Thursday 24/05/18 8.30pm

Ex 1-5 still to practice. Count aloud as much as you can as thus really helps with coordination! 

Below us the groove and fill ex to practice fir next week! 

Thursday 24/05/18 8.30pm

Ex 1-5 still to practice. Count aloud as much as you can as thus really helps with coordination! 

Below us the groove and fill ex to practice fir next week! 

Thursday 24/95/18 8pm

Space future: fills on the first two pages to practice. Make sure your hands are relaxed and you can bear the phrase of each fill. Don't forget to practice the whole transitions not just the fill. 

Page 3 section D: start working on the first two bars of groove! Be disciplined not going to fast and strict with the sticking! 

Thursday 24/05/18 6pm

Accented paradiddle ex. Using down stroke tap stroke up stroke combinations. 

London Town: 16th note hand to hand grooves need work to be secure. Break each two bar phrase down and go over it carefully making sure the sticking and bass drum pattern are 100%! 

Thursday 24/05/18 5.30pm

Use the groove ex in your practice book to work in your bass drum independence. Make sure you cover all three back bear combinations. 

Start working on the fill phrase by just playing slowly between the hands and feet! 

Then start working on changing the voicing or the sticking. Remember you are aiming for a smooth even flow of notes. 

Thursday 24/05/18 4.30pm

This week's technical focus in the open- closed hi-hat ex below. Aim fir a subtle and gradual opening of the hi-hat over the whole bar. 

Then move onto the disco groove from party people. 

You also mastered the first four bars of the piece so if you can start working to the track! 

Thursday 24/04/18 4pm

Below is the linear phrase you looked at thus week. Start playing between the hands and feet and focus on the sound of the phrase. When it comfortable try vary the sticking. 

As a 2 beat phrase it works as a half bar fill or pick up or if doubled a one bar fill. Try playing to some mid tempo groove tracks to see how it works in context. 

There is also a triplet/ sextuplet variation ( same phrase repeated 1.5 times) 

 

Monday 21/05/18 5pm

Warm up: below is a paradiddle fill variation from today's lesson. The first half is just paradiddle on the snare and then the second half takes the right hand for a walk around the toms. When this is comfortable try walking it around different voices on the kit, but keep strictly to the sticking or it won't work! 

You guys also did great job if playing along to "taste of freedom" by the PBUnderGround. Remember to listen to the track, keep it simple at first and listen for the changes between the different sections. Listen for changes in feel or dynamics and see if you can develop your part to respond eg moving to the ride for the bridge. Be adventurous with adding ghost notes or open hi-hats to make it sound funky. You can find the track if you search for "taste of freedom + click" on spotify. 

Monday 21/05/18 4.15pm

Warm up: all the fills from group E need practicing but were well played today. 

Also practice counting and playing the triplet exercises from group D. Watch the change of sticking to RLL in the second bar.

Over half term keep working on Dora and Bootsy, Fir You and the first page of y'all. 

Keep playing them to the tracks and working on your accuracy and feel. 

You also had a go at improvising today.have a go at playing along to "taste of freedom" by pbug.if you search taste of freedom + click on spotify it comes up! Have a go at playing along, remember the music should tell you "what" to play so start simple and as it starts to feel comfortable try varying your part or adding some fills! 

Thursday 17/05/18 6.30pm

Warm up:  pataflafla seven stroke nine stroke rolls fir next week to a metronome please. 

Razor head: focus on the last part if the second page into the top if page 3. The bass drum needs to feel heavy and secure through out. Watch out for the change to a rim shot at the bottom of the page! 

Monday 14/05/18 7.30pm

Free bound ex sounding much better this week. Move on to three and two bounce catch variation. 

This helped massively with the accented toms groove for lead sheet!

Remember to apply the A,B form to constructing your solo for this track. Keep your ostinato fir the section simple to start with. Focus on accuracy of the phrase and staying time! 

Monday 14/05/18 7pm

Use the excercises below to help work on your open hi hat control. 

Song 2: verse groove is almost to tempo to the track. Just watch your right hand diesn't tense up when the bass drum plays the 1+ in the second bar. 

The Chorus groove us exactly the same but played on the hi hat nit the floor tom rim and with out the extra note on tom1 with the left hand! 

Monday 14/05/18 6pm

Seb: tech study 1 the double strokes were much better this week! Play through upto the flam paradiddles. This rudiment should your focus for the week. Remember it is your stick heights being spot on the gives you the ability to get this sounding clean! 

The songs groove is much better this week than last. On the second rep the bass drum on the a of 3 is a little shaky. Don't be tempted to play this too fast and focus on feeling the snare on beat 4 nice and strong to give a strong reference for that final bass drum. 

