Rock & Roll 101

December 19th, 2023

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Can't Stop:
https://youtu.be/tVZ4qc1Ln8E

This is a fun drum beat - not too hard, really, but it will require some practise to get all the fills and stuff right.

We went through it twice, and had time, so added this one too:

AC/DC Thunderstruck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8iaRfIxJ1Y

Merry Christmas! See you in two weeks!

December 12th, 2023

Harrison is away this week for a school event.

December 5th, 2023

We started by going over a song that another student is working on - just to introduce Harrison to it. He actually did REALLY well on sight reading it! I was impressed. Here's the link:

Metallica, Enter Sandman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpmGz0xZ4S4

Maybe this is a good one to work on next?

We then reviewed Paranoid and Smells Like Teen Spirit. Both are really hard. He's pretty close on them!

We tried to find a new song to learn, but ran out of time. I asked him to find something he'd like to learn next.

November 28th, 2023

Great job on Daytripper! I hesitate to give 10s, but I've been marking Harrison hard, and this was really good, so it's a 10/10 for him today!

Next we went over Paranoid by Black Sabbath - not as good. We slowed it down to 85% speed to make it more doable the firs ttime. Watch that the kick doesn't flip around from KICK kick to kick KICK (should be 1 and, 3 and not and 1, and 3). The sixteenth fills on the snare he was doing as eighths, so that needs to be watched too.

We did it at 90% and 100% too, he got better each time.

At the end of the lesson we reviewed Smells Like Teen Spirit. It is quite hard (10/10 in difficulty), so will need practise to get it up to the standard of the easier songs he's learning.

November 21st, 2023

Harrison played through Hysteria - it is a hard one, maybe too hard for him? He decided to move on. I gave him a 4/10. I think there was improvement since last week, but he said that was just coincidence, and that he didn't practise.

We added The Beatles, Daytripper:
https://youtu.be/Wbvs_q3dNTI

This is less difficult but still has some hard parts in it.

Others for his band:

Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit:
https://youtu.be/DEQtno7BEUU

Black Sabbath, Paranoid:
https://youtu.be/pRB_shjc_Sc

November 14th, 2023

Great job on Save Your Tears and Flowers, I gave you 9/10 on both songs!

We added a tricky one, I'd say about a 7/10 in difficulty. It's Def Leppard, Hysteria:
https://youtu.be/JE6HEqLYTUs

Next week, let's not forget to do paranoid

November 7th, 2023

Started off with Flowers again. I had wanted Harrison to tighten it up. He said he hadn't practised it, but we went over it anyway.

We reviewed One More Time (super easy and kinda boring), and then added The Weeknd, Save Your Tears:
https://youtu.be/QEjNCZEnBbo

I'd say this is about a 4/10 for difficulty.

October 24th, 2023

Harrison said he didn't realize I wanted him to work on Perfect a bit more - maybe my mistake for not making that clearer.

We went over Flowers again, it's a still a tad messy (inaccurate) but he's reading it well... just needs to tighten up his beat a bit.

Never Gonna Give You Up he decided to stop - it's a hard one, but I thought he did fairly well on it despite that. I gave him a 7/10

We added Dua Lipa, Dance the Night:
https://youtu.be/Ke34Wgxhj18

We also added
Daft Punk, One More Time
https://youtu.be/YEcaW11jw2k

There were a couple of others we tried, but they were a bit of a challenge. Hopefully we can keep Harrison pushing ahead to try things that are a bit harder than he can get right off the bat. It's good for a kid. ;-)

October 10th, 2023

We started off with Perfect, to see if he was closer to perfect on it with the flams etc. I kept his mark at 8... he got the flams, but he made a lot of other mistakes on the fills unfortunately.

On Flowers, he seemed discouraged before he started, but he did it really well.

We tried adding Rick Astley, Never Gonna Give You Up
https://youtu.be/ARnWXuXgFtQ

It's a hard one, but if he simplifies the high hats I think he should be able to do it. Feel free to slow it down too!

October 3rd, 2023

Amazing job on I Want It That Way. Harrison says he doesn't feel like he's improved, but from my perspective, he's less sloppy, more careful to play on the beat, do the fills correctly, etc.

