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:
Damian
Recommended minutes to practice: 5-10 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice rhythms #9-12 from the page I have provided called “Lesson 11” as well as the beat from “Ruby Tuesday”: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jaROP8emrq7yGkV13Mt_Js4NVtEz-sCl?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Go through the remaining rhythms on the “Lesson 11” page in the same way we did during your lesson: First identify where the 16th-notes are—those are the notes connected by two lines at the top. Then count the rhythm out loud. Remember that the sixteenth notes are faster that the eighth notes. Finally, play the rhythm and make sure that your playing matches your counting. After you’re done with these rhythms, then practice the beat from “Ruby Tuesday” and see if you can increase the speed just a little bit.
Koel
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice playing the sixteenth-note accent patterns: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SCS8WVjfR1OZVlYmt8a1r2LTxo2NJOpN?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: First work on playing the accent patterns with just the hands (no bass drum) and focus on the motion of each hand individually. Pay close attention to which hand plays each accent and work on keeping your hands low (close to the drum) until right before the accent is played. After you can do this comfortably, then add in the bass drum part and focus on keeping a steady pulse with your foot. It is important to not accent the notes the snare drum together with the bass drum unless this is indicated in the notation.
Jonathan
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the first six beats from the new page I have provided and have a listen to some music by James Brown, the Meters, and any other funk band that you know of: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GxopIaGPN0UhwG3zk4gQWTnEaDDL7TWP?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: The most critical part of the new beats is to get the accent pattern on the hi-hat. It should be “loud-soft-loud-soft-loud-soft-loud-soft…” etc. As you’re working on this, try adding the different bass and snare rhythms that are shown for the first six beats on the page. Also, have a listen to the drum beats in these songs:
“Funky Drummer” by James Brown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoQ4AtsFWVM
“Cold Sweat” by James Brown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ0p7k-KzWM
“Cissy Strut” by the Meters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXI5Nuz6OHg
“Live Wire” by the Meters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9IGwqUAwdU