Rock & Roll 101

September 6th, 2022

I missed you today, Kiera!

August 30th, 2022

August 23rd, 2022

Kiera worked hard on the right hand over the last few weeks. We spent some time again on the left hand, and trying to put them together.

August 16th, 2022

August 9th, 2022

We reviewed the first page, and started over a bit with the second page. I encouraged her to keep her eyes up if possible, and try to follow along, so she can use it to learn to read a bit more, and as a reminder of when notes go up or down, or have harmonies.
We also talked about notes on top of each other, or separated by a line AND a space, or offset because they're dissonant.

August 2nd, 2022

July 26th, 2022

Kiera worked through to page two, and we're coming along really well! Keep going!

July 19th, 2022

I missed Kiera today... Kiera, you can come at 4:30 where i have an open spot today.

June 28th, 2022

Kiera is in Picton today

June 21st, 2022

Kiera had a busy work week, so not enough practice time, so we worked through the second page together some more to get better at playing it through.

June 14th, 2022

Kiera and I worked through the first page of her song and started on the second page. The first four bars repeat again, so she's 8 bars in already! :)

June 7th, 2022

Kiera played through the piano part on the first page. She hadn't been practising for the last few weeks, so we made the lesson time essentially practise.

May 31st, 2022

Kiera is out of town today and won't be coming in.

May 24th, 2022

We continued working through the first page of the song, trying to get both hands together

May 17th, 2022

We worked through the first section of her song together some more, and I helped her practice by playing the left hand for her.

We also broke down some of the rhythms to help them make more sense.

May 10th, 2022

I missed you today, Kiera! In case you didn't realize, my cell is now 613-344-1717

May 3rd, 2022

Kiera had a hard week, so didn't get as much practicing in as she wanted to.

We worked through the first page and a bit, and it's coming along well!

April 26th, 2022

Today Kiera brought in a book, and we started with working through the first page of a song together.

Take it slow, work on one bar at a time, and don't be in a hurry to get it all done.

April 19th, 2022

This is the song Kiera:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jasonsilver/sheet-music/master/barbarosa-stones.pdf

I added the next section to it.

April 12th, 2022

Kiera went through Oak Trees, and then we added a new song Barbarossa, Stones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgbwXwFdZQg&ab_channel=Barbarossa

She did this before with the Uke.

I wrote out the first part of the melody with the chords.

We talked about using sheet music for more of these complex melodies, and I suggested she pick something up at the music store if she'd like to.

I also suggested she work on the piano keys names with a game, such as this which I made:
http://readsheetmusic.info/games/read-keys/

April 5th, 2022

Kiera is buying a car today, so won't be coming in!

March 29th, 2022

Kiera was struggling with a spot in the melody where it goes into sixteenths, so we spent most of the lesson just working on that.

She said she loves this song and wants to keep working her way through it.

March 22nd, 2022

Kiera didn't have a lot of time to practice, so we made the lesson time a work-through to get the kinks out... first hands separately, then together. We talked about some things she can do to switch between chords more easily.

March 15th, 2022

I wrote out more of the Oak Trees song, but we didn't have enough time to work on Broken any further.

March 8th, 2022

We reviewed Broken, and worked out a part she didn't understand, then added another one to supplement practice time:
Daniel Nunnelee - Oak Trees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQzTR3ScXJM

March 1st, 2022

I missed Kiera today. Hope you're well, Kiera!

February 22nd, 2022

Kiera played through Mary Had a Little lamb and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. We then added a new song from her Uke days.

Jonah Kagen, Broken
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0knqn7wpPMU&ab_channel=JonahKagen

February 8th, 2022

Kiera started the piano today - we worked through the basics. First, we learned the names of the notes using the animal names: Ants, Bird, Cat, Dog, Elephant, Flower bed, and Grandma.

Then I wrote out two melodies: Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

She played through those, and then we talked about major and minor chords, and how they are different on a piano. We counted the half steps between the first two notes (3 for a major chord, 2 for a minor chord). You make a major into a minor by lowering the third note one half step.

I added chords to the above songs, and we played through them.

This week try to get the songs smooth, which may involve memorizing them.

