Ella
Recommended Practice Time: 30mins
What to practice: Work through getting the next couple lines of the coordination exercise, and next week we’ll try it with some songs so find some you like either from the playlist or use two songs you like with similar tempos. Also work through the verse and pre-chorus sections of Violent Sun in the transcription here.
How to practice effectively: With the coordination exercise, just work on getting more and more comfortable and flowing with the third line. Just spend some time every day working on it a little bit more. For Violent Sun, see if you can get used to hearing the chord changes and phrase lengths in the song. Try listening to different instruments and vocals in the track, the goal should be to know the song inside and out, and be able to play through it by heart.
And here is some fun listening if you’re interested:
Imogen Heap, Speak for Yourself
Muse, Black Holes and Revelations
Good work this week Ella!
Jonah
Recommended practice time: 15mins
What to practice: This week Jonah I want to hear you play through the second and third blocks of the Reading in Lesson 6 as well as the rest of the 2-measure beats. Also take a look at these extra beats if you’re bored!
How to practice effectively: I know the Reading etudes might feel easy but its important to take the time to do them right, so try to make time to practice them! This week with the beats, try to get comfortable looping each one by itself, as well as playing them all together.
Great job with the reading today Jonah its really improving. Keep it up this week!
Samson
Recommended practice time: 30mins
What to practice: Next week Samson I want you to hear you play through all of the grooves and sticking patterns on the second page of Lesson 5 as well as the chorus beat of Mario Beatbox at a faster tempo.
How to practice effectively: For the beats, you know what to do: Use your wrists and good grip to relax and play evenly and consistently. The same goes for the sticking patterns. In Mario Beatbox, work on relaxing your stick heights to get the chorus beat a bit quicker this week.
Good effort today Samson, hope your drumset doesn’t fall over this week!
Sylvie
Recommended practice time: 30mins
What to practice: This week Sylvie I want you to keep working through the rest of the coordination warmup with music and good technique. See if you can get through it looking at the page as little as possible.
How to practice effectively: Every time you go to play this exercise, start by making a good arrow with your sticks on the drum head, the lift up with your wrists about 6-9 inches and make sure every stroke starts and stops at that height. If you can get in front of a mirror, watch yourself play and try to match your hands as best you can. Work through each pattern thoroughly and at a slow tempo until you feel really comfortable with it, like its second nature. Then when you play with music, make sure you can hear it well and push yourself to listen as carefully as you can to line up your playing with the song.
Also, here is the full Red Hot Chili Peppers album, Stadium Arcadium
Awesome job today Sylvie! Have fun shedding this week!
Paulina
Recommended practice time: 30mins
What to practice: This week I want you to continue practicing 8-8-16 as a warmup everyday focusing on using the back fingers as support during the stroke and try to work through the rest of the coordination exercise with the feet.
How to practice effectively: For both of these exercises I want you to focus on these aspects about technique: keep the stoke coming primarily from the wrist, keep your strokes starting and stopping about 6in above the drumhead with good velocity, and keeping a strong fulcrum and relaxed grip. Make sure to keep the thumb on the side of the stick as well! For the coordination exercise, focus on keeping the feet in time and lined up with the hands. Just play it as a tempo that allows you to play it well.
Here’s some more listening: