Hi everyone,
With the transition to ZOOM video lessons, I am no longer able to write down notes and musical material in the students’ books/binders. Instead, I have created PDF documents for each of you and dropped them into a Google Drive folder. The link to your documents is listed in the What to practice heading under your name below. You should be able to access the documents simply by clicking on the link. Here are your practice assignments for this week:
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Keep working on the triplet accent patterns, especially #16-20: https://drive.google.com/open?id=17pjkCZ1jfMdjwRqFBMaPIG_hKMb3gQGz
How to practice it most effectively: Practice these patterns slowly at first an pay close attention to where the accents land relative to pattern played by your feet. As the accents start to feel easier, then try playing them at faster speeds. Work on moving the accents around on the snare drum and toms in different ways. Also, practice playing the accent patterns in alternation with the jazz ride pattern.
Elliot
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice playing all of page 1 and 2 of “Smoke On The Water”: https://drive.google.com/open?id=10YGpSqgr9Z2SExyhXz7k1evG3C0t2VEc
How to practice it most effectively: Work on playing through this whole section of the song without stopping. Start by reviewing the fills and the other transition points in the song. Once you feel confident about these, then try playing all the way through. After that, go back and review all the sections that you had trouble with before trying to play the whole thing again.
Aidan
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the whole first page of “Drum Corps on Parade” as well as your rudiments: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yJPRmQn7QZuvnmvhe8ji-CCGmJPGLDZi
How to practice it most effectively: Please print off a hard copy of the sheet music. This will allow you to mark up your music with reminders of the things we have worked on. Start working on the last three lines of the page since they are the newest. From there, work backwards adding about one line at a time. Play close attention to which rolls are 5-strokes and which are 9-strokes. Next week we will work on playing through the whole first page.
Noah
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Review everything up to the guitar solo section in “Smoke on the Water”: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Dga1ZBRWaN_Ka4O1G009w-74c4VaZCj7?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Go back through the song and review all the beats and fills. Practice playing through each section a few times and then work on the transitions between sections. Also, have a look at the new page I’ve put in your Google Drive folder. This is the last page of the song. The end of the guitar solo section is at the top. You can begin working on this section. Notice that the rhythm on the hi-hat is quarter notes, not eighth notes or sixteenth notes.
Nate M.
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Keep working on the beats and fills from “Red Barchetta” by Rush: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UJYz7hx_AeAM7Std0aj1Y1IyVd-8f86S?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Focus this week on the first 2 minutes of the song. Listen to it at least once at the beginning of each of your practice sessions. Pay close attention to the subtle differences in the beat from one bar to the next; Neil Peart rarely plays the same thing twice in a row. Practice slowly without the recording first, then try playing up to tempo with the recording. If you feel good about this section of the song, then you can go on and do more.
Nate O.
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the full Intro, Verse, and Chorus of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Guns ’n’ Roses: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lsS6FvGAobS96Y5mFUDE_7L1HGfAK0_s
How to practice it most effectively: Work on playing through this song without pausing or hesitating in the middle of the beat. You should start with just working on one line at a time, then two lines at a time, then three, etc. Take it slow and focus on feeling the pulse while you play. Keeping a consistent pulse is the key to playing without pausing or hesitating. Also, listen to the song a few times this week so that you can hear how the beat is supposed to sound.