Hi everyone,
Here are your assignments for this week:
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Review the first two pages of “Tom Sawyer” by Rush and start on the new section at the end of page 2.
How to practice it most effectively: In the new section, we only got through the first five measures, so try to work though this part very slowly. Remember that the part with the five crashes repeats once and then the third time it changes. Look closely at the notation as you play through it and use the recording of the song as a reference.
Elliot
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Review the triplet accent patterns that we have worked on as well as the new ones I have sent and also practice the jazz ride and foot patterns: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10YGpSqgr9Z2SExyhXz7k1evG3C0t2VEc?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: With the triplet accent patterns, pay close attention to which hand plays each accent and how the timing of each accent lines up with the bass drum notes. Each accent will either be “on” the beat (with the bass drum) or “off” the beat (separate from the bass drum). This is a very important distinction. With the jazz ride and foot patterns, the most important thing to remember is that the accent on the ride cymbal should always line up with the hi-hat foot (left foot) and they are played together on beats 2 and 4.
Damian
Recommended minutes to practice: 5-10 minutes per day
What to practice: Work on pairing together the beats from the Basic Rock Beats page and play them together as a two-bar phrase: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jaROP8emrq7yGkV13Mt_Js4NVtEz-sCl?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Just like we did in your lesson, pick two beats from the page (any two) and practice playing them one after another in a loop. For example, if you pick #2 and #3, play them in this order with no breaks in between: 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3… etc. You should start to feel both beats together as one phrase just as you would if playing together with a song. As you get more comfortable doing this, try to gradually increase the speed of the beats.
Noah
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Keep working on the Bossa Nova and also practice the verse and pre-chorus of “Arabella”: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Dga1ZBRWaN_Ka4O1G009w-74c4VaZCj7?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: The Bossa Nova gets better each time I hear it! Spend some time practicing the way we did in your lesson by taking out the right hand and just focus on getting the rhythms of left hand and the feet to lock in together. Practice this slowly so you can really hear the interlocking rhythms and play them consistently. Then, put it all back together with the right hand and play it faster. With Arabella, focus on the rhythm of the fill in the pre-chorus and keeping them in time with the pulse on the hi-hat foot.
Koel
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice beats 1-4 from the page of ghost note beats I have provided and also listen to some songs by Imagine Dragons this week to figure out which song you want to learn: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SCS8WVjfR1OZVlYmt8a1r2LTxo2NJOpN?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: With the ghost note beats, pay close attention to the movement of your left hand and be sure that you are lifting it high for the accented snare notes but leaving it close to the drum for the ghost notes. This is how you control the volume of the different types of notes. Work on keeping the beats really steady and fitting all the different rhythms together (bass drum, snare drum, and hi-hat).
Sylvie
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Review the bounce stroke and paradiddles and this week add the double paradiddle, the flam, and the flam accent: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KGeo9VGh3JOWzwpGhEe1DbXMRuQiG7lL?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: With the bounce stroke, it is important that the stick can move freely in your hand without you dropping the stick. This means gripping the stick with just the right amount of pressure so the stick can bounce but you still have control. Practice dropping the stick onto the snare drum and allow it to bounce as high as it can without it leaving your hand. Once you have this working, the try adding the “pull” part where you pull the back end of the stick back into your hand with your fingers. This will bring the head of the stick back down onto the drum. When you put the “bounce” and the “pull” together, then you have a double stroke played with one single arm motion.