There were a few issues with Perfect. We went over the fills and I showed him the notation for flams (which either he forgot or I never showed him) and he said he'd work on that again another week.

We then added Flowers by Miley Cyrus:
https://youtu.be/HfQdwrPBn9c

The last thing we did was go over the 22 Drum Beats Every Drummer Should Know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5acGxguFiyo

I asked him to get 16 down tight, the Swung 16ths Funk.

September 19th, 2023

We started with Rolling in the Deep. First verse was great! Bit of a mistake on second verse. Fill going into second chorus needs a few minutes work. It's close! Second chorus is perfect, though. Verse 3 is almost perfect until the last bar! Great fill going into the last chorus! That's what I like to see! Ending nearly perfect.

I Want It That Way: Great until fill going into second chorus. Good job in fill going into bridge. Nearly perfect.
End of Bridge fill 95% perfect.

Key change chorus: great job first two times. Fill going into third time was a bit messy.

22 Drums beats: work especially on number 11, number 15 (skip 16 of you want) 17

The new song this week is Perfect by Ed Sheeran:
https://youtu.be/heFkdb974DI

September 12th, 2023

Harrison did really well on Faded! Adele's song was good too, but let's do another week of Rolling In the Deep - watch the fills, try to get it perfect.

We added Backstreet Boys, I Want It That Way:
https://youtu.be/CVye7YjEqIo

Here's an exercise to work on, 22 Drum Beats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5acGxguFiyo

September 5th, 2023

We talked about what Harrison wanted to do this year. He said he would like to learn, and to have fun doing it. He said maybe he could move around a bit on different instruments.

He said he didn't think he could practise more than one or two songs a week.

We started out with review of a past song, Thriller. Great job, and some of the parts Harrison had struggled with last year he's managed to get. That big fill in the last third was still a stumble, but everything else was good.

We then added a harder song, Faded by Alan Walker:
https://youtu.be/XGbkorIV8_c

It's got lots of different sections, strange parts, interesting fills, and off-beat accents.

We then added Adele, Rolling in the Deep. This is surprisingly hard.
https://youtu.be/iIi9glOjygk

It has some 16ths etc. on kick, and changes to sections.

May 23rd, 2023

Started with Sweet Child of Mine. Sounds pretty good, though would be much better and more accurate with practise. The 4-and kick is a little late. Overall volume was more appropriate when he was thinking about it. 7/10

Just for some review and some fun, we reviewed an old song, "Yellow" by Cold Play. Sometimes some dragging of time. I gave him an 8/10 considering the timing slow-downs.

We then reviewed Dance Monkey too. Also a bit of slow down on time. A few little "not reading carefully" mistakes... 7/10

Michael Jackson Thriller: Strong beginning! Too bad with those fills otherwise it would be a 9! 8/10

Bon Jovi, It's My Life, great job! We ended in the middle but I gave him a 9/10 for that much.

May 16th, 2023

Harrison isn't coming in today.

May 9th, 2023

We started with review, and Harrison is doing great! Man, if this kid practised, he's blow the world away. I'd have to tell him to find another teacher, because he'd be better than me!!

This week we added "Sweet Child of Mine," because Harrison said his band was learning it. It has some fun pushes through out it, which we focused on.

It helps Harrison if he stops on section that he's not getting and reads and listens.

We also tried to work on not playing so loudly. It's fun to hit those skins, but a good drummer can play to the room size.

May 2nd, 2023

Harrison did really well on drums today. We played through the two harder ones from last week, and though not perfect, were very good.

We then added a couple of new ones, including very challenging one that he's doing well on already. The hardest part will be around the bar 87 mark, approx. 3:18 in:

Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShuNUbZVn50

We also did Spice Girls, Wannabe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BJU0gCZgP0

and Mike Perry, The Ocean:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PneYcwLz2LM

Great job, Harrison! Keep it up.

April 25th, 2023

Unfortunately, I had another adult student scheduled in this slot this week (an hour spot at 2:30, scheduled two months ago), but she gave up her slot. It would be helpful to me if you can keep an eye on the calendar in the future, especially when doing switches from regularly scheduled slots.

