Hi everyone,
With the transition to ZOOM video lessons, I am no longer able to write down notes and musical material in the students’ books/binders. Instead, I have created PDF documents for each of you and dropped them into a Google Drive folder. The link to your documents is listed in the What to practice heading under your name below. You should be able to access the documents simply by clicking on the link. Here are your practice assignments for this week:
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice reading some of the rhythms on the page I provided and moving them around drums: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17pjkCZ1jfMdjwRqFBMaPIG_hKMb3gQGz?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Play through these rhythms four bars at a time. First play them on the snare drum, then work on moving them around the drums in different ways. Remember to incorporate the bass drum and cymbals too. Once you feel comfortable playing a 4-bar phrase around the drums, then practice playing it in combination with four bars of a beat.
Elliot
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Review the first four beats from the page “Basic Rock Beats” and focus on increasing your speed: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10YGpSqgr9Z2SExyhXz7k1evG3C0t2VEc?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: In order to play the drums fast, it is important to use your wrist in combination with your elbow. Because the wrist is a smaller joint, you can move it much faster than a larger joint like the elbow. Focus on using bending at the wrist and using smaller motion of the stick to play these beats.
Aidan
Recommended minutes to practice: 30 minutes per day
What to practice: Review the ghost note beats from the page I provided as well as reviewing your rudiments and sight-reading: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yJPRmQn7QZuvnmvhe8ji-CCGmJPGLDZi?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Work on playing the ghost note beats with a feeling of pulse and groove. It is important to keep your right arms relaxed as it plays the 16th notes and to really dig into the notes that land on the quarter-note pulse (1… 2… 3… 4…). Also, see if you can sight-read the rhythms on Syncopation page 29. Review the rudiments that we have worked on previously.
Noah
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Review the first four beats from the page of 16th-note bass drum variations and also practice the first two lines of rhythm from Syncopation page 29: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Dga1ZBRWaN_Ka4O1G009w-74c4VaZCj7?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Focus on keeping a really steady pulse with each of the drum beats and try to keep your body relaxed while you play. This will help with consistency and eventually help you to develop greater speed. When practicing the rhythms from Syncopation page 29, play them first on just the snare drum. Then practice playing the rhythms around the drums.
Damian
Recommended minutes to practice: 5-10 minutes per day
What to practice: Review the coordination exercises and the beat from Ruby Tuesday: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jaROP8emrq7yGkV13Mt_Js4NVtEz-sCl?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Take your time reviewing each of the coordination exercises. Remember that you should use one hand (your right hand) to play the cymbal, and your other hand (left hand) to play the snare drum. Use your right foot to play the bass drum. Once you feel comfortable with all of the coordination exercises, then practice playing the beat from Ruby Tuesday. I think this will come back to you pretty quickly. Next week we will move on to new stuff!
Nate O.
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the 16th-note beats from the page I provided and work on sight-reading rhythms from Syncopation page 29: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lsS6FvGAobS96Y5mFUDE_7L1HGfAK0_s?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: With the beats, focus on staying relaxed and using your wrist (more than the elbow) to play the fast notes on the hi-hat. Because the wrist is a smaller joint than the elbow, you can generate a lot more speed without exerting as much energy. With the rhythms on Syncopation page 29, practice playing them just on the snare drum while you keep a steady quarter-note pulse on the bass drum.