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Marco Pacheco
Past Notes
August 29th, 2023
From Nicole: "Marco will not be attending July 25. In august he will only be attending 1st, 22nd & 29th."
Today was Marco's last lesson - 168 lessons with me! Thanks for the little treat!
I hope everything goes well with Marco's future teachers
August 22nd, 2023
From Nicole: "Marco will not be attending July 25. In August he will only be attending 1st, 22nd & 29th."
Marco played three songs for me that he'd been composing while in Portugal. I mentioned some alternate tuning approaches that he might be interested in, and showed him this video (this channel is very good for musician/learning).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTeSv0SKlGc
August 1st, 2023
August 1st cancelled via text.
July 25th, 2023
I had Marco down as cancelled today...
We talked about minor/major cadences today, and we discussed briefly the Picardy's Third, which is a cadence that resolves a minor song with a final major chord (in my speak, turning the final 6 minor chord in a 6 major chord, and in Marco's lingo, turning the minor 1 tonic chord to a major 1 tonic chord).
July 18th, 2023
Marco sent me an mp3 of a song he wrote, and we listened to it together and talked about the chords and memory on it.
His melodies are becoming much more interesting lately!
He played about three or four other songs he's writing. Really good stuff! I'm happy with his abilities!
He is also listening to Gershwin, and we listen to the Rhapsody in Blue.
July 11th, 2023
Marco is doing very well. We talked about favourite classical eras, his is the Romantic.
He played Martha Argerich, playing Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQqQcWoTPaU
He also showed me some music he is writing for his game.
July 4th, 2023
Marco isn't able to come today.
June 26th, 2023
Marco played through a few of the melodies he's been working on. I made some suggestions to him regarding parallel octaves / fifths, and parts that move parallel to each other. It's generally considered bad arranging technique.
September lessons are filling up, so if he wants a spot let me know.
June 19th, 2023
We continued where we left off, and Marco showed me some of the songs he has written, as well as rediscovered -- he lost a bunch of his songs. We talked about his submission to the Kingston contest, and we talked about my hope for him to continue to improve in his playing so he can more beautiful play the songs he's writing without stopping and hesitating.
May 29th, 2023
We had a really good lesson today. There were elements of conversation and elements of learning- for both of us. Marco's a great kid. I look forward to what God has in store for him some day. ;-)
I appreciate you two, Manny and Nicole.
May 15th, 2023
We chatted through and analyzed some music by shared favourite composers, including Maurice Ravel, Edvard Grieg, and Gustav Holst.
Marco has developed such good taste in music and has such a fantastic ear. He continues to impress me.
May 8th, 2023
Marco is writing a play, and we talked about a couple of the songs he's working on as accompaniment music. He played one for me, and had sent me an mp3 file which we listened through together.
He is continuing to grow and improve every week! I can't wait to see where this young man takes his music someday!
May 1st, 2023
Marco is unwell this evening.
April 24th, 2023
Marco won't be coming to lessons tonight because of a rehearsal.
April 17th, 2023
Marco has been working on a couple of fantasia/preludes, and we talked about these, and I showed him Herbert Howells
https://open.spotify.com/album/5SqKlNnRvAjnEEOxfPkDqK?si=mdPz38RuQZqZZhFELOekaA
April 3rd, 2023
Marco forgot to come this evening.
March 27th, 2023
Marco played through the Tchaikovsky piece for me which he is working on for a talent show. We talked about Beethoven and Mozart some, as well as the history of Tchaikovsky and what led up to his death.
March 20th, 2023
Marco was unable to come this evening.
March 6th, 2023
Marco cancelled tonight.
February 27th, 2023
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/3019566325?pwd=G9uKt0UAwD2wIumekTziMw
Marco and I talked a bit about Sunday; he said he had a really emotional experience at the church, and really enjoyed himself. I was glad to see him responding so positively!
.
He then played me a new song he's working on, looking for some feedback from me. I really didn't have much to say. I thought it was an amazing job.