February 1st, 2022

Two songs by Say We Can Fly:

Hearts and Flowers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6jkY6SlTi8

Seventeen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wrawjBHEl4

January 25th, 2022

tory Untold, Invisible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzLrpNFtlSY

Story Untold, Drown in My Mind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IApZhJK9pa8

January 18th, 2022

The Lumineers - Slow It Down

https://youtu.be/9fY5WpHrONU


(g) C Dm Dm / (g) | C / / / |
(g) C Dm Dm / (F)|F / 'Am / G |
(g) C Dm Dm / (g) | C / / / |

Verse:
3x [: F / / / | C / / G | F / / / | F / / C |
Am / / / | Gsus / / / | Dm/C / / / | C / / / :]

Chorus:
F / 'Am / | G / 'C / | F / 'Am / | G F / / |
(intro)

January 11th, 2022

We added two songs this week:

Cory Wells, Cement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHA6gQT6HuE&ab_channel=PureNoiseRecords

Coconut Records, West Coast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlYGEaeoBWw&ab_channel=MyMindTank

The first was pretty easy, the second had some interesting time signatures in it, which Kiera carried off without problems.

The C# minor chord is the same as the B minor, just two frets up the neck.

January 4th, 2022

We added Polo G, Martin and Gina:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0znp7mj5io&ab_channel=VibesOnly

We added Jonah Kagen, Moon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdrhYUgnr5c&ab_channel=EpicVibes

December 21st, 2021

We went over Skin which was super easy, and then added Brother, Falling in Reverse (or is it Falling in Reverse, Brother)?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjqiQ9EG728&ab_channel=DylanBassett

December 14th, 2021

We went through Fear by Gnash, and then added a new song by Colby Brock called Skin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jggUJjaOYsI&ab_channel=LlamaHere

December 7th, 2021

We added two songs today:
Gnash, Fear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTyKarCCQeI

and Gnash, Palm Trees:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnv6UvN5UpE

November 30th, 2021

We revisited Holocene and talked again about how to get that little "d e" part on every chord. Hard with long finger nails! lol!

Then we added a new song, by Old Crow Medicine called Wagon Wheel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBeivizzsPc&ab_channel=swordfish94

November 23rd, 2021

We finished up Anchor, and added Bon Iver: Holocene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWcyIpul8OE

We didn't complete it, because we ran out of time.

November 16th, 2021

We finished writing out introducing me, which was pretty easy, so added Novo Amor's Weather:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bd9CN3oN6k

That was fairly simple, so we also tried to add Novo Armor's Anchor, but ran out of time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmKAn8rNbKg

We'll continue with that next week.

November 9th, 2021

We did two songs this week:

Camp Rock 2, This is Our Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgiardeeq80

Nick Jonas, Introducing Me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbhKjYS--5M

November 2nd, 2021

Sterling Knight (Starstruck). Hero
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zrrd5ww85w

12345, Our Hearts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D-MK713PIk

October 26th, 2021

Kiera played through A Beautiful Mind for me, and we added the second part to the song, and then added a new song:

Grayscale, Slept:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJglSuYGFvc

October 19th, 2021

Kiara and I did our lesson in the backyard today so we could enjoy the warm sunshine. Because I didn't have my computer I don't know what the song is called but I helped her write out her song.

October 12th, 2021

We started with going over Misty from last week, and then added No Illusions, by 78 Saab:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITenmHe7Uc8

We had some time, so added part of the song Walkin' All Day by Graham Coxon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVN_SXht4C4

October 5th, 2021

We reviewed last week's song- was great, Kiera hadn't worked too much on the melody part.

We added Caamp, Misty:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nolirOTpHZc

September 28th, 2021

Kiera and I played through Therapy, and then added a new song, Kishi Bashi - Annie, Heart Thief of the Sea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQtHGrMXI04

A fun song - in F#, which is kind a challenging on a Uke!

September 21st, 2021

We added Therapy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTNmec6sOPc


It has some finger picking melody thing in it which we tabbed out.

September 14th, 2021

Kiera played through Bethlehem for me, and we added a new song, Madness by Sleeping with Sirens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIc8NNi85fU

It's got a G minor in it which we haven't seen much before.

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September 7th, 2021

We reviewed the Growler's song, then added a new one by Declan McKenna, called Bethlehem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ce_ICrHVfU

The chords change on it pretty quickly, but it's fairly easy other than that.

