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: As always, focus on the fills and transition points in the song. Don’t worry about speed. You want to play at a slow enough speed that you feel like you can play through large sections of the song without stopping. Count the rhythms of the fills and make sure you continue to count when you’re playing.

Noah

Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice #17-23 from your Stick Control book and the new material from page 2 of Arabella.

How to practice it most effectively: When working on your stick control exercises, also practice the “bounce-pull” technique that I showed you. You can already do it fairly well with your right hand, so work twice as much on your left hand to try to bring it up to the level of your right. Remember to grip the stick loosely enough that you can feel the bounce of the stick moving against your fingers. With the new section of Arabella, focus on measures 49 and 50 where you have the transition from the beat to the fill.

Koel

Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice the transitions between the Intro, Verse, and Chorus in Say It Ain’t So.

How to practice it most effectively: Read the page that you have in your folder carefully and try to memorize the form of the song. “Form” refers to the order of the different sections of the song and how many times you play each section. You can still use the paper as a reference when you’re playing, but it helps if you can remember some of it on your own. Practice playing from the Intro to the Verse to the Chorus and include the two new fills that we worked on this week.

Caroline

Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day

What to practice: Practice the three new beats that I wrote down in your book and keep working on your rhythms. Try practicing with a metronome.

How to practice it most effectively: The new beats may seem tricky at first because the bass drum rhythms are different from what you’re used to. Remember to count them out loud “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” each time you play. This will help! Don’t worry about going fast. With the rhythms, practice playing each one together with your metronome. Put the metronome on any speed between 60 to 120 beats per minute. Try several different speeds with each rhythm.