Hi everyone,
Here are your practice assignments for this week:
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: #21-25 from the “Lesson 5” sheet.
How to practice it most effectively: Try to hear the rhythm of the beat in your head before you try to play it. You want to be able to hear in your head the sound of the bass drum and the snare drum in the correct rhythm. That way, when you play it, you already know exactly what it’s supposed to sound like.
Alexy
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The 16th note beats, particularly #s 5, 6, 7, and 8, that I wrote down in your book.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice slowly and ensure that each of the bass drum notes are connecting with the proper hand on the hi-hat, especially the ones that land together with the right hand. The coordination of this is tricky and it is often causing you to slow down. Make sure that, whatever speed you start at, that you are able to maintain this speed throughout multiple repetitions of the beat.
Oscar
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The first verse of “The View From The Afternoon” by the Arctic Monkeys.
How to practice it most effectively: Review what I have written down in your book so that you know the road map of the song. Practice the new sections of the song that we worked on, especially the new fills. Careful not to practice it too quickly. Take it slow to ensure that you can play it cleanly and connect all the transitions.
Nate M.
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The interlocking rhythms that I wrote down in your book.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice each rhythm individually at a variety of speeds. Then slow it down and try to play one rhythm with your right hand while you play the other with your left. The goal is to be able to hear exactly how these rhythms interlock so that if you are playing one rhythm while someone else is playing another, you know how to stay together.
Emily
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The bridge from “Arabella” by the Arctic Monkeys and the new 12/8 beats.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice the bridge of Arabells slowly and do your best to count the beats. The more often you practice this, the better it will feel and the more you’ll be able to focus on the counting. If the fill feels weird to you, then review the rhythm and how it connects with the bass drum. With the 12/8 beats, practice them at a variety of speeds and try to get used to how the groove feels.
Nate O.
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: The beats and fills from “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice each of the beats individually and count out loud. this will help you to stay in time with the song when you play with the recording. The practice the fills. Use the formula that I wrote down in your book with the 4-bar repeating pattern, but try to come up with different ideas for moving the fill around the drums. Once you are comfortable with all of this, then try practicing together with the recording.