February 13th, 2023
Marco brought his flute from school, and we talked about that some, as well as a couple of the songs he's trying to learn on the flute.
He showed me a few other songs he's been analyzing. I'm very impressed with Marco's increasing musicality and ear! He's truly becoming a talented young musician.
February 6th, 2023
We went down to the grand piano tonight, and Marco serenaded my wife and her friend. (a couple of E flats on my piano upstairs are not working properly, and the song he's working on makes ample use of an Eb.
He said he'd be able to play at church this Sunday, so hopefully that will work out!
January 30th, 2023
In Marco's lesson we started off with looking at a new song we're doing at church this Sunday. We listened through it and talked about the parts he might play in it.
We then talked about Rachmaninoff, and listened to a few of his songs:
-Sonata in G Minor
-Prelude in G Minor (op 23 no 5)
-Italian Polka in Eb Minor
January 23rd, 2023
We talked a bit about last Sunday and how that went, and a bit about next Sunday as well.
Marco is working on Lyrics for his song which we recorded, so I read through those with him, and we talked about it a bit, and some of the struggle he's been facing at school.
I'll be sending the charts for Sunday's music probably tomorrow late morning. He did a great job, thanks for letting us borrow him!
January 16th, 2023
Today was a lot of fun for me. We went through a few chord charts of songs from last Sunday, and I showed him how to read them, what to watch for, etc.
He said he'd like to start as soon as possible, so how about we shoot for this weekend? I'll send out the songs on Tuesday or Wednesday for him to start practising.
January 9th, 2023
We set up the mics and Marco recorded two takes of his newest song.
January 2nd, 2023
December 19th, 2022
We had a good conversation tonight, talking about being artistic, and ADHD, and how that effects both of us as we interact with others.
We didn't do a lot about music this week, but I was happy to help Marco and discuss the artist temperament, how to focus, stuff like that.
December 12th, 2022
Marco tried my viola, and we talked about tuning, bow use etc. I'm not really a string-teacher, so was hesitantly giving him much in the way of direction.
He then played me a new song he has written, and his plans for writing a musical.
He agreed this week that he would be willing to play keyboards at my church! That's fantastic! I'll try to plan something soon.
December 5th, 2022
Marco wanted to start vocal lessons this week.
We started with some warm up exercises and lessons on pronunciations of diphthongs and diaphragmatic breathing.
He was interested in the vocal parts at the beginning of a Billie Eilish song, which we listened to together.
If you're serious about being a good vocalist, then be sure to practice the warm ups and vowel pronunciations every day.
November 28th, 2022
November 21st, 2022
In Marco's lesson today we talked about melody driven chord progressions, the common listener, the advanced listener, appealing to the public vs. appealing to a sympathetic ear (ie an advanced jazz musician). Determining who his ideal audience is, how to write music that appeals to both groups of people, etc.
Jazz and classical musicians are poor, rock and pop musicians are rich... it's because of the type of appeal that complex music has to the average person.
November 14th, 2022
Marco talked to me about his plans for the future, specifically with regards to his game music... he admitted to using that as a motivator and inspiration for writing more music, and now he's decided to shelve that and move into writing a sonata, or collection of pieces to tell a story.
I recommended he look into finding web sites where he can put his compositions online and sell to other game developers, maybe getting commissions from sales or selling usage rights.
November 7th, 2022
Marco has written a new orchestral based song, so we listened to it together, and I made some suggestions as to harmonies to avoid parallel 5ths, 4ths, and octaves.
These are harmony rules established to make it easier to hear parts that stick out a little awkwardly in music.
October 24th, 2022
Marco played through some of the new musical ideas he has been working through this week, and talked to me about some of the story lines he's developing for his game.
I asked if he'd consider playing with our band at church on Sunday, but he said he didn't want to get up Sunday mornings, lol. I said to give it some thought.
October 17th, 2022
In Marco's lesson, Marco played through his Moonlight Sonata spinoff, and I suggested some ways to make it sound more /unlike/ the original. Inverting the arpeggios, making the melody more moving/melodic, etc. but it's up to him of course.
