Hello!
This blog post is the first of many more to come surrounding my In-Depth Project this year! Follow me as I take you along on the five-month long journey of my In-Depth.
What is In-Depth?
In Depth is a five-month long project run by TALONS, centered around learning a skill of the learners’ choice. Throughout the duration of the project, they will regularly meet with a mentor/expert on their skill and increase their knowledge and skill on their subject. Near the end of the project, each person will create a final showing of their learning to share with the rest of the class on In-Depth night.
What Am I Doing for In Depth?
For In Depth 2022, I will be learning the drums! My goal this year is to really get an understanding of the drums as an instrument and learn how to play and create my own lines and rhythms.
I will be starting my In Depth with first learning a bit about the instrument itself. What are the pieces of a drum kit called? What is its history? With this baseline knowledge, I’ll be able to have a good foundation for learning with my mentor. I then want to start learning a few small and easy rhythms from my mentor. Another small skill or piece of information that I want to ask my mentor about in the beginning is also how to practice! Anyone can give me a piano or bass guitar and know to practice scales or arpeggios, but with a drum I am absolutely lost. I think a good place to start would be to learn a few practice exercises, this way I have a very clear outline in my head of what to do when I sit down at a drum set. I need to be able to know how to sit at a drum set, how to hold the sticks and how to move around and with it. From there I can more difficult rhythms and fills and challenge myself with harder songs or exercises. Near the end of my project, I plan to choose a few songs that I will prepare for my final show of learning. I then want to piece this and a few clips of me drumming to show my progress from the beginning to the very end.
(a copy of the brief timeline for my project)
| Contact and find mentor (paperwork)
Learn history behind the drums, research based learning |
Week 1 |
| Contact and find mentor (paperwork)
Learn history behind the drums, research based learning Try small easy rhythms on the drum set |
Week 2 |
| Contact and find mentor (paperwork)
Learn history behind the drums, research based learning Try small easy rhythms on the drum set First meeting with mentor |
Week 3 |
| Contact and find mentor (paperwork)
Try small easy rhythms on the drum set Work on practice exercises Learn posture and proper technique |
Week 4 |
| Meeting with mentor
Work on practice exercises Learn harder rhythms and fills Learn posture and proper technique |
Week 5 |
| Learn harder rhythms and fills | Week 6 |
| Meeting with mentor
Learn harder rhythms and fills |
Week 7 |
| Practice, Practice, Practice, learn new rhythms and fills | Week 8 |
| Meeting with mentor
Practice, Practice, Practice, learn new rhythms and fills |
Week 9 |
| Practice, Practice, Practice, learn new rhythms and fills | Week 10 |
| Meeting with mentor
Practice, Practice, Practice, learn new rhythms and fills |
Week 11 |
| Practice, Practice, Practice, learn new rhythms and fills | Week 12 |
| Meeting with mentor
Practice, Practice, Practice, learn new rhythms and fills Choose final songs |
Week 13 |
| Practice, Practice, Practice, learn new rhythms and fills
Practice final songs |
Week 14 |
| Meeting with mentor
Practice, Practice, Practice, learn new rhythms and fills Practice final songs |
Week 15 |
| Practice, Practice, Practice, learn new rhythms and fills
Practice final songs |
Week 16 |
| Meeting with mentor
Continue practicing my chosen songs, try a few new concepts and rhythms myself |
Week 17 |
| Continue practicing my chosen songs, try a few new concepts and rhythms myself | Week 18 |
| Meeting with mentor
Continue practicing my chosen songs, try a few new concepts and rhythms myself |
Week 19 |
| Continue practicing my chosen songs, try a few new concepts and rhythms myself | Week 20 |
Why?
This year, I decided that drumming was the skill I wanted to learn. Although I’ve learned piano and even bass last year, I have never played an instrument quite like the drums. Percussion instruments like the drums are a completely new world of playing music to me, and that’s so exciting! The fact that someone can put their emotions and feelings into hitting a few drums to create rhythms that are universal to everyone is so cool. Drumming was always something that my cousins or brother played, so I’ve grown up with the feeling of the thump of bass drum in my ear, but I’ve never played before. The farthest I’ve ever gotten was probably a few random and offbeat hits of the bass and snare along to a song that I was into at the time, even then, I’ve never stuck with it simply because I didn’t know how to. The drums are a powerful instrument! Playing an instrument so energetically and powerfully seems like such a blast!
image of my brother/dad’s drum kit at home that I will practice on
My Mentor
My mentor this year is my dad, Rodney! My dad has played the drums for a very long time, throughout high school up to the present day. He played casually after high school, and as an adult in a band with his friends called ‘Just for Tonight’ who he’s preformed with a number of times. With experience in concert music, Jazz and rock and roll, he’s been able to explore different styles and types of drumming. We have an electric drum set at home, so this will make it easier to learn and play together.
Resources
My Mentor won’t be my only resource for information this year. I also plan to use a lot of online websites and videos such as the ones listed below to learn a few skills. I am also very lucky to have a few leftover music sheets from my brother when he was beginning to learn the drums that he will let me use.
Progress So Far
I have done research already on the drums and its history already. I learned the parts of a drum by looking online and talking to my mentor. I was also able to watch a documentary with my dad on the drums and a bit of its history, background and famous players. I had my first meeting with my mentor to talk about dates for meetings and what the next few months or weeks of learning will look like.
drum set labelled
Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you in the nest post. Until next time!