Harrison hadn't been working on the song-writing things I gave him to do last time, and couldn't decide what he wanted to work on today. We settled on adding some more drum songs.

Can't Feel My Face:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aieFH9ODJGU
Stayin' Alive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Fza2ZuRLE
Rollin in the Deep:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIi9glOjygk
Let Her Go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdvnKHbHMVA

The last two have the most challenges in them, so if should especially focus there.

He's really got a natural talent for playing drums, and he's a decent reader! As he gets older and decides to commit to practising I can see him doing really well in music.

March 21st, 2023

Harrison had forgotten to write a new song, so we finished up his recording and I exported it. I'll email it out later.

I then helped walk him through how to write a song again, and he put down some chords and lyric ideas.

I asked him to make a concerted effort to develop that this week, and next, and we can record it when he next comes in.

February 28th, 2023

Harrison created an alternate part for the song he's writing and we recorded it, then moved sections of the song around a bit for an arrangement.

We added some bass parts to the song that were missing here and there. I think the song is essentially finished, so he's going to write another song to record in two weeks.

He is nervous he'll forget, so I suggested he ask his mom or dad to remind him.

February 14th, 2023

Harrison had forgotten to write or made another piano part for this song. He said he hadn't really practised or done any music this week.

I suggested we go back to drums and learn another song. We worked our way through Highway to Hell:
https://youtu.be/AJQuqSujhB0?list=PLVR4Pzl5lJZ1AS5TQlGil7jhKO9_x9fGc

We focused especially on areas he was having difficulty reading and playing.

I asked him that in two weeks when I see him next, he has written that part for his song and perfected the drums of Highway to Hell.

February 7th, 2023

February 7th, 2023

We worked on Harrison's song some more today, adding drum parts. He said he wanted a chorus (which I agree with), something a little more resolving... the rest of the song is building to it.

We tried a few ideas, recorded a chord background, and he played around with a melody over it. I tried to show him ways to make it hooky / catchy, and he said he would try working on that this week.

January 31st, 2023

January 31st, 2023

We continued working on Harrison's song. He hadn't worked on any alternate melodies to make a chorus or bridge from, so we just added some other parts to the first verse.

We added an electric guitar part and some pads to the verse so far.

If he could make time to experiment, I think it would help him when he comes, and the song would really benefit from a different idea.

January 24th, 2023

Harrison started working on a new song today - he had forgotten to write something over the last week, so we did it in the lesson, and recorded some of his ideas. I suggested he come up with another part so it's not too repetitive - a chorus to go with his versre, for example.

January 17th, 2023

Today we recorded Ukulele and shaker... we might be done, or we could try adding more percussion.

If Harrison wants to do something else, have him pick another song to learn, or maybe write a new song, or something like that.

January 10th, 2023

We re-recorded the drums on Harrison's song tonight. We tried to add bass too, but had some issues with the sound system buzzing. We'll try that again.

I suggested he learn three chords on the uke: D minor, C, and G, so he can add that next week.

January 3rd, 2023

December 27th, 2022

December 20th, 2022

Harrison rescheduled to 7 pm and we continued working on his new song.

We added a couple of more keyboard parts (pads and a lead), and talked about EQ, sonic space (making room for different instruments by considering the tone they fill / bassy or tinny, etc).

December 13th, 2022

Harrison recorded his song in my studio today, first piano, and then drums.

We'll continue adding to this over the next few lessons.

December 6th, 2022

Good job on the reading! Keep working on it, getting all the parts tight, and remembering what is a hi tom, mid tom, snare, low tom, kick, etc.

Easy reading *start with this every day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIMQya8u6Qc

Harder, pay attention reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ssC7VfkQWE

We added a new song, Counting Stars by One Republic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehOEV2ruvnY&list=RDehOEV2ruvnY

November 29th, 2022

Easy reading *start with this every day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIMQya8u6Qc

Harder, pay attention reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ssC7VfkQWE

Maroon 5, Lucky Strike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O97x0BDLvag&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

November 22nd, 2022

We had some difficulty deciding on a song this week, because Harrison struggles with songs that are the next level. He doesn't want to do easy songs, but he also doesn't want to practice which he says he feels bad about.