October 3rd, 2022
Last night (forgot to take notes), Marco played some of this songs for me which he was having difficulty with finding a melody. We talked about strategies for melodies, how they're very similar to how you modify chord progressions to keep them interesting.
We went over some chords for identification again, but this time with me playing guitar instead of piano.
September 26th, 2022
I had Marco write down the two notes he could hear both at the same time with a frame of reference to C, and then as intervals from various starting points... like writing out a complex melody.
He got on average about 75% which is pretty good, considering I was trying to stump him. :)
September 19th, 2022
Great job with ear training tonight. It's getting to the point where I can't stump Marco in his ear tests. I think that he's getting close to the point where he could get into university with his ear. The tests they give for ear usually play two tones, and you are asked to write them on a staff line. We could try that for testing, if he brings some staff paper with him next week.
September 12th, 2022
Marco played me a new song he'd written in a Rachmaninoff style, and then we worked for a little while on some sheet music he'd brought with him. It's quite a challenging piece, and I suggested he might consider finding something a little easier to help him get used to sight reading.
We then ended the lesson with some ear training.
August 30th, 2022
August 23rd, 2022
It was good to see Marco today. We caught up with what he's been working on, and he played me some of his recent music.
We spoke about different modes, and mixing modes in melodies, something he's been working on his own with.
See you next week!
August 16th, 2022
August 9th, 2022
Cancelled last night.
August 2nd, 2022
July 26th, 2022
July 19th, 2022
Two pieces of sheet music today:
Clair de Lune
Liebestraune #3
Hard stuff, but fun!
June 28th, 2022
Marco forgot to come today - that's it for lessons this year, and I'll be in touch about summer lessons after I've had a couple of weeks off.
Thanks!
June 21st, 2022
Today we talked about dynamics, specifically using volume, intensity, and chords to create changes in the listening experience so the ear doesn't get tired.
I shared a spotify playlist of my favourite classical songs, in a category called Tone Poems or Fantasias.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3wWQGYgBd4Uhm72VgAKm8C?si=33df1dc6c3384b0f
His homework is to expose himself to these genres and to read up a little bit on them to see if he can learn anything about dynamics and expression.
June 14th, 2022
I forgot to write Marco's notes yesterday. He played a new song he wrote for me, and we talked about next steps for September.
He expressed interest in continuing for the summer, and I told him to talk about it with his parents.
My summer schedule is a little different in that it's more flexible. I may choose to go away for a lesson, or you may, and there is no fee for missed lessons. Let me know what you'd like to do.
June 7th, 2022
Marco played through some of the songs he's been working on lately. He showed me the graphic for his CD cover too. He's sure coming along with his composition abilities! Great job, Marco.
May 31st, 2022
Marco played a couple of the new songs he's been learning. What I love about Marco is how he spends his free time learning about new scales, new ideas, and then goes on to apply that knowledge to his writing.
We spent the last little bit of the lesson doing ear work.
May 24th, 2022
Today we worked out the chords to Adele's Strangers by Nature:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfME15ltUeg&ab_channel=Lierix
A very fun, kind of Judy Garland style song - old-timey! Great find, Marco... and good job figuring out the chords.
May 17th, 2022
Lots of really difficult ear work today, and Marco is getting better and better at it. He's going to go far.
He played through his work on Sentimental Journey and Bendy Song.
May 10th, 2022
Marco and I did some chord identification this week, because he had forgotten about the songs to try to figure out last time.
They are again:
Doris Day, Sentimental Journey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUw125JMVFI&ab_channel=Dayniac4324
Bendy song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE3VkC8MJoQ&ab_channel=BGHMusic
May 3rd, 2022
Good job on the song from last week! Hard song, but you got pretty close on it, I think.
This week, a bit easier, Doris Day, Sentimental Journay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUw125JMVFI&ab_channel=Dayniac4324
If you want to try to play this Bendy song, go for it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE3VkC8MJoQ&ab_channel=BGHMusic
April 26th, 2022
Good job today Marco.
