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:
Damian
Recommended minutes to practice: 5-10 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice beats #1-5 from the “Basic Rock Beats” page and also review the page titled “Sixteenth notes”: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jaROP8emrq7yGkV13Mt_Js4NVtEz-sCl?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: With the rock beats, focus on keeping a really steady speed as you practice. You don’t need to play fast, but whatever speed you choose, keep it the same from start to finish. As the beats start to feel more comfortable, then try starting them a little faster. With the “sixteenth notes” page, review the rhythm exercises and practice counting them out loud while you play.
Koel
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the first three beats (#13-15) on the page of ghost note beats: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SCS8WVjfR1OZVlYmt8a1r2LTxo2NJOpN?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Take these beats nice and slow and focus on placing each bass drum and snare note in the right place. The 16th-notes on the hi-hat should stay steady while the other notes are played underneath. With the ghost notes, remember not to lift the stick before playing. In order to keep these notes soft, the stick should just drop from about an inch or two above the drum head.
Jonathan
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the triplet-based accent patterns from the new page in your folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GxopIaGPN0UhwG3zk4gQWTnEaDDL7TWP?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: The point of the triplet-based accent patterns is to get you used to subdividing triplets between your hands and accenting different parts of the beat while keeping time with your feet. If you can do this comfortably, then improvising in this style will become a lot easier. Practice all the accent patterns on this page. Play them slowly at first and then, after they start to feel more comfortable, try to speed them up. Move the accents around on the toms. Also, practice playing them in combination with a simple jazz beat.