: First, write in the counting for each of the exercises that we didn’t complete in your lesson. Then, count the exercises out loud to make sure you can hear the rhythms in your head. After that, try playing the beats slowly while still counting the rhythms in your head. Don’t try to memorize the rhythms, but rather count them while reading them off the page.
Alexy
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The open hi-hat beats from your book as well as the beat from “Cold Sweat” by James Brown.
How to practice it most effectively: Review the open hi-hat beats and try to play each beat faster than you have played it in the past. Focus on getting a consistent sound from the open hi-hats. With the beat from “Cold Sweat,” try to play the rhythms in the bass drum and snare drum parts consistently and without slowing down.
Oscar
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The jazz rhythms I wrote down in your book and the transitions in Hungarian Dance No. 5.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice the jazz rhythms by keeping a steady beat with your right hand and feet (the jazz/swing beat) and then play the rhythms with your left hand on the snare. Read the rhythms carefully and count them out loud before you try to play them. With Hungarian Dance No. 5, practice transitioning from one section to the next without stopping. Review the road map.
Nate M.
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the beat from “Cold Sweat” by James Brown and review the scales we have done on the xylophone.
How to practice it most effectively: Play the beat from Cold Sweat on your own a couple of times and focus on getting a consistent sound out of the open hi-hat. Also, play it at a variety of speeds to make sure you really know it well. Then try playing it along with the recording. For the xylophone scales, if you can practice these on a piano or a keyboard or something like that, this would be ideal. Use two fingers as if you were using two mallets on a xylophone.
Emily
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The second verse and pre-chorus from “Arabella” by the Arctic Monkeys.
How to practice it most effectively: Review each of the fills one at a time. Count the rhythms carefully and then play them several times in a row. After this, try to play small sections without stopping. Start with two or four bars at a time, then try 8 bars at a time. Finally, try playing from the beginning of the second verse to the end of the second pre-chorus without stopping. Don’t worry about doing it fast.
Nate O.
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The beats from “Sir Duke” that I wrote down in your book.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice each of these beats individually. Read the notes in your book carefully and then play it slowly. Focus especially on what the bass drum is doing as this is really the most important part in this song. If you can keep a steady pulse on the bass drum, then the whole thing will come together. Also, practice the open hi-hat part in the third beat. Focus on getting a consistent sound.