We're going to take a break from songs for a while and instead work on just sight reading.

Go through this video this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIMQya8u6Qc&ab_channel=InyoSoro

November 15th, 2022

Harrison and I decided to spend the lesson time just working on the fill -- we made it basically a practice session

https://www.looper.tube/?v=xHJrjvUVFP4&s=120.8&e=141.6&spd=0.85

The above link is to the fill that he hasn't been working on at home... try to make the time to work on it this week, you're so close!! Blow me away! :)

November 8th, 2022

We went over Don't Look Back in Anger and Ghostbusters. Harrison has been not able to practice because of his wrist, so hadn't been working on them. I asked him to finish up that one part he hasn't learned yet in Ghostbusters.

Don't Look Back in Anger is pretty good already, but try to refine and improve it, especially the fills.

Then the new one, Nirvana, Come As You Are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCpMWWzgAPM&ab_channel=Drummer-Tube

He'd already been working on it, but there were a few little details that he was missing which I showed him through.

October 25th, 2022

Harrison did really well on the Ghostbusters fills that he'd been faking before! Amazing... now there's another section that needs the same focus, so let's work on that this week...

We also added Don't Look Back in Anger, which has lots of complex reading in it which also had a fair amount of faking today... which makes me think we should do some regular reading exercises as part of lessons each week... I'll put something together to work on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xQDhAVqfc8&list=RD8xQDhAVqfc8&start_radio=1&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

October 18th, 2022

I showed Harrison how to install a looper in Google Chrome, so that he can work on the fills he's having trouble with.

He said he should be able to figure that out at home, but let me know if there are issues and I can try to help.

We went through a few of the harder Ghost Buster fills together a dozen times, and then for the last 15 minutes just played through the song to put it into context.

We also went over Levitating again to end on an up note! :)

UPDATE: There's a website I found that might help Harrison, called Looper.tube. Here's a link:
https://www.looper.tube/?v=xHJrjvUVFP4&s=43.8&e=66.5&spd=0.75

October 11th, 2022

Harrison wants to return to drums. In the songs we were working through today, the same thing happens in that he just makes up his own parts which are similar, instead of really reading the parts. I want him to grow as a drummer, and he has to learn to play them as written to do that.

Also, please watch dynamics. Everything doesn't need to be loud... give yourself someplace to go.

Here are this week's songs:

Monster, Imagine Dragons (
Here's a drum tutorial:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbs2JSVh8Yo&ab_channel=LearnSomeDrums

Ghost Busters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHJrjvUVFP4&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

Levitating, Dua Lipa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvWTOEVOeno&list=RD7f1FhdSwY5M&index=3&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

Happier, Marshmello:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvWTOEVOeno&list=RD7f1FhdSwY5M&index=2

Closer, The Chainsmokers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvWTOEVOeno&list=RD7f1FhdSwY5M&index=2&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

October 4th, 2022

September 27th, 2022

Harrison came in with the song he was working on. He had developed the first "A" section a bit, but only in how intensely he played it. I suggested moving the melody up a bit, or changing the chords. We played with a couple of those ideas, and I played along with him on the guitar while he tried them out.

For the last half of the lesson, we looked at the drum solo he is going to do in Iron Man. I showed him some techniques to make the solo sound bigger.

September 20th, 2022

We started something different today, learning to write a song. I explained motifs, themes, and 2/4/8 bar sections to make verses and choruses.

He came up with two different ideas, and we fleshed them out together.

his homework is to finish that idea, and make a song with the chords and the melody.

September 13th, 2022

Harrison came with Holly, his mom, today and we talked through Iron Man, as far as playing it with the band in a way that makes it easiest for them to not lose their place.

Remember that you're just one part of the whole, so don't do anything that makes you stick out too much.

