Thursday 26/04/18 9.00pm

Ben: first four bars of tech study 3. Relax your hands for the double strokes as much as possible to let the stick do the work for you! 

Reggae muffin: really smooth performance today. Your next task us shape feel and add some intensity to the groove. 

Thursday 27/04/18 8.30pm

Warm up this week is exercise 1-4 from lesson 10 from syncopation. Count each rhythm first before you play it. 

Goal for next week is to be able to okay the groove below to "thinking out loud" 

Good luck picking up the new kit! 

Thursday 26/04/18 8pm

Last section if mohair mountain is looking good. Just the last fill that needs some work to secure it. Remember the triplets are 1/4 note triplets so they have a long open feel to them. 

Pop it in the top: spend some time working on the 16th nite bass drum doubles in the grooves. Stay relaxed as possible and place both notes exactly where you want them. Don't tense up and rush them! 

Thursday 26/04/18 7pm

Swiss triplets still the focus for this week's technical practice. Have a go at the split sticking variation with the first note on the toms. 

Dance dance: start developing your fills and pick ups between sections. Think about phrasing each idea and using the instrumentation and ensemble figures to help. 

 In the second part of the break Down you started firming up a cowbell groove playing in unison with the brass part. See if you can have thus established for next week. 

Thursday 26/04/18 6.30pm

Technical work: flam paradiddles and pata fla fla from the technical ex's to familiarise your self with for next week. Clean articulate sound is the aim with zero tension while playing! 

Razor head: first two pages are coming together well. A much cleaner sound thus week. Work on the bass drum presence at c as it is getting a little list atm. 

Keep polishing for next lesson. 

EAR PLUGS next week! 

Thursday 26/04/18 6pm

Technical work: this week try applying 5 stroke rolls to fills and grooves. We had a look at using them as a way if embellishing grooves on the hi-hat. Stay relaxed and use the free bounce tech to remind your self how the stick shutdown feel when you play the rolls. 

You played through a funk backing track by the PB under ground today. This was a chance for you to experiment and play with some fill and groove ideas in a funk style. Take this approach to London Town over the next week. Loose the chart and just play along to the track focusing on responding to what you hear and being creative. 

Thursday 26/04/18 5.30pm

Numb : below are the first two grooves for numb by linkin park. Get both if them secure and confident by next lesson. No excuses!! 

Thursday 26/04/18 4.30pm

Warm up: tech ex no 2 line 1Sounding ok. Still more definition of the accents needed on the snare on beats 2 and 4. See if you can have the 5 stroke roll phrase in bar 4 secure by next week.

Party people: practice the first 4 bars for next week. Count out loud if it doesn't feel correct and don't loop it until you are 100% secure in the phrase.

Reggae muffin: groove much more secure this week. Trust the spaces especially with the swung fills. You have a tendency to rush the rests. (Bar 18, 34) 

Thursday 26/03/18 4pm

Double pedal ex's 

- groups of 5 under and 8th note groove. This will give you an implied feel if 3 over 4. 

- Lesson 10 ex 1 from syncopation again try these rhythms over an 8th note groove. Focus on the relaxed control of the feet and aiming for an even stroke. 

Keep looking at the accent pattern from last week. This is starting to take a good shape overall. Keep pushing it! 

Monday 23/04/18 7pm

The free rebound is looking good this week. Keep working on the 8th to 16th nite double stroke excercise from last week.

Uptown funk: much better sound and feel this week. Watch out for over hitting the hi-hat and holding your breath before the fills or transitions. 

Song 2: below us the first groove to song 2 by Blur. We finished looking at the first bar so focus on this in your practice, aiming for an easy transition with the left hand onto the rack Tom on beat 4 +. If you want to work on the second bar as well go for it. 

Monday 23/04/18 6pm

Toby: Good work on the tech ex's this week Toby. Keep or working on your stick control and staying as relaxed as possible while still maintaining the attack of each note.

Rollin: this week your task is to be able to play the transition into the bass solo. Make sure the change is clean, dropping to mp and th accents are correct. You should ga fe this to the track by next week! 

Seb: use the double stroke substitutions ex to build relaxed and easily integrated doubles. Focus on the first three lines of the first technical study. 

Work on the progression fir the songo style groove in London Town bringing in the left hand playing 16th notes on the snare and hi-hat. 

Monday 23/04/18 5pm

Warm up: with the paradiddles we did in the lesson. Focus on keeping your sticks low (3-4 inches max!) when this is comfy start working on the "up stroke" ex. 

Song 2: below is the groove for the intro/ first verse if "song 2" by blur. This groove uses the rim of the floor Tom as a hi-hat substitute and brings the left hand on to the toms as a groove variation. Practice slowly at first, accuracy is key! 