Capo on 2, i believe.

August 24th, 2021

August 24th, 2021

Holmes, Caught on Fire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1QxG3oCfVg

The The, This is the Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfcB7JxkjDo

The Growlers, When You Were Made:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfcB7JxkjDo

August 10th, 2021

August 10th, 2021

We finished up Cavetown's song, and then added a new one by Dan Auerbach (Never In My Wildest Dreams):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cofkM3NItYA

It's a pretty song, with a neat melody that's possible to play on the Uke.

July 27th, 2021

July 27th, 2021

We had an hour again today.

We did Goner by Twenty One Pilots:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ka_tNv5RR0

We also did It's U by Cavetown, but didn't quite finish the end:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjHumGt-qRs

July 13th, 2021

July 13th, 2021

Kiera had an hour today! She brought her new boyfriend, Jesse.

We did two songs, both of them pretty challenging, which was fun!

Best of Worst Of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl3kH8h9Ov0

Gloria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kok4-aVdyT4

June 29th, 2021

We wrote out the bridge to Rules of Beautiful, and went through it, then added a new song:
Milky Chance, Colorado:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8bxuf6rYAI

June 22nd, 2021

We added a new song, Rules of Beautiful by Jacob Whitesides:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G30ZiNkmsxE

June 15th, 2021

Great to finally be back together!

We added a couple of new songs:

Novo Amor, Decimal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iQN672qtvY

Jonah Kagen, Broken
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPsljOlOrwE

June 8th, 2021

We went over Blue, but struggled with connection.

Even though next week is one day early for the UNlockdown, maybe we can meet in the studio?

June 1st, 2021

Kiera had been working on a song trying to find the chords on her own. She managed to determine that the chorus started with a G, with the second chord D. We used that intuition to remind her to listen for major or minors. If a G works on a chord, and yet it seems to be minor, then it will mostly likely (nearly always) be the relative minor. In this case, it's E minor.

In The End by Go For Gold:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwIF09PM9qM

We worked through that song together, and then added a new one, although we ran out of time.

Blue by Safe Bet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7FfWP8eB-U

May 25th, 2021

We worked through finding the chords for Barbarossa, Stones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgbwXwFdZQg

I asked Kiera to try to find the rest of them on her own.

May 18th, 2021

Alexander Stewart, House of Cards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrxLrkFAegE

May 11th, 2021

We did two new songs,

Radical Face, Welcome Home Son:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xoz-YIssgg4

Cherry by Moose Blood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqHFRhBVme4

May 4th, 2021

Bayside It Don't Exist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAhIgyyVFKI

Rarity, Exhale:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q62D7ozVuV4

April 27th, 2021

Andrew Prahlow, Outer Wilds:
https://soundcloud.com/andrewprahlow/outer-wilds

April 20th, 2021

https://zoom.us/j/6994346838?pwd=dzY2dmhIOSttTTNOcHZmdTdFdVgvQT09

Kiera tried to determine the chords in the bridge - I think she might have had them, or been close. It was hard to tell for sure over Zoom.

We added two new songs, Yungblud, It's Quiet in Beverly Hills:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRn9NvjIJ9g

and 21 Pilots, Trees:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiDkVftBgak

April 13th, 2021

Kiera continued working through Whiskey, and we figured out the rest of the chords together.

Then we added a new song, Ugly Heart by GRL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxRQNO8vg2Y

We did the same thing, figuring out the chords based on the intervals between the home chord / root chord and the others.

April 6th, 2021

Kishi Bashi, Bright Whites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wcZb80f5VE

We tried to figure out the chords for this songs - it's a little hard to hear them, but we worked through a few chords together.

We then switched to another song - more of a folk style.

Trampled by Turles, Whiskey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKTlRN3jLfw

March 30th, 2021

Kiera brought a song from the show called Julie and the Phantoms named Unsaid Emily:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC_po9I9c80

We used her interval training to find the chords - I'm really proud of her! She did a great job!

March 23rd, 2021

We kept working on ear training. Kiera has made a huge jump from last week in hearing interval changes going up. We worked on a bunch of "going down" intervals today, as well as chords in the context of the key of C and the key of G.

