WEEK 1

Rudiment Practice: Singles Pyramid

Today, we combined three of our single warmups to create a new one. When practicing, add one note in each hand and then repeat the exercise without stopping (i.e. RL RRLL RRRLLL RL RRLL RRRLLL etc.). *Add the kick drum each time you switch hands.

Fill Practice

We worked on a fill idea you brought in (RLKK RLKK etc.). Remember to start ideas at a slower tempo to focus on sound consistency and precision. *To strengthen our left hand (LH), try leading with the LH when practicing. Also, let’s intentionally work on our dynamics as we fine tune our doubles.

• Very soft the first time (also know as p)

• Medium volume the second time (also known as mf)

• Loud the third time (also known as f)

• Back to mf the fourth time

  • Repeat this pattern as your warm up.

Groove Practice

We reviewed the groove from James Brown’s “The Big Payback” song, focusing on the drum part and the balance of the kit. Our ears should be just as strong as any other instrumentalist so we will continue to build our listening skills by checking out songs and learning the grooves. From that point, we’ll makes those grooves our own. *I’ll upload a video of how we went through it in today’s lesson.