Hi everyone! It was lovely to meet you all on Thursday.

I forgot to mention that if you regularly play an acoustic drum kit, you should be wearing ear protection when you play. Regular exposure to harsh noises from drums or other loud music can damage your hearing (https://www.noisyplanet.nidcd.nih.gov/have-you-heard/musicians-face-higher-risk-of-hearing-loss).

Lots of our practicing will be playing along to recordings or to a metronome. There are a few ways of doing this while still protecting your ears:

*If you practice on an acoustic drum kit at home*: If you have electronic headphones that cover your whole ear and fit snuggly on your head, plug them into your device and you’re good to go. If you don’t have protective headphones and don’t want to buy expensive electronic ones, I would like you to buy “isolation headphones” and earbuds. After putting in your earbuds, put the isolation headphones over them. This double-layering creates the same effect as electronic headphones. Note: Rubber-/silicone-tipped earbuds fit better in headphones. Isolation headphones can be bought at most instrument stores.

*If you practice on an electric drum kit at home*: Plug your device into your kit using an auxiliary audio cable and your headphones should play back the drum sounds and the music. The auxiliary cable can be bought at Walmart, Best Buy, music stores, electronics stores and elsewhere.

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Elora

  1. Practice “horse” rhythm. Sticking: R R-L, R R-L, etc… Try it on your snare drum, hi-hats (closed) and toms. Here is a link to a recording of it: https://www.dropbox.com/s/llzyu0qf0di57r2/Horse%20rhythm.m4a?dl=0.

  2. Practice the open hi-hat technique you were working on with Sam.

  3. Practice the 16th-note drum beat you were working on with Sam.

30 min/day

Isobel

  1. Keep practicing the double kick drum “heel-toe” foot technique. Remember to keep the bass drum beater pressed against the bass drum head on the toe hit (not the heel hit).

  2. Practice the “simple drum beat” (count 1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and).

30 min/day

Ewan

  1. Practice the single-stroke roll starting with right hand, and then your left hand (2 minutes each). Try to look away from your hands or close your eyes as you play.

  2. Have fun! Just play around. Get comfortable playing the different drums and knowing which drums make which sounds.

  3. Learn the names of the drums (refer to the attached diagram)

20 min/day