Hi everyone,
As a reminder to you all, I will be away for the next two weeks. You will have a sub named Rob who also teaches regularly at ABC. I will fill him in on what each of you are working on. Here are your practice assignments for this week:
Aidan
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Verse, Pre-chorus, and Chorus of “Arabella” by the Arctic Monkeys.
How to practice it most effectively: Spend time reviewing the fills in the chorus. Be sure that you are starting with the left hand on the pick-up note each time and sticking the fills the same way each time you play them. This will help you to be able to play them accurately and quickly. Also practice the transitions from the verse to the pre-chorus, to the chorus, and back to the verse. If you can make all these transitions smoothly, it will help a lot with learning the rest of the song.
How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.
Sam
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Syncopation rhythm review and the 16th-note beats that I wrote down for you.
How to practice it most effectively: Make sure that you can count each syncopated rhythm out loud and in time before you try to play it. This is very important to ensure that you understand the rhythm and that you can play it accurately. With the beats, identify the rhythm of the bass drum part and figure out which hand each bass drum note will line up with. After that, practice playing the beat very slowly at first so that you can make sure you foot lines up properly with your hands.
How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.
Harrison
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: The 6/8 beats and rhythms that I wrote down for you.
How to practice it most effectively: Count each beat and rhythm in 6 and try to feel the strong pulses on beat 1 and beat 4. It should always feel like 2 groups of 3 notes. Once the rhythms start to feel more comfortable, try playing them as drum fills in combination with the beats. Experiment with moving them around the drums in different ways.
How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.