Hi everyone,
Here are your practice assignments for this week:
Sabrina
Recommended minutes to practice: 1-2 hours per day
What to practice: Snare rudiments (double stroke roll and flams), the stick control exercises, and the first line of Drums Corps on Parade.
How to practice it most effectively: With the double stoke roll, first practice getting your sticks to bounce. This means loosening your grip on the stick and allowing it to move freely in your hand. Then, see if you can control the bounce with your fingers so that the stick only hits the drum twice. After the first bounce, it is necessary to pull the stick back down to the drum with your fingers so that the second stroke matches the same volume as the first one. With the flams, pay attention to your stick heights and work on matching the sound of your LR flam and your RL flam. With the stick control exercises and Drum Corps on Parade, practice with a metronome. First set it around 100 and use that as your eighth note pulse. Then bump it up to 120. After that, put it down to 60 and use that as your quarter note pulse.
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: The 6/8 drum beats as well as the half-bar and full-bar fills that we worked on in your lesson.
How to practice it most effectively: Focus on keeping a steady eighth-note pulse on the hi-hat and then fit in the snare drum and bass drum notes with the hi-hat pulse. Be sure to practice the beats at a variety of different speeds: slow, medium, and fast. Sometimes it can be harder to play something slow than it is to play it fast. It is important that, whatever speed you choose, that you are able to keep that speed steady. After you have done these things, try putting on a recording of “Oh Darlin’” by the Beatles and see if you can play along to the song (hint: it’s in 6/8!).
How parents can support practice: It’s great that Will is beginning to develop a practice routine at home! It’s good for him to practice the assignments that I give him each week. However he should also feel free to spend some time improvising and being creative in addition to these assignments.
Oscar
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Both of the new beats from “Cissy Strut”
How to practice it most effectively: As always, take it slow. It’s better to practice something several times in a row at a slow speed than it is to try to take it too fast and not be able to get through it even once. Practice going through each beat with a steady and consistent pulse and then try to replicate that same feel with a slightly faster pulse. Gradually, you’ll get to the point where you can play the beats at the proper speed and they will be much more secure because of the slow practice.
How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.
Isaac
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: The three main beats from your song, “Inundanos.”
How to practice it most effectively: It is important to count the timing of each beat while you play it. The first one especially, with the hits on the toms, is difficult to play in time if you don’t count it. For the second beat, with the bass drum playing quarter notes, it is important that this part stays steady. Use the pulse of the bass drum to establish the timing of the beat. The third beat is similar to other beats we have done in the past (bass bass snare… bass bass snare…) however, you should be sure to practice the transition into and out of that beat with the build-up on the floor tom and snare.
How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.
Alexy
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: The hi-hat and bass drum exercises as well as the two syncopation beats.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice the exercises with a metronome. Start at 80 beats per minute and focus on keeping the bass drum off-beats very steady between the pulses of the metronome. Then set the metronome at 90 beats per minute and try the same thing again. If this is too fast and you are unable to keep the off-beats steady, then go back to practicing it slower. These exercises, once you can get them up to about 120 beats per minute, will help a lot with the syncopation beats.
How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.