We ended the lesson playing Thriller, by Michael Jackson. Learn those fills correctly! ;-)

September 6th, 2022

Harrison played through Don't Want to Miss a Thing, and Because of You.
Because of You needs some more work, so keep going on that. We agreed that since he's going into his second year with me, we should up the game a bit. I want him to really work on the fills to play them just like the music.
https://youtu.be/pLOGfxfeazg

Here's a plugin for Chrome that lets you loop portions of a video:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/loop%20part%20of%20youtube%20video

We also added Iron Man:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBSK2DThL4M&ab_channel=AtomMusicSchoolTomGillgan

June 8th, 2022

June 1st, 2022

Bad Liar is pretty hard - I told him we should take a break from it for a while - maybe come back to it in the fall.

We went through the Aerosmith song, and he's really come along on it! Good job. Let's do it one more week.

We also added Kelly Clarkson, Because of You:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWws7UQmPdI

Got some interesting fills with sextuplets and kicks that alternate between eighths and sixteenths.

May 25th, 2022

Harrison brought his friend Liam Bowan along today- he didn't practice this week on either song, so we'll do them again for next week.

May 18th, 2022

We went through the songs from last week - he said he was kind of avoiding Bad Liar, and kinda forgot about it again... here's the link again:
Imagine Dragons, Bad Liar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-d5a_lANfw&ab_channel=MagicDrumSheets

It is a bit hard, but I think he can do it, especially if he works hard on that hi hat part.

I reminded him to not play so loud-- it's all way too loud, and the volume is fun, but doesn't always fit with the song, and doesn't give him a place to go.

Also, more time is needed in learning the fills accurately.

We added a new song, Don't Want To Miss A Thing by Aerosmith:
https://youtu.be/pLOGfxfeazg

May 11th, 2022

We reviewed last week's songs - he'd forgotten what they were, so we went over them again. The links are below again for him to work on this week.

Imagine Dragons, Bad Liar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-d5a_lANfw&ab_channel=MagicDrumSheets

Imagine Dragons, Bones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsJnjsed8X4&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

Imagine Dragons, Follow You:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsJnjsed8X4&ab_channel=DRUMMATE


We also added a new song TNT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waMCMJD7bQk&ab_channel=AlbinReum%C3%BCller

May 4th, 2022

We went over Bones together, and Harrison did a great job. We decided to add another week to refine and improve the raw spots.

For the new song, Harrison struggled a bit with the fast sixteenth kick where the temptation is to play the hat the same way.

We went over it a few times, but he was tired from the road race today, so we decided to just give him the week to work it out.

Imagine Dragons, Bad Liar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-d5a_lANfw&ab_channel=MagicDrumSheets

April 27th, 2022

Great job on Uptown Funk! A few little things, I'd give you an 87% on that one, testing hard.

Imagine Dragons, Bones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsJnjsed8X4&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

We then added two more - on the first one, really watch that you play quarters on the high hat, not eighths.

Imagine Dragons, Follow You:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsJnjsed8X4&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

On this one, it's got a crazy double kick- do your best, but don't worry if you can't do it.

April 20th, 2022

Great job today - Really did well on Don't Start Now, and we added Mark Ronson, Uptown Funk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSQg-jrD3yA&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

This has some really fun parts in it, and some challenges too... Harrison played it nearly perfectly the first time, just SIGHT READING! I was very impressed.

Keep up the good work

April 13th, 2022

Harrison is doing really well - I asked him if he was still having fun and if he wanted me to "fun it up" for him, and he said he was stilling loving it-- so-- that's great!

We went over Stronger, and he really did well... sme of the fills were a little bit rushed, but generally I was quite happy with it.

We added Don't Start Now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e3tYgCButA&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

April 6th, 2022

We reviewed Hold On a few times - he said he hadn't practiced much this week because of hockey, so things still weren't perfect, but it was pretty good. It's great if he can make the time to work on it more.
To keep things interesting, we added a song by Kelly Clarkson, Stronger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5urTcnrK61E&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

March 30th, 2022

Harrison is doing well on Eye of the Tiger. I told him we could move on from that one.

We also reviewed Hold On a few times, as there are lots of issues there. Try to focus lots of practice on that, paying special attention to the drum fills, changes of sections, using the right tom toms / floor toms, etc.