March 16th, 2021

Today we continued working on the ear around the C note, starting with going up from C, then ending with going down from C.

Going down was definitely harder, but we haven't done any of this before, so it's all new (except the minor third).

March 9th, 2021

Kiera and I continued with working on ear training. Today we stayed in the key of C, and tried to find chords when changing from C to something else, and also from one of the chords that belong to the key of C to another chord (for example from F to G).

It's hard, but we're making progress!

March 2nd, 2021

We continued with ear training, and did some analyzing of songs to help Kiera find out what keys and what chords we use in each song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkRgz1uGYm4

The above song is in C, and we tried to analyze the intervals between the chord changes.

February 23rd, 2021

Kiera forgot to meet at the studio, but we connected online and went through working more on the ear training.

We are doing 2nds, minor thirds, thirds, fourths and fifths, sixths, major sevenths and octaves.

Especially struggling with telling apart fifths and fourths, so work on that one using the app.

February 16th, 2021

We continued with ear training, working through the circle of fifths, guessing notes and intervals first and then adding chords to it.

February 9th, 2021

Jason Silver is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting at 3:30 pm.

Topic: Music Lessons

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/6994346838?pwd=dzY2dmhIOSttTTNOcHZmdTdFdVgvQT09

Meeting ID: 699 434 6838
Passcode: lessons

February 2nd, 2021

We began learning some theory today, starting with the circle of fifths. The circle of fifths is like a "Secret Decoder Ring" in that it helps to understand, compose, transpose, and analyze music. It has built in "keys," that help you understand the relationships between various chords. It also explains key signatures, and can even help with interval training.

I suggested Kiera find an app for ear interval training, and work on learning some intervals to help with playing by ear.

January 26th, 2021

We added a new song called Bittersweet by Blanks. I wrote it out in Google Drive.

Here's the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n17irycMb6Q

We also talked about learning some other aspects of music, such as theory, keys, key signatures, circle of fifths, ear training, etc. We'll try a bit of that next week.

January 19th, 2021

We added a new song by Gnash, called Happy Never After:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7owf0BUZzJU&ab_channel=gnash

G^7 and C^7 for the first two chords repeated in verse and rap ( ^ = maj 7th)

Then the chorus is G, D, Bm C

January 12th, 2021

We went through False Confidence, and talked about finger picking on just the top two strings for the verse and slower parts... those two strings will work for all the chords.

We then started a new song called Hero, by Family of the Year.

This has a kind of finger picking in it too- I showed her a way to play the top and bottom strings together, and then the two middle strings one after the other.

January 5th, 2021

Kiera has an appointment today.

Kiera, when are you done the appointment?

December 29th, 2020

Today we went through New Slang by the SHins, and fleshed out more chords - then a new song called False Confidence by Noah Kahan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWRWuY3pV2c&ab_channel=NoahKahanVEVO

December 22nd, 2020

We went through the two songs from last time, then added a new song by The Shins, called New Slang:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIJhYBtnsEU&ab_channel=WB

Have a great Christmas!

I'll let you know about what we're doing for lock down -- I still haven't found out if we're allowed to get together for lessons... maybe not?

We can do Internet lessons though.

December 8th, 2020

Kiera won't be coming in today.

December 1st, 2020

We added two new songs today - Hunnie by Locket,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2F83x8VH-g&ab_channel=FearlessRecords

and 19 Seventy Something by Neck Deep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDkF40V4w2U&ab_channel=NeckDeep-Topic

Next week we can go over the two songs from last week which we skipped.

November 24th, 2020

We went over the new song from last week, and it was pretty straightforward-- Kiera needed some clarification on the tab/chords combination, so we did that and I made a video for her.

We then added two new songs, one from TikTok, and one called Wish You Were Here by Neck Deep:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyPwEZTIpVc&ab_channel=NeckDeep-Topic

November 17th, 2020

Kiera played through I Love You I Love You for me today, and did really well, even on the hard part! :) Great job!
We added a new song by All Time Low, called Pretty Venom:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZQ82sqIfyI&ab_channel=MiLLiM

This has a nice intro lead part which we'll incorporate into the chords.

