Lessons in Tap - Week 3 [1/5/24]

 LESSONS IN TAP 

Developing Our Skills - Week 3

[1/5/24]

• In this lesson, we refined all previous sequences we have learnt. We focused on our timing and the counts each sequence has. This will help us to stay in time with one another. Our warm-up this lesson was to recap the sequences we learnt last lesson and to see if we could remember them. Over the last few lessons, we have worked on memorising each sequence to help them to stay in our heads. Testing our memories at the start of the lesson to see how well we do remember each sequence, allows us to see what we still need to work on and gives Rob a chance to see what we, as a class, are struggling to remember. I personally, am struggling to remember paradiddles and the time step sequence as they are something that I have practiced less. I have particularly practiced the time step sequence less as they aren’t my favourite seance we have been taught as I struggle to do them the most. I need to focus on what I struggle the most in tap so I need to start practicing the time steps in my own time so that I can become more confident with them. 
• Once we did that, we continues to learn new sequences, one of them being the ‘break section’ for the 6 beat cramp rolls. In our last lesson, we learn what 6 beat cramp rolls are and now we are developing them further. At the end of the sequence for the 6 beat cramp rolls we learn last lesson, we have added ‘tap steep heel click heel step click heel step click heel step click heel’. The timing for this sequence is ‘1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4…’. Once I got the hang of this sequence, I did enjoy and found that it did stay in my head and I could remember it. The thing I’m struggling with at the moment with these is the timing and making sure I am doing it quick enough. The counts for this sequence is fast in comparison to the others and I am struggling with getting the step in right at the beginning a few the first tap at the right time. I need to remember to loosen up and relax my muscles so that this becomes more natural  and comfortable for me to do. 
• We then moved on to work on paradiddles. We touched on them in our last lesson but we learnt them right at the end of the lesson and everyone was struggling with maintaining their stamina’s, myself included, so my memory in particular with paradiddles isn’t great. I struggled with remembering how to do them. Rob went over the paradiddles with us and then started to get us to workshop with them and switch up the rhythm and order of them. A paradiddle is broken down into 4 basic tap movements: heel pickup tap step. Each movement is linked to apart of the word ‘paradiddle’. ‘Pa’ is heel, ‘ra’ is pickup, ‘di’ is tap and ‘dle’ is step. The sequence Rob wanted us to now do is ‘paradiddle paradiddle pa-ra pa-ra paradiddle’. Same with the 6 beat cramp roll I need to make sure I relax when doing the paradiddles so that I can do them freely and with a lot of speed. Tensing up leads the paradiddle to be ‘bitty’ and flow less. 
• This is our last lesson for 2 weeks as we have exams fall on the same days as when we would have tap. This means that in these 2 weeks we need to keep practicing so that all the sequences and movements stay in our minds so that we do’t have to go back to square one and learn everything all over again; we can just pickup where we left off. This is important as we have limited time before the show and haven’t really got the time to relearn old sequences. 

Thoughts & Feelings                                                                                                                                    

• Overall, I think this was a very successful lesson as I have learnt so much and have plenty to work on over the next 2 weeks. I was dreading learning tap at the start but I am really starting to enjoy it as I am starting to get the hang of it. I am determined to do well with this tap number as it is something I will have worked hard on. I am still struggling with tempo at this point, particularly staying in time with the rest of the group. Individually, I would say I am better at staying in tempo so I can really focus on myself but when it comes to doing it with the rest of the group, I lose concentration a bit. I need to get used to following with everyone else so that when we get our tap shoes we will have a nice united sound with our atop shoes as everyone will be in time.