Aleksander
We worked on playing through sections of Smells like Teen Spirit today. I asked Aleksander to pay attention to musical details that can serve as checkpoints and going through the song. Try to work up the speed at home but pay attention not to rush the beat 3 and 4 of the chorus pattern. We will aim to play through with the song next week.
Zico
Zico did a great job playing The Troopers. He is now playing all the licks with the right intensity and counting the rests properly. He will still from time to time mess up licks that start from the floor tom, but I am happy to move on to Fool in the Rain with him this coming week. We first talked about the shuffle feel, how 1 is the heaviest beat, and that it should feel like dancing/galloping for the remaining 2 and 3. In the case of Fool in the Rain, it is also weighted over two beats, so beat 1 and 3 are heaviest, and everything in between is somewhat floating.
Noah
We are making good progress with Smooth Criminal, and about to be done with song as we finished up the guitar solo section. I encourage Noah to try working up the speed so we can try playing with the song soon.
Finn
We worked on Clocks briefly in preparation of recital, and worked on Otherside after. We focused on the Bridge section, which Finn is slowly mastering it. What we need now is less hesitation going from drum to drum, as we try to pick up the speed. I am also still hoping to hear Finn connect sections together, which Finn will have to devote time working on that at home.
Mateo
We worked on Babydoll today. This song seems to be right in the ballpark for Mateo, and we talked about how to play a tasteful buzz and open hihat today. Also used a superglue analogy for practising suggesting that when you are working in smaller chunks, once the smaller chunk is solidify, don’t proceed to play it in context right away at speed, but the goal should be to play everything right in the slowest speed possible, with the goal to solidify the bond.
Koel
Koel did a great job learning first page of YYZ. The goal for this week is the second page. Definitely split up the different instruments and learn the rhythm before trying to work out the coordination for some of these more complicated licks.