Also try to find a new song that you'd like to learn.

March 23rd, 2022

Harrison has been away a couple of weeks, but he said he hadn't practiced Eye of the Tiger any, so it's on the docket again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJmo7g69TOM&ab_channel=AtTheDrum

He's done well on Closer by Chainsmokers, other than the fills, which are kind of "random," and not accurate to the notation. I'd love it if he could put some focus into those.

We added Justin Bieber, Hold On:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxc_NiA61Jo&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

March 16th, 2022

Harrison will be away today.

March 9th, 2022

Harrison will be away this day.

March 2nd, 2022

Great job, today! We reviewed the songs he was working on last week, "Attention," and "Boulevaard of Broken Dreams" - he got them quite close!

This week we added Closer by the Chainsmokers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed9mYhaAgss&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

And I'd also like him to work on Eye of the Tiger by Survivor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJmo7g69TOM&ab_channel=AtTheDrum

The notation is a little different in this video, which throws Harrison off a bit, but it's good to get used to other forms of notation.

February 23rd, 2022

Today is Harrison's birthday so he won't be here.

February 9th, 2022

Harrison did a great job on the last two songs! I was very happy!

We added a new song by Charlie Puth, called Attention

https://youtu.be/t19zOKMfqYA

February 2nd, 2022

We reviewed Treasure - Harrison is doing really well - I am very happy with how he learned this one, and he nailed the fills.

We added two new songs this week by Green Day: Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FqE5hCdbYI&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Rnh_yKE3I&ab_channel=DRUMMATE

January 26th, 2022

Harrison is doing so well, I'm really happy with how he's progressing! He's a very talented young man!

We continued working through Treasure today, and focused on a few of the fills he was struggling with. Next week, we'll add another song if he's got this one wrapped up.

January 19th, 2022

Harrison did an amazing job tonight. I am regularly amazed at how talented this boy is.

We went over Moves Like Jagger once, and then added a new song, "Treasure" by Bruno Mars.

It's a bit harder than the other ones we've been doing, but he really nailed it. We worked through a few of the fills, and they need some intentional focus at home. He shouldn't just coast through them, or guess them, but I want him to really learn them like the notation in the video.

https://youtu.be/E-0fqJYsPk4

January 12th, 2022

Harrison is feeling sick tonight.

January 5th, 2022

First we went through Billie Jean, and he really did well on it (although missing where the fills go a bit)-- For the other song, Harrison had worked on Sugar instead of Moves Like Jagger, so I listened to him play it, but then we went through the latter a couple of times.

I asked him to work on it this week, and to think of a new song he'd like to learn.

December 29th, 2021

I missed Harrison tonight. Happy New Year! (And thanks for the yummy banana bread!)

December 22nd, 2021

I guess Harrison forgot to come tonight?

December 8th, 2021

We finished up with Natural - great job on it Harrison! I'm regularly amazed at how quickly he learns. He has a "natural" talent!

We spoke briefly about the fills - he's doing his own thing on them, which is fine, but I encouraged him to try to learn them as written, as they are often more difficult than the regular repetitive beat, and will help give him experience as drum parts get harder in the future.

We added a couple of new songs to work on. They were both a bit easier than usual, so that's why two for this week:

Michael Jackson, Billie Jean:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V29FNfECL9k

Moves Like Jagger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCWa3TMSNTw

December 1st, 2021

Harrison won't be here Wednesday night - he is coming in Tuesday in Felicia's spot.

No charge for this lesson, as I forgot he was coming on Tuesday night! (So embarrassed!)

November 24th, 2021

Great job on Free Fallin! And great job picking a challenging song, in Natural by Imagine Dragons! It wasn't easy, and it's a good next step for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6m_AQBfaL0

This week continue on that one, and work also on Butter to show me next week (and wrap up). No need to work on Free Fallin' anymore, unless to work on the sixteenth note parts on the snare (like the rim shot in Natural).

November 17th, 2021

Harrison played Butter through for me, and did really well on it.

