Jack

Great Job keeping time for Jam by Michael Jackson today on cymbals plus toms! Also learnt how to play the rhythm in the drum beat. Next goal is to understanding how to identify sections and know when to add the “bam” on cymbals (fill)

Tova

Great job working on the Slow Groove #3 and variation A today. Always remember not to over play an individual instrument, if anything give us more bass drum! Right now hi-hat tends to overwhelm other things because of RH dominant hand. Also worked on adding in the pedal hi-hat back beat. At home try to give variation B on the same page a try, with all of the things above in mind!

Our next goal is learning Jujutsu Kaisen’s Kaikai Kitan till the end of semester. Will upload score to drive.

Next week will be xylo week. Familiarise yourself with Cupid by 50/50 up to chorus, I will upload the chorus onto Drive over the week

Tracie

Warm-Up: We talked about the idea of playing doubles efficiently, as there is a throw and grab motion. The grab motion is one motion and short, allowing the the second bounce to be short and as powerful as the initial stroke. Please work on the below at 75-80 bpm:

RRLL RRLL

RLRR LRLL

RRLR LLRL

RLRR LLRL (the groove from Turnstile Blues)

Turnstile Blues by Autolux

The groove is now solid! However we need to understand since we are playing the pattern now slow, the first and second beat is also slow. We have worked through the entire bar, however when stuck during practise, my advise is practise in smaller section (e.g. only beat 2+3 to smoothen up the transition, 2+3+4, then finally the whole bar)

We also tried adding in hihat. With everything in place, we are at eighth note equals to 100 bpm.

Jared

Warm-Up: solid work with Stick Control today!

Bring me to life by Evanescence

very solid read up to bar 25 so far! Several things to keep in mind:

  • the pattern starting bar 18, second beat is a dotted rhythm, tip to hit that is to lay the bass drum after the hi hat on the n of 2
  • at bar 25, the first bass drum hit also should come after the ride on down beat. Practise filling in that rest with a ride hit before we can fully play with the ride.

Get familiarise with everything till bar 33. We will be working on the next section next class. Also still try to spend some time planning the solo. A good solo doesn’t just come out of nowhere, but hard work!

Mario

Warm Up:

Grab and throw motion for the triplet exercise! It is going a lot better! Work on the triplet and double at around 75-80 bpm at home, prioritising evenness (within one hand as well as both hands sounding even) and staying in time!

My Friend by RHCP

The transition from hihat(open) to ride is getting a lot better! We will definitely revisit it next class, but we have also identified the following tricky spots:

fourth bar of chorus: following the R RL sticking, as well as keeping in mind to leave a 16th note gap between those two RH hit

one bar fill before second verse: drags! we will be working more on this technique during warmup next class!

essentially the left hand could either play a buzz or a double stroke, but our goal is to eventually tighten it up into one sound, similar to a flam. In the meantime just remember to keep the left hand low and relax, and be prepared to play the next note also on left.

Still use the drumset musician p11 ex to warm up brain —> one bar ride one bar hi hat —> then to the song

line 4 is sounding great and solid! give line 6 a try, it is just a slightly wonkier line 4 but we will identify it in future songs

Do it slow!

Aleksander

Warm-Up: work on Stick Control Page 9

Variation: first bar triplet, second bar 16th notes, practise with metronome (TIP: throw the 16th and relax for faster rhythm!)

New observation is that LH tends to stiffen up more, leading to uneven sound! I challenged you to try playing LH more in a RLRL pattern, somehow it became even –> keep LH in check: play more but not stiff!

great work with playing intro to Living On a Prayer. This week we worked on Verse and the various flair added to the hi hat. Bars to work closely with is second bar of verse, fourth and the sixth. Practise them slow! We will aim to play the entirety of verse next week and move on to0 pre-chorus!

Mateo

Apologies for the shorter lesson today! will be adding extra 15 to next week.

Warm Up: always remember to put ourselves in the best possible posture so we don’t make it hard for ourselves to play!

keep the back of hand always facing the ceiling, try to minimise that turning motion that happens when engaging a stick

Eye of the Tiger! all the fills are sounding solid! now try to play them in context and we will try to play through sections next class!

Jonah

Xylo week warmup: Bb major scales – also challenged him to try arpeggios in different positions (Bb D F Bb-> D F Bb D- F Bb D F etc). This one is tricky but definitely a super useful one as we practise getting our hands moved preemptively! Told Jonah to practise blocking them in two (Bb D and F Bb for example), and move swiftly to next after, that will practise that wrist movement required to moving preemptively!

worked on 12 bar blues together today! remember to follow sticking so we don’t trip up!

Please bring in material from Hannaford (snare drum and mallet or accessories) next week so we can identify what we can work with for Jonah going forward if we are to set further goals! Also I promise Jonah we will continue reading the four mallet solo “Yellow after the Rain” with him.