Monday 23/04/18 4pm

Warm up: go over the paradiddles warm up Alex showed you. See if you can come up with your own for next week. 

For you: play through this to the track. Some if you need to read the bass drum pattern at C a little more carefully. If you can play it all try to hit the "session drummer" switch and work on a confident performance! 

Y'all: practice the first two bars making sure you count aloud! Have this ready for the track by next lesson 

Thursday 19/04/18 9.30

London calling: have a look at the intro for next week. Focus on even steady 1/4 notes on the floor Tom and bass drum. 

Tech study 3: first four bars to finish. Sticking reading no accuracy are good. Now try to soften your grip and let the sticks rebound more to get a smoother double stroke roll.

Reggae muffin: better sound this week with lighter more precise hi-hat feel.

Thursday 19/04/18 8pm

Mohair mountain: section F. Good reading and excellent approach today. You made a clear connection between using good technique and how it facilitates and improves your sound. Keep this in mind as you practice this last section of the piece. Polish this for next week please! 

Thursday 19/04/18 7pm

Swiss triplet ex's for control strokes! 

Dance dance: great feel and approach today. Think about how you can establish feels and grooves and develop them to creat dynamic contrast between sections 

Below is an example of the figure into the chorus and some ideas about how to develop and shape your groove or fill to fit: 

Once you have your sticking or linear pattern experiment with how you can voice it around the kit 

Thursday 19/04/18 6pm

Warm up with triplet accent patterns. Vary the dynamics (not just forte!!) 

Tech study 1 up to bar 10 fluent by next week. Focus on making it "sound good" rather than just playing the sticking. 

WArning: well played today. Be careful reading the correct rhythms for the fill in the outro. On,y the second fill is tripletised. The others are swung 16ths 

Thursday 19/04/18 5.30

RLRB fill on the snare in time at 80bpm. 

Intro fill yo finesse better this week one rep at 0.75 speed. 

Main groove can be played with ghost notes. 

Thursday 19/04/18 5.30

RLRB fill on the snare in time at 80bpm. 

Intro fill yo finesse better this week one rep at 0.75 speed. 

Main groove can be played with ghost notes. 

Thursday 19/04/18 5pm

Warm up with the triplet exercise below. Clean accents articulate sound and push the tempo! 

No one knows: practice the intro and first groove below! Good work this week well done. 

Thursday 19/94/18 4.30pm

Warm up using the technical study we looked at today. Just the first line this week but try to focus on getting a good sound not just playing the notes as this will help you internalise the phrases and idea better. 

Reggae muffin: Good sound and overall feel to the track. The next big focus for this one is the second line of solo in bar 62. Remember to count and clap the phrase first and then orchestrate on th kit! 

Thursday 19/94/18 4pm

Accent study 1+2 for next week. Make sure to practice both left and right hand lead! 

Also I have fwd the groove for the Matt gartska groove to have a look at. 

Monday 16/04/18 7pm

Warm up: use the bounce excercise to establish your grip. Then see if you can use your back fingers to "catch" the stick after three or four bounces.

Uptown funk: chorus fill is now almost there to the track. Practice looping it first then try and play the first four bars to the track. Keep an eye on your stick heights! 

Monday 16/04/18 6pm

Toby: tripple paradiddles to practice and drag taps (group C) 

Rollin: huge improvement well done! Now just the last couple if transitions to tidy up. Especially focus on the groove in section C.

Tiberius: much better as well Toby. Be confident of the last transition on page 1 as you were about to play this perfectly but then bailed at the last min! 

Seb: practice just the sticking for bar 5 of exercise 1 on the snare. Make sure it us clean and articulate. 

Practice the open hi-hat fig in bar 4. Keep it slow and aim for crisp control if the hi-hat sound. 

Simplified songo groove for the chorus for next week!

Monday 5pm 16/04/18

Warm up with the singles and doubles tech ex's. These need to be relaxed but still precise! Use a metronome!!!!!

Fall out: re-cap the intro for next week. This us taking shape but you must look at it between lessons. section B first four bars can now be played. Watch out for the last fig in bar 4 below is the count to help! 

Monday 16/04/18 4pm

Warm up with the singles and doubles tech ex's 

Dora and bootsy: recap section a to the track. Focus on a funk style sound and feel.  Look at section b. Both fills need to be accurate and fluent. When the fills are confident play through the whole transition using a metronome. 

For you: play through aim for strong feel and tight sound. 

Thursday 29/03/18 7pm

Warm up this week with 8th nite triplets into sextuplets. Start by counting and playing the 8th note triplets. Then still counting the 8th note triplet play the sextuplets. When this is comfortable try combining the two ex's. 

Uptown funk: the groove for this is coming together really nicely. Keep an eye on the volume of the hi-hat and try to come in in time to the track from the very first 8th notes! 

Below is the structure of the pre chorus to have a look at as well!