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: 20-30 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice playing comping rhythms together with the backing track on Youtube (link provided below): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17pjkCZ1jfMdjwRqFBMaPIG_hKMb3gQGz?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: Listen carefully to this track and use it to practice comping on the snare drum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VmZwkqi0HU Try to pick out some of the rhythms that the guitarist plays on the track. Then use those rhythms to come up with ideas for comping rhythms. When you play together with the track, listen on head phones so that you can hear it well.

Elliot

Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice playing all the way through Smoke on the Water and work on the first four accent patterns from the new page: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10YGpSqgr9Z2SExyhXz7k1evG3C0t2VEc?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: Practice playing Smoke on the Water along with the recording. If there are still some sections that give you trouble, review those sections a few times, but you should be able to focus your time on running through the piece. With the accent patterns, focus on keeping a really steady pulse on the bass drum and playing softly on all the non-accented notes.

Aidan

Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice the three main beats from “Fool in the Rain” by Led Zeppelin and the new beat from “Funky Drummer”: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yJPRmQn7QZuvnmvhe8ji-CCGmJPGLDZi?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: Keep working on the beats from “Fool in the Rain.” Focus on solidifying the main parts of the beat before adding in the ghost notes. The ghost notes need to fit comfortably within the main structure of the rhythm. With the beat from the “Funky Drummer,” take the step-by-step approach that I have outlined on the page. The accents on the hi-hat are perhaps the most important aspect of the beat to give it the right feel.

Noah

Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day

What to practice: Review the accent patterns that you have worked on and see if you can also learn #67-69: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Dga1ZBRWaN_Ka4O1G009w-74c4VaZCj7?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: You’re getting a really good handle on these accent patterns. Spend one more week working on them and see if you can learn the two-bar patterns at the bottom of the page. Be careful to play every note within the pattern. Practicing slowly will help to ensure accuracy, and you can also count the beat out loud too to help keep track of where you are within the bar.

Nate M.

Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice the ending of “Red Barchetta” from the second half of page 4 to the end of page 5: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UJYz7hx_AeAM7Std0aj1Y1IyVd-8f86S?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: Focus on the fills at the end of the song. Remember that the crashes at the beginning of each of these bars need to line up with the rhythm of the guitar chords. Once you can play the fills comfortably, then focus on fitting them in with the beat. Finally, practice playing the whole song together with the recording.

Nate O.

Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice playing all the way through “Ride” by 21 Pilots: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lsS6FvGAobS96Y5mFUDE_7L1HGfAK0_s?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: Practice each section of the song individually first to make sure you are comfortable with all the parts of the song. After that, listen through the song to get a sense of the order of the different sections. Then try playing along with the recording. Remember that, after the fill at the bottom of the page, you go back to main beat and you can add in a crash.