Hi everyone,
Here are your practice assignments for this week:
Aidan
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The John Williams concert band piece.
How to practice it most effectively: Focus on the rolls and drags. Make sure that your sticks are both in roughly the same position on the drums, don’t push your right hand forward. Try to play the rolls unmeasured. Roll faster as you get louder. With the drags, try to make it sound like one note rather than separate notes by moving your arms/wrists up and down together. The double notes at the beginning should sound clean but be as close to the main note as possible.
How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the 16th-note beats that I wrote down in your book, particularly #8&9.
How to practice it most effectively: Focus on the places where the bass drum connects with the left hand on the hi-hat. It is important that these notes line up exactly or else the beat will sound strange. Practice playing these sections slowly and ensure that there is no delay between in the hand and the foot. Listen very carefully to make sure that you’re doing it consistently.
How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.
Elliot
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: The verse, chorus, and guitar solo sections of Back in Black.
How to practice it most effectively: Focus on the guitar solo section. Remember to always count the bars as you play them so that you know where you are in the song. Try to hear how the crashes line up with the other parts in the music, especially the guitar. Work on the transition from the chorus into the guitar solo.
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: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Verses and Choruses from Mercy by Muse.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice the fills slowly and count to make sure that you’re getting the rhythms correct. Really focus on the accents in the first fill as these are the most important part. In the chorus, count the beats out loud while you practice to make sure that you’re always hitting the snare drum on beat 3. Practice this slowly too if you’re having trouble.
How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.
Nate M.
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The intro Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice moving between between the snare drum and the hi-hat without slowing down or speeding up. The 16th notes should be very steady and smooth throughout this whole song. Also, be sure that the bass drum lines up exactly with the beginning of each group of four 16th notes. It may feel awkward at first to play the snare drum and bass drum together at the same time, but with practice it will become easier.
How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.