Rock & Roll 101

June 23rd, 2020

Great last lesson Lauren! Let your mom know that I think they overpaid by $30, so we can save it for next year or I can reimburse them.

See you around this summer!

Update: actually it looks like you overpaid by $60?

June 16th, 2020

Today we talked about opposite motion between the left and right hands, and using that to build an inversion that doesn't involve parallel movement.

We added a new song by Lauren Daigle, You Say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIaT8Jl2zpI

June 9th, 2020

Lauren played through Awake My Soul for me, and then we added two new ones, July by Noah Cyrus and "Where the SKies Are Blue."

See you at the studio next week!

June 2nd, 2020

Lauren played through the last few songs (three), and we added Awake My Soul by Mumford and Sons.

May 26th, 2020

Lauren played through Your Song and Angel for me, and we agreed they both need a bit more work this week.

We then added Journey, "Faithfully." A great song!

May 19th, 2020

OOops, last week wasn't Bloodstream, it was Happier also by Ed Sheeran.

We reviewed Happier and then Your Song, and I recommended she work on the apreggios for that.
We then added Angel by Sarah McLachlan.

May 12th, 2020

We added two songs today- Bloodstream by Ed Sheeran, and Your Song by Elton John

May 5th, 2020

I guess Lauren forgot again today. I reached out to Andrew to nudge her, but he was in the city. I texted her too.

Maybe we can try to reschedule if my week isn't as busy this week as it was last.

UDPATE!

Lauren came 15 minutes late, so we went over 15 minutes. We added the song Shallow by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. <3

April 28th, 2020

maybe Lauren forgot? You coming Lauren?

April 21st, 2020

We went over a number of songs today in lesson:

Apologize, One Republic
Piano Man, Billy Joel
Feeling Whitney, Post Malone
Ocean Eyes
Please Never Fall in Love, Ollie MN

April 14th, 2020

Lauren played through her song from last week, and I added some new parts to it, from Lacy's ukulele part.

We went over it, and then we added a new one - though I've asked her to keep adding to right hand on this song.

April 7th, 2020

March 31st, 2020

We reviewed the new song, Watercolors, and I made some suggestions (arpeggios, and some melodic interesting things) to the chords for the verses to make it more engaging.

We then reviewed Wise Men Say and Yesterday.

March 10th, 2020

Lauren added a new song called Watercolors by Holland Teed - a weird song! lots of major 7ths, and minor major sevenths!

We didn't have a lot of time to work on it, because it took a while to transcribe it.

Next week is March break, see you after that!

March 3rd, 2020

We went through Harriot a few times today, working on the high part especially, where the piano kinda adlibs at the higher notes.

We started with using arpeggios and then adding the 2 of the chord. Lauren could work on just cleaning this up a little bit.

We also worked on the ending chords, with the F# minor.

Next week a new song, so come with something you want to learn! :)

February 25th, 2020

Lauren played through Yesterday for me, and we talked about and practiced different inversions for the C to Bsus to E7 part.

We then added a new song from Harriot, called Stand Up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D7GDZRxZXg&ab_channel=CynthiaErivo-Topic

Hard, but a good challenge!

February 18th, 2020

Lauren is feeling sick today - she asked for a reschedule and I told her I'd try, and would let her know.

February 11th, 2020

We went over Talk to Ghosts together and then added Yesterday by the Beatles.

Try to think of another song to learn next week.

February 4th, 2020

Today Lauren and I added a new song called Talking to Ghosts - it's here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTC6rzqC3c

This was a little "free form," so a bit hard to chart. My recommendation to her would be to add some quarter notes on the left hand to give the song some structure.

Maybe she can think of another song to learn for next week. We can also think more about how to learn to transcribe your own songs.

January 28th, 2020

Lauren missed at 3 - she can come at 5 today.

January 21st, 2020

Lauren played through Northern Wind very nicely for me, and then we talked about what to learn next. Her app on her phone is fine for learning new songs, but she could learn some ad libbing segues between chords and stuff, so we focused on intervals today, working on 4ths, 5ths, and 6ths.

Remember: Here Comes the Bride
Twinkle Twinkle
My Bonnie Lies

Sending because of update to financial info at bottom (hopfully clearer)

Oops, trying again.

January 14th, 2020

Lauren started a new song today by City and Colour called Northern Wind.

I quickly charted it for her, and we went through it a few times.

This is a good one to work on inversions on - don't forget!

January 7th, 2020

Lauren and family get back late from Costa Rica tonight. She won't be at the lesson today.

December 17th, 2019

Lauren had a couple of dentist appointments today

December 10th, 2019

We went through the last couple of songs and focused on inversions for each of the chords. When she really focuses on learning them, it's awesome! Another week of practicing these songs, and come with a new song name to add next week.