Your assignment this week, should you choose to accept it, is to write out the chords for this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE8z9pXn44w&ab_channel=DianaKrall-Topic
Good luck, it's a hard one!
April 19th, 2022
We continued with some hard chord changes, and Marco is still doing very well.
He is interested in learning more about orchestral instrumentation, so we will start that next week.
April 12th, 2022
Marco played some more songs for me at the beginning - he's really doing better and better, with more interesting melodies and chord patterns!
We went to the ear training, and worked through some more complex chords like minor major sevenths, and also did some inversion identification.
I also suggested that he consider we work on learning the keys of various instruments etc. to help with arranging in the future.
April 5th, 2022
We continued working on ear training today.
We spent some time talking about how to develop an artificial kind of "perfect pitch," using F# and Eb as context notes (so it's relative pitch using those as frames of reference).
I suggested some ways to work on finding it at home.
We also did some more quizzing of hearing chord changes.
March 29th, 2022
Marco played a new song for me at the beginning of the lesson. His melody development has improved SO MUCH. This song is very good, and I think he could win a competition, and have people take note of it... it's terrific.
We then moved into more ear training, working through a couple of Queen songs, trying to find the intervals of the melody from the song's key tonic reference point. He is doing very well on this.
I introduced him to a few other bands that are in a similar genre to Queen that I thought he might like.
March 22nd, 2022
We talked through some theory on a few various songs, and I helped Marco see how my brain works when finding the keys of songs.
We looked at the following:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1FlAphL2p8&ab_channel=TwentyOnePilots-Topic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuaBRqUBhyw&ab_channel=BrunoMars-Topic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6lihZAcy4s&ab_channel=TheWeekndVEVO
March 15th, 2022
Intervals went very well, and we then did chord progressions went really great too!
After we did some songs on YouTube, and tried to use these principles to apply to finding the chords of a song, without the piano.
Try doing this for random songs on your own, not using an instrument to find the progression, then testing it on your own.
March 8th, 2022
Great job today, Marco! We worked through the intervals, and then the chord changes. I added minor sevenths to a lot of the chord changes to press him into new areas, and he picked up many of them. Still could work on some of these more at home, but he's doing well.
Next week or the week after, we decided I would throw random songs at him and he will try to write down the chord changes for them.
March 1st, 2022
We worked on intervals and then ended with chord identification.
Marco is doing so very well with this. He has a fairly decent grasp on it, and I am continuing to add more complex changes to keep hjm on his toes.
February 22nd, 2022
Did Marco forget today?
February 8th, 2022
We chatted for a while at the beginning and decided to focus on ear training.
We spent most of the lesson going through intervals, both fourths and fifths, seconds, minor seconds, minor thirds, sevenths, minor(dominant) sevenths, and octaves.
We did up and down.
We then did five minutes of chord identification.
February 1st, 2022
Marco played a recording he made for me of the song I had asked him to work on, and played it too. It's a really nice song! He played it through for me, and did really well! There were some hard parts that he wasn't able to execute yet, but he's getting close!
He mentioned at the end of the lesson that he might not consider with lessons, so let me know what you decide.
January 25th, 2022
Marco did a good job on the song I asked him to work on ... it's sounding much better. It could use a teeny bit more refining, as there are a few places he stumbled, but overall it's terrific. I really like the song too - he's coming a long way!
I gave him an assignment to work on the next song this week in the same way.
January 18th, 2022
Marco played through the stuff we'd talked about from last week. I suggested he focus some attention on good pedal work, especially on the Aviary song.
I also asked him to play Queen of Heart's song without stopping, and at the end, to rotate through so he keeps playing it at least twice.
Great job!
January 11th, 2022
I missed Marco today - I had Zoom open and ready, but wasn't sure if it was virtual or in-person today.
January 4th, 2022
We listened through some of the songs Marco has been writing. A few of them were really good, and I suggested we take an orchestral route in learning to write songs-- for example, instrument range, proper clefs proper key signatures, etc.
