Rehearsal Dates

24-9-2014
Today we decided to do Green Day- Basket case for our group Performance. We decided this and listened to the song to see how much of it we could already play and then went home and learned how the rest of the song went.

30-9-2014
Today we practiced a few different songs such as Can't stop by red hot chilli peppers and another Red hot chilli pepper song. We done this so we could get used to playing different styles of music. I feel as though this helped as after we have done our Solo and Ensemble we are possibly doing different styles of music and the practice will be able to possibly be implemented into future performances.

6-10-2014
Today we practised Basket case with a vocalist so we knew when certain parts of the song came in such as the drum fills and when the guitar pattern Changes. This helped because playing it with a vocalist helped me count the amount of sections of the verse play before I come in and how many times after that before the drum fills come in.

8-10-2014
Today we practised our solo songs (Still Swingin- Papa Roach) and recorded our group rehearsal  (Basket Case- Green Day). I got better at timing the drum fills for the group performance and managed to play the drum fills accurately for my Solo. To improve for next lesson I will listen to the song more often at home and take notice of when the Drum fills come in so when it comes to playing I will know where about I should be expecting to play a fill.

15-10-2014
Today I have been updating my blog and watching drum covers of other drummers to see how they play and learning from their playing styles. I feel like it helped as I could see how other drummers play and when I start practising I can try out the different styles to see if any are more comfortable to play than others for me.

20-10-2014
I sat in on two singers practising and helped find faults with their performances and they then listened to me play my part and found faults in mine so we could work on correcting them. This helped me with the breakdown of my Solo as I wasn't sure what to play as I had two different versions of the breakdown in mind. I narrowed it down to which version I would play and will practice that one more often so I can play it confidently when I'm performing.

22-10-2014
We practised our group song (Basket Case) again before we broke up for a week so when we came back from the week off we had it fresh in our mind. I was a lot more confident at playing the drum fills as most of them were in time and I could play it all the way through knowing when I'm meant to come in.

3-11-2014
Our band played our solos today in front of each other to help each other correct mistakes made. We then played our Group song to see If we could still remember how to play it accurately. With mine a few snare drum hits where found to be out of place so I corrected those.

5-11-2014
Yesterday I watched other drummer play basket case so I could see how they done the fills and I watched how other drummers done the breakdown for Still Swingin- Papa Roach to see how that section was done compared to the version I chose to do. Today I Practised those different techniques I watched yesterday and tested which one fit in closely with my playing style. The version I chose to play for the Breakdown of my solo fit my playing style closer to what other drummers chose to play and the drum fills I had been playing were the same as how other drummers had played it with one or two changes that are hardly noticeable.

10-11-2014
Today I practiced Still Swingin and realised I wasn't playing the Chorus properly. I watched how another drummer had done it and realised that sounded more accurate so mimicked how he had played it. It sounded a lot closer to the studio version of the song and I was happy that I could play it confidently with minor errors.

11-11-2014
Today I practised the Chorus to Still swingin again as I couldn't play the bass drum hits perfectly yesterday. I felt like doing so helped as I could now play it close to perfect. I then practised the full song together as a final Check to make sure I could still play the rest of the song at the same standard as I have mainly focused on the Chorus.

12-11-2014
I managed to play the bass drum in time with the rest of the chorus and got someone to listen to it to see if they could find any faults with the two songs I am playing. The only fault that they could find was with my Ensemble as I couldn't play it at full speed all the way through as towards the end I would slow down. That was probably due to the fact that I had been playing all lesson and was tired.

My Short Term Targets

My short term target is to be able to learn to play Green day- Basket case fully with just the instrumental and no vocals. In the video of my rehearsal  I had slipped up a few times and that's because I was used to listening to when the vocalist says certain parts of the song before playing the drum fills instead of counting the beats so I had to try and count the bars on the spot and try to remember what bars the fills come in. I will try to do this for two weeks time.

By the end of the term I will try to be able to play both Basket case and Papa roach- Still Swingin perfectly with no faults. This is because these are my Ensemble and Solo pieces I will be playing and I need to be able to play them as accurately as possible. This will be achievable as I already know both of these songs, it's just counting the bars and counting when things come in. I can already do this with Still Swingin but some of the fills are a bit difficult so I will practice them a bit more to make sure I can play them correctly and at speed.

Current Practice Routine

I typically practice for about 1-2 hours a day Monday-Wednesday and hour on Fridays if I can get into one of the Rehearsal rooms. I haven't been able to practice as much on drums at home as I haven't been able to get all the parts for a drum kit. I was missing the floor tom and the crash symbol but now I have them I will be able to practice more. My main strategies for practice are playing songs I already know without the music to listen and see if they sound correct, then trying to play along with them to music. I do this for a bit to make sure the songs I do know are accurate and then I try to learn new songs by ear. I do this by listening to a section of the song, thinking about how it would be played, and trying it with the music to see if it is correct. I then try to play along with the rest of the song and if any of it doesn't sound right, I'll replay that section and listen to it again. I think this works well but I should probably watch videos of others playing the songs I'm learning to see how they play it compared to how I play it, then add some of their drumming techniques to the way I play it and try again. To do this I should probably pick a few different people playing the same song so I can pick up a different array of techniques and not just a few. The difference between playing over pieces and purposeful practice is that if you are just playing over pieces most of the time it will have the instrument you are playing in so you are just going of that and you aren't really having to think as much about what you are playing because you are just going along with it. Purposeful practice would involve listening to a piece and pausing it, then practicing what you have just listened to without a track to make sure you have got it right or playing with a group without a backing track to see if you can all play it correctly with no track to guide you. Purposeful practice could also involve just practicing techniques that you commonly use or even some that you don't use so you could get used to playing them and possibly add them in to your performances.

Rehearsal