Hi everyone,
Here are your practice assignments for this week:
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the accent that we worked on in your lesson.
How to practice it most effectively: Take it slow when practicing. Focus on keeping the 16th notes steady and really feeling the quarter note pulse with the bass drum. Watch your stick heights and be sure that the rebound of your stick after the accent is not coming up too high.
Elliot
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: The cut-time beats and the transitions between regular time and cut-time.
How to practice it most effectively: Count out loud the quarter notes as you practice: “1..2..3..4..” and be sure that you’re not playing the bass drum or the snare drum in the wrong places. Also, be careful not to skip or leave out a beat.
Alexy
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The rhythm review that we worked on in your lesson.
How to practice it most effectively: Read the rhythms carefully and be sure you can identify where the main beats are. Remember that each part of the rhythm should fit into the “16th grid.” The goal is to feel the main (strong) beats and to keep every note locked into that grid.
Oscar
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The new funk beat I wrote down in your book and the triplet fills.
How to practice it most effectively: Count the funk beat carefully so that you’re 100% sure about the rhythm. Play it slowly and try to feel how the snare drum and bass drum notes relate to one another. Once you can hear how it all fits together, it will be easier to play. With the triplet fills, practice both stickings listed and play them slowly. Each note should be of equal duration.
Nate M.
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The drum break from “Amen, Brother” by the Winstons.
How to practice it most effectively: Read carefully the four bars that I wrote down in your book. Be sure to note the differences between the first two bars and the last two bars. Practice repeating all four bars together several times in a row. Don’t let the 16th notes on the bass drum slow you down.
Emily
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: All the beats from “In Bloom,” especially the second verse and the bridge.
How to practice it most effectively: Keep the 16th notes in the bridge even and steady. Watch the heights of your sticks and try to not let the rebound come up to high after the accent. The sticks should stay low to the drum except for right before the accent. Keep practicing the verses and chorus slowly at first, but try to push the speed as they start to feel a bit more comfortable.
Nate O.
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Keep working on the song “All Star.”
How to practice it most effectively: Review each of the fills individually and remember to hit the bass drum together with the crash cymbal at the end of each fill. Also, be sure to keep the rhythm of the chorus beat very steady and even. The snare drum notes on beats 2 and 4 should be consistent.