Hi everyone,

Here are your practice assignments for this week:

Oscar

Practice the new jazz exercises that we worked on this week. Focus on keeping the right hand and left foot really steady; these are the most important parts. Also, make sure that the rhythm you are playing with your left hand has a triplet feel so that it fits together with the right hand rhythm. Take it slow at first, but then try to play each exercise faster.

Isaac

Great first lesson today! Review all of the things that we went over in the lesson, especially the drum beats. Focus on keeping a steady speed while you play, but don’t always pick the same speed. Sometimes try playing slowly and sometimes try playing fast. But always keep it steady.

Leonie

Practice playing the three new jazz exercises that we started this week. Play the right hand rhythm by itself, then the left hand rhythm by itself, then try putting them together. Start very slowly. As it starts to feel more comfortable, then try speeding up. Also, be sure to maintain a triplet feel while you play.

Nate

Review the beats we worked on last week and the new ones from this week. Be sure to count the rhythm of the bass drum and snare drum out loud before you try to play it. Identify which notes are 8ths and which are 16ths (long notes and short notes). Then try to put the whole thing together with the hi-hat keeping steady time.

Alexy

Practice the accent patterns that we worked on this week. Play them slowly and focus on keeping  your sticks low for the non-accented notes while raising them higher before the accented notes. It is also essential to play these exercises with a steady rhythm. Whatever speed you choose to start at, be sure not to speed up or slow down.

Peter

Keep working on the beats from that sheet I gave you. Try different combinations of two-bar phrases. Also, try playing them at a variety of speeds. As they continue to feel more and more comfortable, you can really push the tempo. Also work on the accent patterns. Be sure to keep a steady speed with your hands and keep the sticks low for the non-accented notes.