one of my best lessons ever

[NUTHA JASON]

I discovered a great use for the much despised TAB. and the results have been wonderful particularly since almost all the results have been pupil generated. cool syncopation and weird permutations and loads of thoughtful discussion. to see a full description of the lesson and hear sound files visit:

http://jasonhorsler.tripod.com/id98.html

i would love it if some of you tried this out and posted your results in this thread.

j

[fourstringdrums]

Good idea J. I'll have to keep this one in mind. I'm trying to get my student who is furthest along to be creative when it comes to making up his own fills so this idea would work well.

[NUTHA JASON]

i didn't think of using it for fills only grooves but let me know how you present it and how it turns out.

j

[jayp]

Great idea J, Its a nice way of introducing a method of transcribing, also it probably helps them out with their counting giving them a distinct place for each note and also helps with learning note values ect... Love the idea keep it up.

[Vinnysimmo]

Interesting.....................

[millerdakiller]

Cool idea, i like the one by sarah the best.
the one by ju hun isn't bad either.


Question, do you only teach girls? haha


I think i might try this tonight, if i like any of the ideas i'll post them.


This is a really neat idea for teaching kids to be creative, i think i might steal this from you. With your permission of course.

[maddrummr]

I liked the first one the best. I put my own stuff into it and created a latin-like groove on the bell with some eighth notes and some work on the toms. I would post it if i had something to record with.

[toddy]

i have to say i really like this idea i think it would be a nice way for beginners to start transcribing their work.

[NUTHA JASON]

thanks guys. i just got back from the girl's school and sarah and isabella have each bought loads of new stuff to the lesson. i didn't touch my prepped material at all.we spent the whole lesson whittling their ideas. really intelligent discussions and loads of options. This really is the perfect follow-up on a set of syncopation lessons. BTW i taught this lesson after 2 syncopation lessons and a lesson on bonham's syncopation (we did levi breaks and i demonstrated 'ramble on')

j

[Big_Philly]

I've got a drum lesson coming up this afternoon and I'll be sure to give it a go. I've been looking for ways for my pupil to get creative and think of her own stuff.

[NUTHA JASON]

cool good luck. please post up the results.

j

[Big_Philly]

Well I tried it and both I and Rosalin had a great time. When I told her to place random x's she went sort of wild as you can see, the top example in the attachment is what she first came up with. It sounds a bit like a Bossa if you try it. Or at least, it reminded me of a Bossa. Cool as it sounds, she had the hardest time playing it (it is pretty complex, she's 10 years old and has been drumming since late august). It takes her a lot of trial-and-error to get this first one right.

So the second try I gave her a limit: 7 x's, tops. She did 8 of them anyway but alright... the bottom example is what she came up with. This also took some practise to actually play but wasn't too big of a deal.

All in all it's a very fun lesson to experiment with. I also made her play with dynamics by turning some notes into ghost notes, and I had her add a note here and there or maybe shift one, and showed her the consequences.

By the way: I'm still a little uncertain as to what I should do when a pupil obviously struggles with an exercise. Should I just let them struggle until they get it done while pointing out what goes wrong (unless it takes too long of course)? Or should I skip to the next exercise after 5 or 10 attempts?

[NUTHA JASON]

that's great.

as to your question i would simplify it somewhat. for example just work with the first bar then the next, then together. or listen to which notes ar giving her trouble and drop them until the other stuff is in place and then put them back or move them around. she did amazingly for a10 yr old!

sort of another approach to this lesson is to not just give them 6 Xs but ask them to put one down, then you put one, then them and so on until you feel it looks right. i've found sometimes 6 is too much. you might want to start with just 4 and then discuss the placement of the other two as they play. as in my example with isabella it started with 6 but after playing it for a while it really needed a carefully placed 7th.

j

[Big_Philly]

Thanks! I'm quite proud of her...
I already tried breaking it up into two separate bars and that often helps, but dropping a not from the pattern is something I've never tried but I'll certainly keep it in mind and try that.