Reading 16th Note Exercises, Song Review, For Whom The Bell Tolls cont'd
Lesson Outline
Begin by reading through some 16th note exercises in the syncopation book, review Cam's current repertoire, and then continue our work on For Whom The Bell Tolls
Song Review, Challenge Beat - Mr. Larkin, Slide Technique Review
Lesson Outline
Begin by reviewing the songs Chris has been working on, review the fundamentals of the slide technique, and then talk about a new song, Mr. Larkin by State Radio and the very unique drum beat/pattern thats used
Session Minutes
45
Minutes Student Attended
45
Lesson Comments
Chris did an excellent job deciphering the pattern within Mr. Larkin! It's quite a long and unique pattern, and it took him a minute to figure it out, but he was able to decode it with very little help. He was then able to play through the song very well by following his instincts and responding to the various ups and downs within the song form. He also did a great job reviewing his current songs, clearly having practiced them since we last met.
Reading Triplets review, You Give Love and For Whom the Bell Tolls Review, Intro to Time Signatures, Money by Pink Floyd
Lesson Outline
Begin by reviewing our work reading 8th note triplets, then review the songs Cam is currently working on. Discuss time signatures in more detail and analyze some of the songs we've learned so far to discern their time signatures and then look at an "odd," example: Money by Pink Floyd
Chris demonstrated his most recently acquired drumming techniques. He demonstrated how to hold the sticks, and showed me examples of paradiddles drum rolls, tumbling, and rim shots. He also demonstrated some grips. Chris continues to develop and hone his skills through practice. He is naturally talented and displays aptitude and proclivity for music.
Session Minutes
45
Minutes Student Attended
45
Lesson Comments
I subbed for Hudson this afternoon, Tuesday, 2-11-25, from 2:10 - 2:55.
Song Review, What About Me - Snarky Puppy, Kid Charlemagne - Steely Dan
Lesson Outline
Begin by reviewing the songs we worked on earlier in the week, and then take a look at two more advanced songs and discuss strategies for breaking down the complex song forms and numerous hits.
Session Minutes
45
Minutes Student Attended
45
Lesson Comments
Chris did a great job! He played through Hello, a song we started working on together late last week, almost perfectly. He said that he really enjoyed the song, even though it's quite different than the kind of music he normally listens to. It's clear that he spent a lot of time practicing on his own. He was excited to show me his progress and did a fantastic job playing along to the track and responding musically to the various hits and transitions throughout the song. Looking at some more advanced material Chris did an excellent job deciphering the grooves, and while he struggled a bit to play the songs it's clear that he was understanding what he was listening to and was able to process what he was hearing and translate it into his own groove.
Discuss Rudiemtns, You Give Love review, Enter Sandman review, For Whom the Bell Tolls cont'd
Lesson Outline
Begin by discussing the many uses of rudiments and provide examples as to how they can be used on the drum set to create interesting grooves and fills. Review You Give Love a Bad Name and then continue working on For Whom The Bell Tolls
Session Minutes
45
Minutes Student Attended
45
Lesson Comments
Cam, while initially unconvinced, seemed to come around on the importance of rudiments. After some demonstrations, and watching a video about how rudiments can be turned into grooves, he expressed more interest in rudiments and how to play what he was hearing. Cam did an excellent job reviewing You Give Love and Enter Sandman, playing both of them almost perfectly. For Whom The Bell Tolls is presenting a good challenge, but Cam is working through it patiently and diligently, doing very well picking up on the fills and hits throughout the arrangement.
Reading 8th notes and 8th note triplet exercises, You Give Love Review, For Whom the Bell Tolls cont'd
Lesson Outline
Begin by reading new exercises out of the syncopation book involving transitioning between 8th notes and 8th note triplets. Review our work on You Give Love a Bad Name and then continue mapping out the form, hits and fills in For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica.
Session Minutes
45
Minutes Student Attended
45
Lesson Comments
At first, Cam struggled just a bit with the transition between 8th notes and 8th notes triplets, but after asking him to go through each subdivision in sequence to "find," the triplets he was able to decipher the exercise on his own. Cam has done an excellent job learning You Give Love a Bad Name, which until recently, was the most complex song we'd looked at. Now, working on For Whom the Bell Tolls, Cam is progressing through even more complex material. After just a brief review of the song form he was able to competently play through every section we had talked about thus far, and by the end of the lesson Cam had successfully mapped out the whole song and was beginning to dive deeper into the fills and other details.
Jump right into You Give Love a Bad Name to polish up the few remaining fills and review the sections we had worked on yesterday, then dive into some new material, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica.
Session Minutes
45
Minutes Student Attended
45
Lesson Comments
Cam is doing great! He told me that he practiced this morning before school and it was clear from his performance of You Give Love that he's been working diligently during his free time. He remembered just about everything we had discussed yesterday, some of which is fairly complex and/or nuanced, and is doing a great job navigating a fairly complex song form. We worked on the first half of For Whom The Bell Tolls, by far the most complex song form we've looked at so far, and Cam is doing really well. He's hearing a lot of the fills and details on his own and was asking some great questions about how exactly to play certain moments and what was happening with each instrument.
Take a look at some drummers and musical styles that Chris may be less familiar with and discuss the various aspects that make them stand out.
Session Minutes
45
Minutes Student Attended
45
Lesson Comments
Chris was absent today so we met remotely to watch some videos of various drummers/bands performing. Chris had a lot of great comments about the various influences/styles that he noticed within the different performances, as well as the frequent use of dynamics, and seemed interested by the new genres/artists that we were looking at.
