Morning reading: Indirect Procedures, by Alcantara, Chapter 16: Daily Practice (again)
Sightread Bach Violin Sonata, to ‘clear the air’ 😉
Snare drum/drumset
Warmup/Improv/Technique – improvised with singles (first hands only, then added feet), moving into rudimental style improv, then settled into a sparse linear groove and played around that for a while. I thought a bit about the tension that built in my left foot during last practice session, but didn’t try ‘working’ on anything around it.
I also thought about sightreading, but decided that I really didn’t want to. 😉 So, instead, I played along with a few tracks of The Roots, and a few tracks of Fela Kuti. My BD foot started getting tense during a fast tune with a samba bass pattern… I kept playing with the tension probably longer than I should have, but my awareness was solid.
FYI – my dream job as a drummer is playing with The Roots. 😉
Rip Tide
Warmup/Improv/Technique – Worked at drumset a bit to start this piece – working on BD (single foot) speed, endurance, and flexibility. Changed tempos a bit, playing mostly singles in hands, and often double stops on toms (in lieu of playing double stops on marimba).
Sightread – Bach again, different Violin Sonata – a fugue that requires four-mallets that I played with two-mallets, challenging myself to determine – as I was sightreading – the right notes to play/not play in order to best maintain the voices of the fugue.
Mm. 153-end – read through RH part with both hands, read through LH part with both hands (new physical and mental connections for memorization)
Mm. 94-152 – read through all 2x (hands only) slowly and softly, without metronome, around 110bpm; then, with metronome on at 122-134bpm, worked in sections, focusing on choreography/movement/use of self when picking up tempo, when hitting wrong notes, when playing more challenging sections… for the most part, I was able to maintain relaxed use, as I was noticing tension before it arrived… or, rather, I knew where I had the tendency to tense up, and why, and was therefore able to prevent it from happening. 😉
