My Youtube Channel

Here is my YouTube Channel where I post stuff like guitar and vocal covers, bass covers, drum covers and some originals I write and perform.

Sami Lee on YouTube

Practice

A while back I had a practice timetable that fit into about 30-40 minutes including warm up and down time. I was told that I should try and do at least half an hour of drum practice every day, but without a drum kit set up at the moment, that's a little hard. Anyway, here's the practice sceduale:

Start - Warm Up - Do whatever to warm up your hands and legs to play
5 mins - 40 Bar Exercises - Choose a 40 bar exercise and play it
10 mins - Counting Practice - Triplets, eighth, sixteenth and thirty second
15 mins - Work on Song - Work on any song I'm having trouble with
20 mins - Work on Skills - Flams, rolls, accents, grooves, rhythmic summaries
25 mins - Counting Practice - Triplets, eighth, sixteenth, and thirty second
30 mins - 40 Bar Exercises - Choose another 40 bar exercise and play it
35 mins - Warm Down - Work on song and try and warm down a little

That was my old practice schedule, so I think I might make my new one a little longer, at least an hour, with more time to work on each song, but breaking up everything all the way through again. I shall work more on technique and also my songs, so I will incorporate less exercises and more song work.

I also had my first and second lesson with my new drum teacher Steve. He's a really good teacher and I've already learnt a lot. He's very lenient in the way he teaches and has taught me a lot on how to relax, how to sit behind a drum kit, how to tune a drum kit and how to improve my playing. This might seem like simple stuff, but I was never taught this before, so even going back to the basic stuff will help me a whole lot.

- Sami Lee

Song List

We have discussed the set list, here it is!

I Know What I Am - Band of Skulls
3's and 7's - Queens of the Stone Age
No One Knows - Queens of the Stone Age
Heatwave - The Living End
Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Different (original composition)

We have placed I Know What I Am first due to me singing on it, and I'll need to get the microphone out of the way. We've placed the QOTSA songs together, which might seem like a bad move, but both songs sound very different to one another. No One Knows must also go after a song where I don't have to set up or move anything, so Pat can grab and tune his guitar before and after. Then we've put our prescribed songs next, Heatwave first then Dani California because that song feels like it finishes off well, then we've finished our set with our original composition to show comparison between our piece and the songs we perform.


EDIT:


We are changing No One Knows to go first because its a song that shows off both mine and Pat's abilities and because to start off with a song where I sing and then for me to leave again would be a biit weird. Also kinda a little bit weirded out about also having to show off my stuff because 1. I do not feel like a very 'awesome' drummer, really only quite mediocre, but I want to change that and 2. Although I do want to do that stuff, I feel a little bit hoggy over Pat, because like, he's the front man, and even if I was in that position, there's still the rest of the band that deserves attention, don't just focus on me! I like directing people's attention towards me so I can avert it to the people I think need it more than I do. That's why I like playing with younger kids, lift their spirits up, they get to chill with the older kids, it makes them feel like they fit in. Sorry! Getting a bit carried away, I'll leave now

- Sami Lee

Page Navigation

Due to dificulities on this website, for now, all the links for pages will be posted to this post and then at a later date, I will work out how to post all of these pages to the side. I used to know how to do it, but it doesn't seem to be working at the moment. So here they are:

Home Page

Explaining Unit 4 Outcome 1 

Introduction to my Songs

Unit 4 Outcome 3

Outcome 3 includes documenting over the coming semester how everything is going. I will use the Blogger post feature to post comments and blog posts including pictures and videos about once a week to really document and show how I am going. So far, my set list includes:

• No One Knows, Queens of the Stone Age
• 3's and 7's, Queens of the Stone Age
• Heatwave, The Living End (prescribed song)
• Dani California, Red Hot Chili Peppers
• I Know What I Am, Band of Skulls
• Different (original composition)

And my focus statement is:

'Rhythmic and percussion techniques used on drum kit in modern alternative rock, 2000 to present.'

I am pleased with both of these and they shouldn't change to much in the next semester, four of the songs on the list we can play through, the only ones we need to work on are Heatwave and 3's and 7's which we shall start working on this week. 

I have the drums pretty much alright on 3's and 7's, but there are still elements I need to work on. Having a new drum teacher will also really help me and I cannot wait to start having lessons with him. Even just cleaning out the drum room, I learnt about tuning up drum kits, how to sit behind a drum kit a bit better and even how to set one up a whole lot better.
This term for music should be good, my goals are to get every song down pat by the end of the term so we can start working on more improvisation with some of the fills I'm doing.
And starting next week, we will be working after school on Wednesday's to rehears for the end of year concert/exam. Can't wait!

- Sami Lee

Hey There

My name's Sami, this is my blog all about my Year 12 musical journey. I'll start posting more and more about drums and my whole experience playing drums in the band I'm in. My band consists of me on drums, Pat on lead guitar and vocals, and Nick on bass. Pat and I are the only two getting assessed, as Nick is doing purcussion on contempary guitar for his year 12.
Pat and I are in year 11, Nick is in year 12. Pat and I will be doing music performance next year, like year 11 performance, but the year 12 version.

Here's my YouTube for videos of me playing guitar, drums and singing.

Enjoy my page, I'll start posting more in the future!

- Sami Lee