COMMUNITY – The Drummers Almanac

COMMUNITY

TDA COMMUNITY


This is just a general chat thread so students can interact with me and with other TDA students .

Have something to say... just post it down below!  For more personal comments, you can reach me directly through the "CONTACT US" page.

  • jsonic23 says:

    Welcome to the new TDA! This is my new comment feature section. In addition to this page, you’ll find a comment section at the bottom of each course unit.

  • Jerry Drauden says:

    Had trouble downloading material on sticking is there written material on sticking excises

    • jsonic23 says:

      Hey Jerry,
      Thanks for writing in… All exercises and most lessons have material to download. You’ll see a big green ‘Download Lesson Materials’ button under the video.

      If there is something missing, can you let me know specifically which lesson or exercise it is. Just copy the main title above the video and reply here.

    • jsonic23 says:

      I just checked… That first group of lessons in the Sticking course do not have download material… but all of the practice vids will. I’ll revisit those lessons, and see if there is anything I can include for downloadable material. If you have any suggestions after taking the lessons… let me know.

  • Barry Johnson says:

    I finally got a link to change my password (it was in the spam folder). But it isn’t working for me. It keeps bouncing me to the login page.

  • Randy Severino says:

    I found one.

    https://beta.thedrummersalmanac.com/module-2/rhythm-chart-90bpm-on-drums/

    this link was for Rhythm Chart but the video was a stick control exercise.

  • Angelo Nitsis says:

    Firstly congratulations on this wonderful new website. You asked about what practise plans you might look at next. As a new learner I find that at times the jump between the beginner speed and next speed is too much of a jump and would have liked a speed in between as a stepping stone to the next lesson. (I know more practise!) Cheers Angelo

    • jsonic23 says:

      Thanks Angelo,

      Yeah, that seems to be the consensus for a bunch of members, so that’s what I am gonna start working on this coming week.

  • William Lazard says:

    Hey Jay . Iā€™d like to see a jazz category on the Bata , especially on that fast Ride Jazz Cymbal technique . Thank Jay . Digging the new site šŸ¤œšŸ¤›šŸŽšāœŒļø

    • jsonic23 says:

      I have an outline for an entire Jazz course… starting from the basics of Jazz coordination all the way through advanced bebop. I can’t wait to start working on that. It’s probably my favorite style. It’s a little more advanced, so I don’t know how many members are gonna be able to utilize it… but it is on the docket and I’ll let you know when I start recording those lessons.

  • jsonic23 says:

    Hey Everyone, Keep those requests coming… As of now, I’ve had a bunch of members request closing the gaps on exercise tempos, particularly with the speed category. So I will probably be starting there for next week. Let me know which courses you’d like to see me add more videos.

  • Randy Severino says:

    Groove Breakdown. I Clicked on What is Hip. but the video is soul vaccination. here is the link.
    https://beta.thedrummersalmanac.com/module-3/what-is-hip-dave-garibaldi-on-drums/

  • Michael Schmidt says:

    Hi Jay .. was going through the sticking course and notice that the unit 2 video (supposed to be ‘single strokes’) is the same video as unit 1 (what is sticking?).

    Here’s a screen shot: https://imgur.com/a/oPkSH

  • jsonic23 says:

    Based on the email I just sent out… Do you think I should keep each link on the “My Courses” and “Practice Plans” pages opening in a new window/tab? … or do find this setting getting too cluttered up with multiple open tabs/windows on your device?

  • Angelo Nitsis says:

    Hi Jay
    Have no problem with a new window/ tab opening. cheers Angelo

  • Michael Schmidt says:

    Hi Jay … I agree with the idea that it’s too cluttering. Typically when I’m moving back to the Courses page it’s because I’m done with a lesson and ready to close it.

    I’m no UX expert but I think what may be causing you challenges is the fact that the course and practice plan navigation is actually embedded in the individual course pages themselves, instead of on the main menu page. If, for instance, on the My Courses page, each sub item (e.g., Getting Started, Rhythm, etc) expanded upon clicking to show a list (with links) of the individual lessons and practice sessions (e.g,. “What is Rhythm?”, “Rhythm Chart 50 bpm”) … then, clicking on one of these links could open a new tab, revealing that session itself. This would allow the user to close just the session tab when done, with the main menu tab still open for choosing the next lesson.

    Hope this makes sense.

    • jsonic23 says:

      Hey Michael, Thanks for the comment. Can I ask you… most often, are you using a computer or a mobile device when using the site? And.. if I am understanding you correctly… You are suggesting on the practice page to have each course open up to its unique course catalog, correct? Kind of like how each unit shows the entire course on the right side. that’s an interesting suggestion. I can look into that.

      • Michael Schmidt says:

        Hi Jay … I only use desktop (at least for now).