December 3rd, 2019

We added a new song - it took most of the lesson to write it out for her, unfortunately, and we only got through it once or twice.

Tori Kelly, I Was Made for Loving You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFD02LYcw4k

November 26th, 2019

Lauren is away today.

November 19th, 2019

Lauren did amazing today! She had worked on the inversions! We actually spent the first 10 minutes or so focusing muscle memory for the inversions, and I recommend she do a bit of that every time she practices- just to get used it.

(This was for How Long Will I Love You)

I suggest doing that for all the songs - it will be awesome!

There were a couple little mistakes in Can't Help Falling in Love which we looked at.

November 12th, 2019

Lauren and I worked through some of the songs for the wedding next fall.

As before, working on inversions will really take her to the next level with how the chords sound - it's just going to take some time to learn to do it.

We also went through a Billie Eilish song she likes, and I showed her how to get a similar sound to the recording.

November 5th, 2019

Jason sick today.

October 29th, 2019

Lauren brought her music, and we started with

I won't Give Up by Mraz, and I noticed that the key was a littl ehigh for her to sing, so we transposed it to Bb, and went over it a few times.

Don't forget to work on those inversions, because it will make a big difference in how the song sounds in the end.

October 22nd, 2019

Lauren didn't bring her music, so we tried to focus on some techniques, and theory to fill the time. We talked about voicing chords, for example spacing out really low chords so they're not muddy. We talked about different ways to play the right hand, for example, quarter notes, rocking, arpeggios - and we talked about fingering for scales, like the chromatic scale, or the C major and F major scales.

We also talked a bit about intervals, and training the ear to use the "ordinance" of C, like finding directions with north, south, east, and west.

She said she'd like to focus on more of that in the future, so she can learn to play by ear more quickly.

October 15th, 2019

We went through three of the songs Lauren is doing at the wedding, and talked about tools to add to her "toolbox," which help the piano playing sound more robust.

A couple of the suggestions I made were:

1. Inversions (you've got to keep working on this - it will really help!)

2. Melodic changes between chords - in the scale of the key, and feel free to go past the target note and them back again. Doing this with thirds and sixths really sounds good.

3. Country riff where you play grace notes on the 2nd note of the scale in the chord (for example, in an E chord playing f# g# f# e and the b note at the same time.

4. Adding 9ths to all chords, and minor 7ths to minor chords to fill them out

5. Adding a bit of percussive "bass line" to the left hand

October 8th, 2019

Lauren forgot her book today, so we wrote out the next song she wants to do for the wedding:

Ellie Goulding, How Long Will I Love You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwbcQNjhEJc

Learning the right inversions can really help with the sound of each chord.

October 1st, 2019

We played through the songs again (though we ran out of time, ) and I made some suggestions for playing various chords, for example major seventh, seventh, sixth, and sus4 chords.

Lauren said the Elvis song is the hardest, and it does need the most work - spend extra time practicing it this week, so you get the chords right (especially that 2 beat E minor, etc).

September 24th, 2019

Lauren played through the songs from the last two weeks. I made a few suggestions as to the pedal and (if I remember correctly) the inversion she was using for one of the songs-- though that might have been someone else, sorry!

We then added the next song to learn, and I spent some time charting it out for her.

Jason Mraz, I Won't Give Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cNhpIzUreI

September 17th, 2019

We added a song by The Nashville Cast called Sanctuary, which is another one she's doing in the wedding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQH-wF9Nqz0

She sang it for me (and she has a wonderful voice(!)) I would like to have her and Andrew come in and record it in the studio.

She forgot the Elvis sheet music at home, so if she can bring that with her next time, we can go over it as well.

Do inversions on Sanctuary as well, and bring both with you next week.

September 10th, 2019

This week we wrote out Can't STop Falling in Love by Elvis, and went over how to play the four note arpeggios, since it's in a 12/8 time.

She'll print some songs, and I'll write out others in the lesson time. I don't want to waste lesson time doing that unless everyone's okay with that.

September 3rd, 2019

Lauren and I got to know each other a bit today. She played Only Hope by Mandy Moore (and Switchfoot) for me, and then we talked through some theory, which she expressed interest in knowing more about.

We talked about the three major, three minor, and diminished chords of every key, we talked about inversions, and when to use them, and strategized how to move forward in future lessons, so she can learn songs for her cousin's wedding. Next week she'll bring some charts of the songs she wants to learn, and I'll go over her with them, and help to tweak them.

We also looked at some charts for Sunday's music, and I showed her some of my unique approaches to repeats, held notes, pushes, etc.