Toby: Tiberius : what a transformation! The second page of this (section E) was much more secure this week. Relaxed and confident. Work on the last two lines ( with the bell of the ride) to a metronome at 160bpm ish to start with. Try to achieve the same relaxed secure feel as the the first two lines! 

Monday 14/05/18 5pm

Warm up: have a go at the floor tom groove below. Remember to add one tom note with the left ha no at a time. Get it comfortable then add in the next one. 

Maiden voyage: the first four bars of this needs more practice guys! If you can't sight read it, don't be afraid to break it down beat by beat and get it 100% accurate. You can build the speed once you have started to internalise the sound and feel if the groove a little. 

Song 2 to finish: try and have the chorus and verse grooves memorised for next week. 

Monday 14/05/18 4pm

Warm up tech ex's group a (Singles and doubles) 

Look at sectoion D. Practice the first three bars of groove and then fill a. Try doing without the track at first. Then try to the backing track. Do the same with fill b afterward 

Dora and Bootsy: at least the first 4 bars perfect for next week! This means the correct bass drum and snare pattern AND the correct open hi-hats. Slow us fine as long as it's accurate! 

For you: a good solid run through by everyone today. Keep working on your sound and consistency when you practice to the track. 

Thursday 10/05/18 9.00pm

Intro to London Calling is sounding good! Just watch that your counting the swung 8th notes correctly. Below us the shuffle groove we looked at to help get the right hand coordination and over all feel. 

Thursday 10/05/18 8.30pm

Warm up with ex's 1-5 fir next week. Pick one and try playing around the kit. 

Here is the groove you played with the 4 on the floor bass drum. Remember how you relaxed your right leg a bad ankle to get a better bass drum sound! 

Thursday 10/05/18 8pm

Space future: have a go at the first two pages to the track. You can play all the parts but now they need putting together.

The fill in the last bar of the first page should be your technical focus for this week. Use the 7 note linear sticking from last lesson to help with this. 

Thursday 10/05/18 7pm

Warm up this week is the progression on the RLB pattern. First accent the R of each group the the L. When these are comfortable alternate between accenting the right then the left :

Eg R l B r L B 

Look at the first bar of the groove for page one. You played this well in the lesson. Remember to articulate the accents to give the groove a definite feel. 

Lastly work on the two bar intro to dance dance. Experiment with a pick up fill into the opening brass phrase 

Thursday 10/05/18 6.30pm

Warm up: tech ex look at the roll studies this week. 7's and 9's. Start just on the snare. Your left hand tens to tighten up on the left hand lead rolls. Watch out for over hitting and your thumb rolling up wards as you play. 

Kita's 5: a much more together performance this week. The second time you ran it your solids excellent with clear and musically interesting phrasing. Now see if you can add greater dynamic contrast and incorporate some buzz rolls. 

Recap the last two bars remembering to count the first bar as swung 8ths and the second at str8 8ths 

Thursday 10/04/18 6pm

Technical warm up: on the snare paw the sticking for the fill in warning (bar 24) use the correct strokes to create the internal dynamics of the fill. 

FtDutD: RlRlrL

London Town: when you played to the track this week it was really starting to come together for you. Look at the bass drum pattern in bar 10. You can clearly hear the brass part that you are trying to play along with but need to work on the coordination to be able to express it cleanly. 

Thursday 10/05/18 5.30pm

Speaks bar sextuplets fill ex to practice. Make sure you start on beat three of the bar to land the fill on the 1 of the next bar. Have a go at getting the linear phrase relaxed and fluent for next week. 

Finesse : the groove us sounding good. Now just the intro fill to bring up to tempo. I feel you have the ability to play this as long as you don't tense up as you approach playing it! 

Thursday 10/05/18 5pm

This week's technical practice is to work in the groove to "in the end" by linkin park. The bass drum part is tricky so start very slow and work up to speed. Play heel up and focus on not tensing up too much. 

Also there is the intro to the track by Panuc at the disco to look at. 

Monday 30/04/18 8pm

Pierre: below is the 1/4 nite exercise we looked at this week. Designed to help you build confidence in your coordination. The middle notes are the snare and the notes underneath are the bass drum. Check your grip feels relaxed and then start these slowly. Ray not to tense up when there are rests on the snare drum 

You also played two groove variations to the track "slow dancing in a burning room" by John Mayer. 

Keep working on those for next lesson. Resist the temptation to try looping them or speeding before one bar feels comfortable. 

Monday 30/04/18 7pm

Warm up: the free bound technique is looking much more relaxed this week. Avoid having your thumb facing upwards as this can inhibit the movement of the stick. 

Also have a go at the exercise taking 16th and 8th note rhythms from last week and voicing them on the kit. Grouping in 1 beat combinations or splitting up each group over multiple sounds. 

Song 2: the intro/ verse groove to this track is sounding strong. Remember to practice Hingis slowly at first building confidence and fluency before increasing the tempo. 