        On the My Courses landing page, having each of the sub-menus (Getting Started, Rhythm, etc) open up upon click (like the Practice Plans page currently does) to reveal the links to each lesson or practice session within that course. This would allow you to spawn a new tab when the lesson link is clicked, leaving the menu in place for when the user completes the lesson and closes the lesson tab.

        Like I said though, I’m no UX designer so there maybe lots of reasons not to do this (e.g., maybe it’s more cumbersome on mobile). But I might clean up navigation between course menus and the individual lessons.

        • Jay Fenichel says:

          I just finished up implementing the idea you suggested. In the next update, on the My Courses page… you’ll be able to drop down the entire course under each separate section. I also added those courses in a submenu in the main NAV. That should make finding and switching between courses very easy. Thanks for the suggestion.

  • Nick Vatalachos says:

    Hi everyone. I think that the multiple tabs “problem” is kinda justified. It can get kinda clattered.

    • Jay Fenichel says:

      That seems to be the consensus, so I went ahead and removed that from the ‘back to courses’ and ‘back to practice plans’ on the units. It turns out the “My Courses” page already had that feature disabled. Where I do still think it’s convenient is in the Practice Plans section. Assuming you are practicing 4 different exercises on say a Monday, I would think it would be nice to keep that page open and be able to open all of your exercises for the day in separate tabs… but again, I will do whatever the majority thinks works best and finds more convenient.

  • Michael Schmidt says:

    Hi Jay … Looks like your TLS certificate expired. Go yell at your web developer šŸ™‚

    https://imgur.com/a/eZlPQ

    • Jay Fenichel says:

      Yeah… apparently we went down while our SSL was updating. That was not supposed to happen, but Greg has already added a safeguard so that shouldn’t happen again… Sorry if it messed up your practice routine.

  • Angelo Nitsis says:

    Hi Jay
    Just another thought regarding future practice plans for Module 6 Apply stickings. Have been using practising Triplets on kit and your chop-builder course. Are any others in the pipe line ?
    cheers
    Angelo

    • Jay Fenichel says:

      Yes Angelo… I had just started working on the application lessons when we decided to rebuild the site. So I have a ton of lessons scheduled for each course… especially since the Apply It areas are so bare. My first priority is to round out some of the tempos in the practice areas that have really big gaps between BPM tempos… then I will be focusing on the ‘Apply it’ modules. If you have any preferences or ideas on what to develop and where I should be putting my focus, please continue to reach out and let me know. My door is completely open!

  • Matthew Stone says:

    Hey Jay, I’m late to commenting, but wondering, can you make your you tube videos be adjustable in the speed (usually under the gear settings) so in the fast tempos for the speed exercises (like triplet sprints) I can slow it down to see your double strokes on the 8th notes? Not sure if that is a setting within the code for embedding the video snippet, but if you could, that would be great.

    • Jay Fenichel says:

      Hey Matthew… Sorry, I’m late with replying. I’m traveling this week so time and internet accessibility has been a bit tight. First off, thank you for letting me know about this feature. I had no idea Youtube was offering this type of function. This is what I love about BETA… things just happen that you would have never otherwise considered directly because of your members. I don’t use youtube to host the vids here on TDA, but I checked with my content delivery system and that option is now available… Now… thanks to you, everyone is going to start to see all of the videos having that ability to slow down or speed up using the little “gear” icon on the bottom right of each vid, next to the volume controls. I’m gonna announce this feature with the next update, but go try it out for me and let me know what you think. (You may need to clear your cache) Thank again, for bringing this to my attention. Totally awesome!

  • Matthew Stone says:

    Perfect, works like expected. Thanks for accommodating. The faster speeds are harder for me to know what it actually going on, a double vs a really fast group of singles, kind of mystifies me. One additional comment, which let me know if you’d prefer different concepts in different comment threads, but wondering if you can do more lessons on foot work techniques (single bass pedal) and maybe something on setting pedal tension in assisting achieving higher or slower speeds. This is one of my biggest needs. Thanks

  • Kurt Risch says:

    I just started using the”Wicked Chops” practice pad by Ahead. It’s an inch and a half in diameter. It creates a whole new challenge to lots of these exercises!

  • Michael Schmidt says:

    Hey Jay … I’ve been working on learning SRV’s Pride & Joy with my band. I’m brand new to the (Texas) shuffle groove and would love a way to drill it. Any chance of adding something?

    • Jay Fenichel says:

      Yeah, Michael… That would be a very cool video to do… and I do have exercises for developing a shuffle, that I do with my private students. I’m gonna add that to the docket. I’m getting ready for the official site launch, but once that is all set up I will be adding regular content to the site again. I’m gonna put this on the Docket. Merry Christmas and happy new year to you and your family!

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