Hi everyone,

Next week I won’t be here so you will have a sub named Rob Kirschspring. He’s another drum teacher at ABC and a very friendly guy. I will fill him in on what each of you is working on. Here are your practice assignments for this week:

Will

Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day

What to practice: The two new beats in your book from “Can’t Stop” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

How to practice it most effectively: Listen to the song before you practice in order to get the sound of the music in your head. Then make sure you can count the beats properly before you play them. Practice each beat slowly and see if you can play each one at least 8 times in a row without stopping.

How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.

Oscar

Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day

What to practice: The main beat from “Cold Sweat” by James Brown.

How to practice it most effectively: Take a close look at what I wrote down in your book. Make sure that you know when you should open and close the hi-hat. Isolate the snare drum and bass drum parts if you’re having trouble with them. Be careful not to play the snare drum on “4” in the first bar.

How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.

Leonie

Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day

What to practice: The Intro and Verse beats from the Bee Gees song.

How to practice it most effectively: Listen to the song before you start to practice and try to count the rhythms along with the song. Then try playing the intro without the recording to work on the coordination. After that, play it together with the song an focus on being a tight together with the recording as possible. Then do the same with the Verse beat.

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

Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day

What to practice: The verse beat and variations from “Californiacation” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

How to practice it most effectively: Read the notes that I wrote down for you in your book before you begin. Refer to them throughout your practice session to make sure that you are playing the main beat and each variation correctly. Be especially aware of the ghost note on the snare drum that comes right after the louder note. This is tricky to do, but it gives the beat a unique character and flavour that is important to the song.

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: Beats #9-12 on the practice sheet that I gave you and the accent patterns that were new this week.

How to practice it most effectively: Continue to count the beats out loud when you practice them. This is *very* important in helping you play them correctly. In your lessons, the difference was significant between when you were counting and when you weren’t. Also, with the accent patterns, focus on keeping the non-accented notes as soft as you can by not lifting you sticks more than 2 inches (5 cm) above the drum. Only lift your stick higher to prepare the accents.

How parents can support practice: Encouraging your child to practice regularly and helping them develop a routine is the best way to be supportive.

Daniel

Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day

What to practice: Keep working on the latin drum set stuff, especially Bossa Nova and Samba. I’ll bring more materials for you next time.

How to practice it most effectively: Focus on keeping the bass drum very light and bringing out the counter-rhythm between the snare clicks and the hi-hat. That is the main driving force behind this kind of music. The rhythms should be clear and locked in with one another. Also, keep working on scales on the xylophone. See if you can figure out the blues scale for each key this week.