We listened through him playing the big band song I talked about last week, so that I could help him find the time signature for it -- it sounded to me like there wasn't really any time signature in that one, and I suggested he try to conform it to 4 4 so that it's more of a typical big band beat.
December 21st, 2021
Marco had written a bluesy/big band style song - or start it anyway, and we talked through the chords he was using and the melody.
He's had some difficulty notating it because he doesn't know the right time signature to use. I suggested a couple of ways to find it.
We then talked about swing notation, and how to notate in a way so that you don't have to write out the swing literally. I showed him some examples of this online.
I suggested he bring me a thumb drive and I'll put a couple of free notation programs on it that he can use which might be a little more advanced.
December 14th, 2021
Marco played through a new song he has written using his notation app. It's really good!
He said his performance went well, and I asked him what he wanted to do next. I suggested maybe we try some jazz or blues - perhaps learning how to ad lib solos (improvise).
He liked that idea, so we went through some different jazz genres on YouTube, and he was more attracted to big band than jazz. I played him some Harry Connick Jr. which he really wowed after.
I showed him some of the blues scale, which is a modification of the pentatonic scale.
We ran out of time, so I asked him to research and read up on jazz, and maybe try writing a song in this genre.
December 7th, 2021
Ooops! Marco left his sheet music behind on my piano.
We went over his song - we went down to my grand piano so he could experience what it's like to play a piano with amazing dynamic range, and we talked about dynamics. Adding dynamics to playing creates a whole new sense and feel to a song, effectively making you sound more professional.
November 30th, 2021
I missed Marco today - see you next week!
November 23rd, 2021
Marco did really well today. He wrote out his entire arrangement of the 12 Days which was quite impressive, and a unique arrangement.
I talked about how he might make himself ready to perform it, because it's not a simple chord progression, and it has moving bass along with a moving melody. He's focused mostly on the arrangement, and not how to do it.
I prefer breaking songs down into manageable chunks, and to use chords (and a memorized melody) to make it easier to use. I suggested he do the same.
I asked him to work on it in four bar chunks, memorizing first one hand, then the other, and finally putting it together before moving on.
Great job! Great attitude!
November 17th, 2021
Marco moved his lesson today from yesterday
He said he wanted to work on Christmas Carols this week. I tried to give him music, and direct him, but he really has his own ideas, and doesn't seem to be receptive to the things I ask him to do.
I asked him to take the week to actually write out his arrangement of 12 Days of Christmas, and his arrangement of Angels We Have Heard on High.
I also suggested that he have four songs to do as a prelude, if he's to play for 10 minutes before the service starts at church.
November 16th, 2021
Marco forgot today - tomorrow at 3:00 is open, so we'll move it until then.
November 9th, 2021
Marco said he wants to start learning some new songs, and to have my input more on what he's writing, and he said he'd be open to suggestions as I make them. I think this is a good idea. I told him music lessons are expensive, and sometimes he's less interested in what I might teach him as he is in doing things his way.
He said he wants to start learning Christmas Carols in December, and I think that will give us an opportunity to really work on chording, performance, etc.
November 2nd, 2021
Marco wanted to put the Queen of Hearts song on hold for a little while - the complicated rhythms threw him off a bit.
So we recorded a new underwater theme he'd been working on.
October 26th, 2021
Marco recorded his Queen of Hearts song. It's got some complex time signatures, switching between 6/8 and 7/8 which was challenging!
We didn't finish it, so we'll continue working on it next week!
October 19th, 2021
Marco wanted some of my feedback on writing a new song, so I helped him think through how to pick keys how to decide on minor or major keys, the various influences on mood that those things have, time signature approach etc
October 12th, 2021
Marco wrote another song last week, and we recorded it again using my equipment.
October 5th, 2021
Marco wrote new song, and we recorded it today. It was called Blue Hill One. I emailed him the music.
We added strings, piano, bass, and I think it's his best yet!
September 28th, 2021
Marco and I recorded his Home song today, and added bass, a high bell sound, and some cymbals. I emailed him the mp3.