November 10th, 2020

We went through Novo Amor together - it was good - pretty easy. We added a slightly harder one called I Love You I Love You it's Disgusting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztd4jna-3Lw&ab_channel=pvmpinxx

November 3rd, 2020

We went through Brazil together, and reviewed parts that Kiera was having trouble with. I also modified the tab a little bit.

We then added a song by Novo Amor, If We're Being Honest

October 27th, 2020

We went through In The End and practiced some of the harder parts together, and in the last 10 minutes added a new song, by Declan Mckenna, called Brazil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAjs4quiLRU&ab_channel=IngridNabor

October 20th, 2020

We continued with the San Holo song. We worked through the rest of it (except maybe the very end).

October 13th, 2020

Kiera is coming along great on In the End I Just Want You To Be Happy. We added a couple of new sections today. It's fun to convert a guitar song to a uke song!

October 6th, 2020

Kiera played through To Be With You for me a couple of times - it sounded really good!

We added a new song by San Holo called In The End I Just Want You to Be Happy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFtNhNuUN8Y&ab_channel=SANHOLO

Pretty song! Don't forget capo on 3.

September 29th, 2020

Uh oh, I hope Kiera didn't forget again this week.

September 22nd, 2020

Hope all is okay with Kiera today!

September 15th, 2020

Today we continued with the second half of the chorus, and added the verse of "To Be With You."

She's really picking this up quickly, and sounding great doing it! Good job, Kiera!

September 8th, 2020

Kiera and I continued with To Be With You, which we'd worked on a few months ago.

We got through most of the chorus, so once that's done we'll add the verses.

March 9th, 2020

Kiera is still in hospital.

March 2nd, 2020

Kiera was sick today.

February 24th, 2020

Kiera had a doctor's appointment again today.

February 10th, 2020

We rewrote Bright in F, with capo on 1 - much easier than playing with capo on 4!

It's basically done - we got it up to speed, and Kiera nailed the Bb chords etc.

So, come with a new song to learn next week! Good job!

(oops! we had the lesson at 3 instead of 3:30... we'll go back to 3:30 next week - sorry!)

February 3rd, 2020

Kiera has a doctor's appointment today.

January 27th, 2020

I missed Kiera today - another doctor's appointment?

Hope everything is okay!

January 20th, 2020

from Shelley: "And she also has her first appointment with her new Kingston doctor on Monday the 20th. I will try to make future appointments on other days, but the drug infusion date will always be Monday - as it needs to be given at exactly 4 weeks - they dont let us deviate a day."

January 13th, 2020

We added a new song by Echosmith, called Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMAzstG5O7E

It's fairly straightforward, but required putting a capo on the 4th fret in order to play in the key of F#.

January 6th, 2020

from Shelley regarding the 6th: "In looking ahead, we also have another appointment next Monday at CHEO, in Ottawa. It is our last appointment in Ottawa, as we have been transferred to doctors in Kingston.

December 30th, 2019

Kiera has a Dr's appointment today, no charge for missing the lesson.

December 23rd, 2019

Kiera maybe not coming today?

December 16th, 2019

We added a new song, by Mr. Big - specifically, the guitar solo part; we transposed it up 8 halfsteps to make it work on a Ukulele.

I wrote out the tab for most of the solo, but in the interests of time, saved the ending until next week.

Sorry about the confusion with the payment thing. If I send the note before I enter the payment, it doesn't reflect the right amount.

December 9th, 2019

We reviewed the chords at the front of her book, and went over about 5 songs from last year. She picked stuff up really fast.

The last song was SWMRS, Lose It - and we will add a new song for next week.

June 18th, 2018

Kiera was a pleasure to teach this year! I really hope that when she's done Studio LC she'll come back, and maybe learn another instrument!

Today we reviewed the Night we Met, and then learned the last new song, Kids In the Dark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSxdA9u9bSc

June 11th, 2018

We wrapped up Piece of My Heart and added a new song

Lord Huron, The Night We Met
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQh9eDcS1-0

It has a C#minor and an F#minor which are kind of newer.

It is also in 7 time (a 3 4 and 4 4 back to back).

June 4th, 2018

We reviewed last week's song, which was great, and then added a new one by spookyghostboy, called Piece of My Heart:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YJmn1JmkkE

We tried to add a third song today, but it was a tad hard.

