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 the intro and comping rhythms from “Blue Train” by John Coltrane: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17pjkCZ1jfMdjwRqFBMaPIG_hKMb3gQGz?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: Have a listen to the song on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT_Zs5FKDZE Practice playing along with the intro and the first solo. Listen closely to the rhythms that the drummer is playing on the snare drum. Try to imitate these rhythms when you play along. Reference the sheet that I have provided to get some ideas for rhythms that you can use. 

Elliot

Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice accent patterns #5-10 from the new page that I have provided as well as the first two beats from the new page: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10YGpSqgr9Z2SExyhXz7k1evG3C0t2VEc?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: Practice playing the accent patterns at a variety of speeds (slow, medium, and fast) and also work on moving the accents around the drums. Remember that if the accents are played with the left hand, it’s best to keep them moving between the snare drum and high tom. With the beats, identify which bass drum notes are to be played with the hi-hat notes and which ones should be played in between the hi-hat notes. Then practice keeping a steady pulse on the hi-hat as you fill in the bass drum and snare drum notes.

Aidan

Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day

What to practice: Keep practicing the beats from “Fool in the Rain” by Led Zeppelin and the “Funky Drummer” as well as the snare drum rhythms from “Lesson One” together with the jazz patterns: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yJPRmQn7QZuvnmvhe8ji-CCGmJPGLDZi?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: Practice playing the beats from “Fool In The Rain” and “Funky Drummer” by taking out one of the parts and focussing on the other parts. For example, take out the ghost notes on the snare drum and practice playing the other parts. Or, take out the bass drum and focus playing the other parts. Then put everything back together and see if you can focus your mind on each of the individual parts one at a time. With the rhythms in Lesson One, practice playing them on the snare drum while you maintain the jazz ride rhythm and one of the foot patterns at the same time. See if you can read the 16-bar exercise at the end of the second page.

Noah

Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice beats 5-7 from the new page and also practice playing fills in combination with beats 1-4: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Dga1ZBRWaN_Ka4O1G009w-74c4VaZCj7?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: Practice each of the new beats slowly at first and make sure that you are playing each of the bass drum notes in the proper place. Be sure that you know which of the bass drum notes should be played together with the hi-hat and which ones should come in between. After that, practice playing the first four beats together with some of the accent patterns we have worked on as drum fills.

Nate M.

Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice the two beats from “Show Don’t Tell” by Rush that we worked on in your lesson: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UJYz7hx_AeAM7Std0aj1Y1IyVd-8f86S?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: The first main beat follows the melody of the song. If you listen to the beginning of the song a bunch of times, you can hear how the beat fits in with each note of the song. Listen especially for the crash cymbal note following the toms that comes right before the downbeat of a new bar. This is a very important part of playing this song. The second main beat (with hi-hat instead of ride) is simpler, but listen carefully for all the bass drum notes and be sure not to leave any notes out.

Nate O.

Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice beats 5-6 from the new page: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lsS6FvGAobS96Y5mFUDE_7L1HGfAK0_s?usp=sharing

How to practice it most effectively: First identify which bass drum notes are to be played together with the hi-hat and which ones are to be played in between the hi-hat notes. Then play the beat slowly while keeping a steady eighth-note pulse on the hi-hat. Make sure that each bass drum note is played in the right place relative to the hi-hat. Once you’ve got the hang of each beat, then practice them at a variety of different speeds (both fast and slow).