Hi everyone,
Now that we have transitioned 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:
Aidan
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The main beat, variation, and the first two bars of the solo from “Express Yourself” by Charles Wright. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yJPRmQn7QZuvnmvhe8ji-CCGmJPGLDZi
How to practice it most effectively: Work on really solidifying the rhythm of the beat in your head. This comes from repetition and paying close attention to the sound of the rhythms that you’re playing. Once your brain becomes familiar with the sounds of the different rhythms, you will be able to play them much more easily! Listening to the song will also help.
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Exercises 21-25 from Lesson 6 and the main beat from “Chameleon” by Herbie Hancock. https://drive.google.com/open?id=17pjkCZ1jfMdjwRqFBMaPIG_hKMb3gQGz
How to practice it most effectively: The beats from lesson 6 are pretty much all in your head now. Keep practicing them and work on gradually increasing the speed and making them feel groovy. It’s not enough to just play the right rhythms, but you also have to make the beat feel good. With the beat from “Chameleon,” the most important thing is playing the accent pattern on the hi-hat consistently. The rhythms on the bass drum and snare drum need to be heard against the rhythm of the accents on the hi-hat.
Elliot
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the verse beat, fill, and chorus beat from “Can’t Stop” by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. https://drive.google.com/open?id=10YGpSqgr9Z2SExyhXz7k1evG3C0t2VEc
How to practice it most effectively: The verse beat sounds great already! Just work on developing consistency so you can play it many times in a row without stopping. With the fill, break it down into parts, practice each part separately, then work on putting all the parts together while counting out loud. For the chorus beat, first practice the bass and snare rhythm, then work on adding in the crashes, then finally add the hi-hat notes into the right-hand rhythm. Play it slowly and remember to count!
Alexy
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: All the beats and fills from “I Feel Good” by James Brown. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1MOQ0wuxOjWJ3H46kSSuJleBV6eZMuaZi
How to practice it most effectively: You can now play most of the rhythms and beats from the song without any trouble. Focus this week on learning the last few measures of the Bridge section and the transition back into the Main Beat. Once you feel comfortable with that, then work on all the transitions in the song and with gradually increasing the speed at which you can play each section. This is a fast song, so work on relaxing your arms and using smaller muscle movements to play faster and less heavy.
Nate O.
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: The transition from fill #3 to fill #4 and back into the verse beat in “Can’t Stop” by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lsS6FvGAobS96Y5mFUDE_7L1HGfAK0_s
How to practice it most effectively: Be sure to count very carefully the rhythm of fill #4 and make sure you are playing it correctly. The timing to this fill is a bit challenging because it crosses over a bar line into the first beat of the next bar. You should also practice the other parts of the song that you know really well along with the recording. Next week we will work on playing through the whole song.