Start working on the chorus groove for next lesson

Monday 30/04/18 7.30pm

Warm up: free bound technique this week was better. Develop this with the three bounce and catch progression. RelaxTion is the key to this technique this includes allowing the stroke to start at the elbow. 

Solo section of your piece was much cleaner this week. Your ideas have a good distinct shape. Next step is to work out how you can use your repertoire of techniques to develop these ideas further. 

Monday 30/04/18 6pm

Toby: your task over the next two weeks is to work on the first three lines of page 2 of Tiberius. You can play the part ok but it lacks control and a confident sound. Go through each 4 bar group slowly to metronome working on even bass drum sound and control. Gradually work it up to tempo. 

Seb : great work on the quasi songo groove this week. All the left hand part is now present. This just needs familiarising so that it feels comfortable. 

Monday 30/04/18 5pm

This is the chorus groove to song 2 that we looked at. The bass drum pattern is the same as the groove from last week with only a slight change to the snare (added ghost notes) and the right hand on the crash

The first groove from last week was ok but still not secure for everyone first time every time. 

You can also start applying what you have learned about floor tom grooves by learning the two lines of maiden voyage 

Monday 30/04/18 4pm

Warm up: tech ex's group a singles and doubles. Everyone played these ok but it took a few tries. 

You need to be able to play these first time eveytime to a metronome. Once you can do this see if you can increase the tempo. 

Improvisation: this went well. Practice this by trying to play along to your favourite songs. Don't copy the original drummer at first, see if you can play your own thing! 

Y'all: the first four lines are sounding good to the track! I was very impressed. Practice this at home, once you can play it ok think about how to improve your technique and sound. 

Thursday 03/05/18

Neil: London Town: intro sounding good this week. Start working on the groove in bar 9. You noticed that the hi hat pattern is the same as the floor Tom rhythm so use this as reference if you forget. 

Ben: 

Muddy boots: this week you started to work on articulation and sound. Go through the piece a few bars at a time. Have a clear idea of what you would like it sound like before you start playing. 

Don't forget to express dynamics, accents etc.

Thursday 03/05/18 8.30pm

Practice this groove as solid as you can. Relaxed but confident. 

Thursday 03/05/18 8pm

Warm up: ratamacues are taking shape. Be mindful of your stick heights using a clean upstroke to execute the accent. 

5 stroke rolls now need to be more articulate. 

Space future: first page sounding good. Keep polishing for next week. 

Below is a linear phrase fir you to start playing around with. 

 

Thursday 03/05/18 7pm

3:4 phrases start playing with these and vary the hi-hat part (use some 16th variations) 

Also practice the RLB linear phrase over different subdivisions (8th triplet-32nd notes) 

Dance dance dance: some great playing this week. A few things to think about:

-keep the groove simple. It needs a solid driving funk groove to feel good. 

-listen out for other parts you can reference or embellish (synth lines, brass parts) 

- have a go at working on the opening phrase for this song. Below is some example of how the notes can be grouped. Use this as a frame work to come up with some simple single stroke 8th note fill ideas. Try not to over think it! 

Thursday 03/05/18 6.30

Rudiments needs more practice. Paradiddle diddle and pataflafla to focus on for next week. 

Below is a fill by Gavin Harrison that uses a linear paradiddle diddle variation. 

Razor head: better this week. Smoother transitions and I got the impression that you are understanding the overall shape if the piece. Your bass drums still need to be more present and consistent. Practice each section (a,b,c etc) separately to a click at 145bpm to start with focusing on an even full sound. 

Thursday 05/03/18 17.30pm

Good work on the groove to finesse. 

Thus week your task is to look at the linear fill from the breakdown before the last chorus. 

Warm up with the sextuplet linear phrase before you start to build your hand foot coordination and speed! 

Thursday 03/05/18 5pm

Good work on the grooves for numb this week. As you work this to the track remember to think about your dynamics. Open hi-hat for the intro and choruses and a really strong snare drum and then a closed hi-hat and solid bass drum for the verses. 

Thursday 03/05/18 4.30pm

Party people: the first three bar groove is sound. Just try to feel it as one long phrase as much as possible. 

You also made a great start on the open hi-hats for the groove in bar 17 

Focus on both feet landing together on the beat. 

Reggae muffin: solo section coming together nicely. Just watch out for the up beat flam in the first bar of the last line. You are often starting this bar a beat too late. 

Thursday 03/05/18 4pm

Warm up: use the accent studies from last week. 

Below us the new one we looked at starting with a full stroke (all the way down all the way up) 

Here are the 16th note double bass drum grooves from the Break beat bible. Your bass drum control when playing 16th note doubles is much improved. Watch out for rushing the doubles in above the clouds.