For my initial assessment, I played the intro, first verse and chorus of Use Somebody by Kings Of Leon. This is due to me having played it before and knowing the parts of the song.
I only played half of the song due to a mistake I made transferring from the chorus to the second verse which lead to me getting fed up of playing the song.
I need to improve on my timing due to me falling out of time with the track and not being able to maintain the tempo of the song. I also need to work on the dynamics of how I play because I fade from quiet to loud to fast and too sudden on the recording which means it needs work. I could also work on my rudiments like my paradiddles and triplets and sixteenth notes for certain songs.
I also think I need to work on my fills on the drums because the timing between notes needs a little space and some of them need accenting on the drums to make them sound more unique than what they sounded like originally.
I also need to improve playing full songs because if I can’t play the full song then I’m no use on the course.
I used the original video for inspiration when recording my version of the song due to it being the original and within the style that I’m comfortable with.
I also need to listen to the drum beat for the song more clearly to get all the parts correct instead of going off of what I know off the top of my head.
I think it went okay from what I have listened to with what I have practiced and the rudiments used during the piece. I also think my performance of the song is better than it was last year due to knowing what to play where in the song, like the chorus straight out of verse 1.
I also use the audio backing track for the vocal guitars and bass which removed the drums from the track so it was easier to place the drums I was playing on top of the track in the recording. It also helped with not having to remove the audio from the drums off of the original track.
I also used the live version of the song to get an idea of where the drums lay in the track due to live recording sounding completely different to the original track. It also helped with figuring how out of time I was with the track due to it being a live performance of the song which meant they likely went out of time sometimes.
Smart Targets
specific: for my specific target I’ve decided to work on my timing and dynamics so I can play in time with the music and hit the same dynamics as in the music we get taught how to play
Measurable: I will be able to tell if I have improved by looking back at old work I have completed and compare work to that.
Achievable: this is within my practical ability do to being able go adapt and learn at a good pace.
Relevant: this is relevant due to needing to be able to play in time with the music we’re learning at college.
Time-Bound: I will give myself till the start of project 5 to achieve this target.
second smart target
Specific: another specific target I’ll work on are my drum fills and adding accents to them to make them sound different from one another.
Measurable: I will know that I’ve improved by looking back at old work and evaluating my newer work from comparisons to the older work.
Achievable: this is achievable if i stick to a practice schedule of 2 hours a day.
Relevant: this is relevant to me due to using fills in most songs I play so it would be nice to expand my technical ability behind the drum kit.
Time-bound: I will give myself till the start of project 5 to achieve this target.
specific: my specific target is to be able to play full songs instead of just snippets.
measurable: this is measurable by playing along to music more frequently than I do.
achievable: this is achievable if I stick to a practice routine and don’t sway from what I’m doing and play along to songs over and over to learn the grooves.
relevant: this is relevant because it’ll help me throughout the year to play along with other students and know my parts much easier.
time bound: I’ll give myself to the end of project 5 to complete this target