May 28th, 2018

We reviewed Lose It, by SWMRS, then added a new song by Social Repose called If You're Thinking of Leaving, then You Should.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLkVTwyyqBg

May 14th, 2018

We went over the Island Song, and then added Lose It by SWMRS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO-rPy5cRXo

Great song!

May 7th, 2018

We went through Faded again, and then Mad World by Gary Jules.

This is a fairly easy song, and she did well with it.

We then added a new song, "The Island Song".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS4dlzbIzuU

April 30th, 2018

We did our lesson out in the sun, and worked on the transition between chords of Faded. We didn't have a lot of extra time, but quickly added a new song at the end, Mad World by Gary Jules

April 23rd, 2018

We continued with 888, then added Alan Walker, Faded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAfawGaBt2E

April 16th, 2018

Kiera must have forgotten today, or not been able to get here because of bus cancellations.

April 9th, 2018

We reviewed Green and then added a new song, also by Cavetown: 888

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7c1EEsJuqw

April 2nd, 2018

March 26th, 2018

We reviewed the Peach Pit song, but it was pretty hard, and so we decided to ditch it. Instead we added Green by Cavetown:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivGh8XCzPTI

It's fairly straightforward, though the chords flip around a couple of times which can be confusing, and there are different types of strumming in this song.

March 19th, 2018

We went through the two new songs from last time, and then tried to find a new song to learn. Unfortunately, the songs she was interested in were in weird keys which made it difficult to play on the uke.

We learned some finger picking techniques for Old Guitar, which she's going to practice for next week.

March 12th, 2018

March 5th, 2018

We went through last week's song with the capo, and then added a new song, Bunt: Old Guitar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExoiLWhs7OQ


We also had time to add a new song, Angus and Julia Stone, Big Jet Plane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYkIH9U-GmM

February 26th, 2018

We worked on the E and F#minor chords together, and then went over the Mako song a few times at full speed.

We then added a new song, Peter Katz, The Camp Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWta5fCCC7c

We didn't go over it more than once because we ran out of time.

Kiera will need a CAPO for this song.

February 12th, 2018

We continued with the Mako song, Smoke Filled Room. We did a lesson in rhythm note reading (wholes, halves, quarters, eighths, sixteenths, and dotted/ties). We spent time practicing the F#m and E chords.

February 5th, 2018

Kiera had a death in the family this week.

January 29th, 2018

I missed Kiera today - exams?

January 22nd, 2018

Kiera cancelled today because of the weather.

January 15th, 2018

January 8th, 2018

We wrapped up Why Do You Feel So Down, and added a new song by Cavetown, This is Home:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YgmMJJ34k4

December 18th, 2017

We went through Skinny Love, and it was great! She sounded awesome!

We then added a kinda hard song, called Why Do You Feel So Down by Declain McKenna-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l206Wxg7KMc

It has some fun stuff in it- will take some work.

No lesson next week or the following...

December 11th, 2017

We reviewed the song from last week, and added Skinny Love by Bon Iver
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssdgFoHLwnk

This one has a weird strumming pattern - we went through it a few times before running out of time.

Keep working on the other songs and especially the C scale.

December 4th, 2017

We went through You Are My Sunshine and Somewhere over the Rainbow doing the first and second strumming patterns. She's getting very close with it.

After that we added a new song, All I Want by Kodaline:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtf7hC17IBM

It's not a hard song, and she knew all the chords in it already, so a natural one to learn! Keep pushing yourself with the strumming, Kiera.

November 27th, 2017

Kiera gave me her email so I can send these notes to her each week:
kiki01072002@gmail.com

We went over the last song a few times (London Bridge) with the three strumming patterns we learned last week.

We then added a new more complicated strumming pattern.

We added two new songs:
You Are My Sunshine
Somewhere Over ther Rainrow

This required some new chords:
Fm, Em, and Dm

November 20th, 2017

This was Kiera's first week.

We started with going over the names of the parts of the Uke, and then some chords - she knew a few already.

I wrote out London Bridge and we worked on three different strumming patterns.

Briefly touched on quarter notes, talked about harmonics, and other little trivia.

I asked her to learn the song, playing the strumming patterns, and to switch chord positions as economically as possible.