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 playing “Good Times Bad Times” together with the recording and also practice the new “Jazz Ride with Triplet Accent Patterns” page: https://drive.google.com/open?id=17pjkCZ1jfMdjwRqFBMaPIG_hKMb3gQGz
How to practice it most effectively: Work on the playing the jazz ride first by itself and then together with both of the foot patterns. Focus on playing the accents on the ride cymbal (on beats 2 and 4) at the same time as the hi-hat foot. Remember that this is a swing rhythm, not a straight rhythm, so it should be played with a triplet feel. Once the jazz ride pattern starts to feel comfortable, then try playing it together with different triplet accent patterns that we have worked on, as I have demonstrated on the new page.
Elliot
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice putting together the whole Chorus of “Smoke On The Water”: https://drive.google.com/open?id=10YGpSqgr9Z2SExyhXz7k1evG3C0t2VEc
How to practice it most effectively: Just like we did in your lesson, focus on practicing one line of the Chorus at a time. Then try putting together the first and the second line. Next, the second line and the third line. Finally, try playing all three lines together. Don’t worry about speed yet. Just focus on accuracy and consistency of the rhythms and we will work on speeding it up later.
Aidan
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice lines 7-9 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. Make a note of all the sections where your left hand leads the rhythm or plays a number of accents in a row. These tend to be the trickiest sections. Also, as you are working through lines 7-9, focus on smoothing out the nine-stroke rolls. These should feel just like regular sixteenth notes in terms of the speed of your arm movements, but bounce the sticks with your fingers in order to double up the notes.
Noah
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice Verse 2 of “Smoke On The Water” and practice putting it together with the Intro beat and the Chorus: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Dga1ZBRWaN_Ka4O1G009w-74c4VaZCj7?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Just like with Verse 1, the second verse has two fills. The first one is short while the second one fills up the whole bar. Remember what we talked about with the rhythm at the beginning of the second fill. It is a 16th note, followed by an 8th note, followed by another 16th note (short long short). Also pay close attention to how this rhythm is played around the drums. After you feel comfortable with these two fills, then practice playing Verse 2 with the Intro beat before it and the Chorus after it.
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: Listen carefully to the first 1:30 of the song to remind you of all the sections we have worked on. Try to really hear how each rhythm fits in with the rest of the song. As you are practicing, try to imitate not only the rhythms that Neil Peart plays, but also the feel of those rhythms. This means adding accents in the right spots and playing with a very precise sense of the pulse. These are very important characteristics of every Rush song.
Nate O.
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the 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: Pay close attention to the rhythm of the bass drum and snare drum in this section of the song. It is similar to, but not exactly the same as, the verse. Take it slow and try to be very accurate and consistent with the timing. With each of the fills, look at whether they’re played on the snare or the toms or both. Once you figure out the right motion around the drums, it will be easier to play the fills consistently.