Hi everyone,

Here are your practice assignments for this week:

Aidan

Keep working at those new coordination exercises. Be sure to read the rhythm carefully before you play each one. Also, remember that the hi-hat always keeps a consistent pulse. This is the foundation of the beat and everything else needs to fit inside of it. If the hi-hat part isn’t consistent, then the snare and bass rhythms can’t be played correctly.

Nate

Practice the jazz rhythms that we worked on this week. Remember that these rhythms need to have a triplet feel. This means that when you are counting in your head, you should always be counting triplets. Then you can figure out the rhythm by basing it on that foundation of triplets: 1-&-a  2-&-a  3-&-a  4-&-a

Sam

Practice playing the basic jazz ride pattern with the left foot playing 2 and 4. Then add in the bass drum playing either 1&3 or on every beat. Then, on top of this, play each of the snare rhythms that I wrote down for you. Practice transitioning from one rhythm to the next without stopping and without allowing the other parts to change.

Amelia

Great first lesson Amelia! Spend some time this week at home practicing the things that we worked on. Focus on keeping a steady pulse and make sure that your eighth notes are even. You are already doing a really good job at this! Also, practice counting rhythms out loud before you play them. This is a very good habit to get into as it will help a lot when we begin working on more complex rhythms.