Hi everyone! Great work today! It has been great to meet all of you this year and you’ve been doing fantastic work. I hope you’ve all had as much fun as I have! There is one more lesson left in the year (aside from make-ups) but I’ll be out of town so you’ll be with Rob next week. Show him what you’ve got!

Ella- Finish up the year by solidifying Girlfriend in a Coma. Practice playing along with the song in its entirety to get used to where the fills and different sections come in. Everything is sounding good, it just takes a bit of time to internalize the structure of the song. So glad how it turned out!!!

Eric- Finish up Back in the USSR for next week. At first, work on the “Beach Boys” section with the ride cymbal beat, then work on playing it at tempo along with the song. Lastly, practice playing along with the song in its entirety to get used to where the fills and different sections come in. You seem to know it pretty well already so I’m sure that will be no problem.

Sylvie- Work on the next set of 12/8 exercises, and see if you can get it up to 50 bpm to the dotted quarter note (one click per 3 eighth notes). Your dexterity and independence have come a long way and I’m so proud of you!!!

Emily- Rather than reading my poor handwriting, look at page 5 of Stick Control (first page that has notes on it) and do the same thing we’ve been doing with the kick and hi hat. Place them on beats 1 and 3 respectively while playing the stick control patterns on the snare. Try to go from about 70 to 100 on ther metronome over the week. Then, take the same stick control exercises and increase the speed to work on fast chops. Start this pretty slow (around 80) and work your way up as it gets more comfortable. This will help technique and independence a whole lot. Then try to work on the In Bloom beats that are written out.

I hope you all have a great summer and I look forward to returning to learn more together in September!!! Thanks for all the good times!
Pino