We added Free Fallin' by Tom Petty. He said he found it a little boring, but he's got stuff in there that's good to learn, so I'd like him to spend a bit of time working on it this week.

Don't forget the kick volume, the snare (played like a high-hat on 16ths on the third verse (or thereabouts).

I told him to look through the Drummate channel on YouTube and try to find a song that's just a bit challenging to him, that we can use to push him into the next area.

November 10th, 2021

Harrison said he felt scared of Butter, but then tried it late in the week and realized it wasn't so bad. I think he tends to think he "can't do it," which is a common feeling for people when they are detail oriented. Stepping back a bit and looking at what parts of the song one can ALREADY play can help break it down into manageable pieces.

After going through Butter a few times, we reviewed It's My Life again, which he had still be practising.

November 3rd, 2021

Harrison did really well on It's My Life - especially the second time through.

We added Ed Sheeran, Perfect:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VHlUlYEDl6Q

This is a pretty easy one, so in the extra time you have this go over Thriller, and Circles a couple of times.

We also added Butter by BTS:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=BPmAHeCZDSs

October 27th, 2021

Harrison played through Thriller for me, and we worked on some of the fills which he has been having troubles with. Keep working on it, get those fills perfect.

We then added Circles by Post Malone, which is pretty easy. Go over it once or twice this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P69ooyukIKs

We then tried Bon Jovi, It's my life. It's a bit harder, it has some challenging spots which we talked a bit about.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=won1f_dp6Gg

October 20th, 2021

We went through both songs, and Harrison did a great job on both of them. He said with two hockey practices a week, it's hard to find time to practice, but it helps he's got a lot of natural talent.

We added Thriller by Michael Jackson:
https://youtu.be/SPAd-4dzFu0

This has some fun fills in it!

October 13th, 2021

We started off with going over Yellow! Great job!

Harrison said he didn't really use the video for practicing with, but I'd like him to especially in the beginning so he can get a good idea of how the notes work with the various drums.

We reviewed the quarter note and eighth note beats, then added the sixteenth. He seems a little scared to try it, but I kept him working through it and I think he'll be fine.

We tried to find another song to work on, and settled on Dance Monkey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAmgEaQ3fCk

See you Wednesday!

October 6th, 2021

We started off the lesson with doing We Will Rock You, which may have been a little easy for Harrison:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoWhB0U_P9Q

But he did it well.

We then worked out many of the details of Yellow, though we ran out of time before we were done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssz69tFTS7Y

October 4th, 2021

Harrison's 6:30 lesson is moved to Wednesday at 3.

September 27th, 2021

Good job playing Seven Nation Army. There were three things I noticed in your playing:

1. Don't forget about cymbals having a kick with them. (in the crash / tom tom tom part)
2. Don't hold down the stick on the head of the drum - touch it and let go so the drum will ring
3. Hold your elbows relaxed, don't lift them so far from your body.

In Back in Black, there's a little snare flam in the highhat-snare-highhat-snare-highhat-snare part, right after those three. (a flam is when you hit a drum twice, really close together).

We added a new song for working at home on his own, Yellow by Cold Play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssz69tFTS7Y

September 20th, 2021

We added a song last week, called 7 Nation Army.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3qy8H6-5WY

This particular video shows the drummer playing so he can practice, and it will help him not forget what to do.

He played it through for me this week at the start of the lesson. He rushed the chorus part a bit at the beginning, but was able to find the right time within a bar or two. The following choruses weren't a problem however.

He did play just a little too loudly, but this is common in young players. It's fun to make so much noise!

We then moved onto the second new song from last week, Back in Black:
https://youtu.be/Kiq9HDUkNxg

He did well with this. He missed the flam in the verse fills, and kick on the three-crash fill at the end of the chorus. We went over that and he really nailed it. Keep working on that for next week.

We then added Imagine Dragons, Believer
https://youtu.be/YVFHuwoIJ40

September 13th, 2021

Today we went over the names of the drums, then worked on a quarter note beat, with crashes on beat 1.

Then we tried eighth note beats the same way.

Then we added two songs:
Seven Nation Army:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3qy8H6-5WY

Back in Black:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kiq9HDUkNxg