Music Lesson Transcript: Example 1 - Single Strokes

So, example 1: single strokes.

Playing Instructions

• I’m right-handed, and I'm going to play it as written, which is starting with the right hand.
• We’re playing quarter notes, so there’s lots of space between each beat.

If you want to count eighth notes:
1 and 2 and 3 and 4.

To make sure that you land in the right place, that’s okay. That's something I sometimes do myself.

Or, if you prefer to just think of the 1, 2, 3, 4, that’s also okay.

Practicing with Music

One more thing: because we’re lucky enough to have backing tracks to practice with, you can just enjoy the music! If you want, just enjoy playing along.

There is a metronome built into the backing track which is really useful. You’ll probably find it more inspiring to play to.

Demonstration

So, here’s an example of it.

• Just so you know, I’m going to play the first four bars the first time through.
• Then you’ll have a chance to play. I'll stop playing, and you can perform the four-bar exercise.
• After that, I’ll play it again, and then you can do it.

Let’s do it as written. I’ll take the first four bars, then you play it at home. The track will carry on playing, and then I’ll do it again, allowing you to play one more time.

1, 2, 3, 4.

Final Thoughts

Great! I hope that was comfortable for you to play.

We can always feel a little bit self-conscious trying to play something like this as precisely as possible. But as I've said, we're not machines; we're human. Just do the best you can do.

If you're having any trouble hitting those beats, you can always count the eighth notes:
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and...

But you should be okay with the backing track. It’s a nice track to play with, isn’t it?

Next Example

So now we’re going to go on to example 2, which is double strokes.