Day 1

Practice Log- Day 1

(introduction & goals)

Hello, everyone. Very good to be back into the swing of things this year. This time however, a large focus of mine is to improve my drum playing exponentially by the end of December. My goals are rather basic and realistic, but very much time consuming. They are

1. Improve speed and accuracy of chops (feet and hands)

2. Develop a incredibly comfortable feel in 4/4 swing jazz

3. A moderate comfort zone in 3/4 jazz, 5/4 jazz, basic afro-cuban, latin (sambas and bossa nova are main priority).

4. Excel my already comfortable level of playing in Rock & Metal.

5. (Maybe) develop a sense of poly-rhythms applied in progressive metal (Periphery, Meshuggah, Animals as Leaders). 

6. Cover and Record 5-10 songs by December. 

  6a. Learn to mix and master drums (depends on if I can get the gear). 

To do this I have developed  a practice schedule of 2+ hours a day. This will most likely not be done in one sitting and will be broken up throughout the day. Also likely to change.

A. 30 minute chop session- 20 minutes on hands, 10 minutes on feet.

B. Jazz, 15 minutes of jazz exercises, 5 minute break, a continued 15 minutes.

C. Other styles, 15 minutes of exercises, 5 minute break, a continued 15 minutes.

D. 30 minute song focus. Pick up one song and try to cover. If to hard, focus on those chops and come back.

E. 30 minute chop session- 20 minutes on feet, 10 minutes on hands.

*Bound to change depending on what is needed, but the schedule does some up the general outline. 

As we gone on through the projects I will post updates of my chops once a week, and try to upload 1 video a week and things I'm practicing or what I do to improve my chops. 

Books I intend to work through

Art of Bop Drumming (Jazz)

Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer (Jazz)

Funky Thesaurus (Funk/Latin/Afro Cuban based book)

Bass Drum Control (Chops)

Stick Control (Chops)

I may pick up others as well depending on what style I feel I need to focus on. 

After this is all over, I expect a huge jump in my playing. I am hoping to continue this kind of practice routine after all this is over and develop a much bigger array of things I can play by the end of this year.