Hi everyone,
Here are your assignments for this week:
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the ending of Tom Sawyer from where it says “Verse” on page 4 to the end of page 5.
How to practice it most effectively: Focus this week on the 7/8 section toward the end of page 4. Look at all the fills individually and try to get them into your head before you try to play them in context. Once you have a good handle on this, try playing all the way from the beginning of the 7/8 section to the end of the song. If you can do this without stopping, then back up to the beginning of the last line of page 3 and practice from there to the end.
Elliot
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the beginning of “Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin from the new sheet I gave you this week.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice playing the first line a few times in a row. Be very careful that you are playing the same as what I wrote on the sheet without adding any extra notes or leaving any out. Try to think about how the beginning of the song goes as you are playing it. After that, practice playing through the remainder of the page. Count the notes carefully as you play.
Noah
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice #24-27 from your Stick Control book and the second page of Arabella.
How to practice it most effectively: When working on the Stick Control exercises, focus on two things: 1) bouncing the sticks when they hit the drum (don’t leave them on the drum), and 2) making sure that both of your hands and wrists are moving the same way: the back of the hand should be facing up (not the thumb) and the wrist should be bending up and down with each stroke. With Arabella, focus on the transitions on page two, especially getting into and out of the bridge.
Koel
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the bridge section of “Say It Ain’t So” by Arabella.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice playing through the beat and the fills slowly. Once you feel like you’ve got it, then try to do it at the speed of the song. When you feel comfortable with it, then try playing from the end Chorus 2 (bottom of your first page) into the bridge section.
Caroline
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the new beats and the accent patterns that I have written down in your book.
How to practice it most effectively: With the beats, practice playing each one several times in a row without stopping. This is the only way to develop consistency. Once you can play them eight times in a row without stopping, then try increasing the speed. Never go fast than you feel like you can play accurately. With the accent patterns, focus on the height of your sticks above the drum and the movement of your wrist which controls this. Keep the sticks low to the drum for the non-accented notes and lift them high above the drum for the accented notes.