September 21st, 2021
I thought that by recording songs we might have opportunity to work on some theory that comes up in the songs. Marco already knows what he wants for things, and has it already all figured out, so that might make it a bit hard to lead him.
I think it's worth giving another try a few times to see what comes up in the process.
September 14th, 2021
It was good to see Marco again today! He's grown just over the summer, and more mature too!
Today he caught me up with the songs he's been writing. He played a number of them, and I interjected a bit with better fingering etc.
For the next year he says he'd like to focus on music theory. I recommend we start with the major-minor chord order for each key, if he's willing to work through that memorization and effort.
September 7th, 2021
Marco is starting next week.
June 22nd, 2021
Today we talked about keys which are more relaxed sounding: Eb, and Ab especially sound laid back. We talked about time signatures that sound more relaxed such as 3.4 and also longer held notes over quickly moving notes.
June 15th, 2021
Marco played through his songs he'd been working on with the theme/motif theory applied. It was good!
We continued to work through the concept, especially with regards to rhythm, as he was thinking of the A, B, and Cs as involving chords and melodies, too--- they can actually be the same rhythm on different notes, and then they're the same letter, but a different version.
For example, A, A2, B, A3
This would be the same rhythm for the first, second and third sections, but different notes / chords.
June 8th, 2021
Marco must have forgotten today.
June 1st, 2021
We spent the whole lesson talking about theory, especially with regards to song writing. We talked about themes and motif, A and A prime, B and C patterns, all mostly with regard to melody writing.
Marco is mostly receptive. I sense a bit of defensiveness somehow maybe. I can't quite put my finger on it. I think it's a matter of wanting to approach this like he already knows the material. I gave him a couple of assignments to use the strategies for patterns and apply them to the melody and tune ideas he and his friend had created.
May 25th, 2021
Marco is getting more done on the Entertainer. We didn't spend a lot of time working on it, because really, it's just time needed practicing.
He wanted to know if I was frustrated, and I said it's more that I want to be sure that I'm being helpful, and that the student isn't getting "stuck." I asked him if he felt like he was stuck, or if he felt he was growing and learning as a musician regularly.
He said he felt like he knew the basics of how to read now, and would like to learn more music theory. I'd like to work with him on theory, if he's ready to learn it, and it will help him if he can embrace learning things that he doesn't understand the value of. Perhaps we can work on that in the future, going forward.
I'd still like him to improve the Entertainer, and learn the whole song.
May 18th, 2021
We continued working through the Entertainer today. There are still a few places that need some work, and I tried to encourage him to focus on them this week.
May 11th, 2021
Marco is at a funeral today.
May 4th, 2021
We spent the lesson working on C1, and the last 10 minutes or so pushing into C3.
Keep working on it- we might be able to be done this song by this week, if you can make time t work on your trouble spots.
April 27th, 2021
Marco has the first part of the song memorized, and can nearly play it without stopping or making mistakes... at least at a slower speed. He could spend a bit more time working out the places where he fumbles some, and try to speed it up.
We started the second section last week, and he played it some for me today - it really seemed like he hadn't worked on it at all last week, however he said he didn't remember that I'd wanted him to practice that.
We spent the rest of the lesson working through it some more. At first he seemed discouraged, and he said he was down today. He said he misses his friends, and the routine of school. But once we got going on section C1, he seemed to feel much better.
April 20th, 2021
https://zoom.us/j/6994346838?pwd=dzY2dmhIOSttTTNOcHZmdTdFdVgvQT09
Marco did a great job today- first playing a couple of songs he'd been creating, and then actually making some good progress on the Entertainer. I think his sight reading is improving as well!
We worked through the next section of the Entertainer, and when he's got that done, he shouldn't wait there, but continue on with as much as he can learn on his own.
Good job!
April 13th, 2021
Marco will not be coming today. I made it a "no charge."
April 6th, 2021
We went through Entertainer together, but Marco still hasn't really made it past the front page.
We worked through the last line of page 1 together, and tried to work out the notes. He is still very tempted to just memorize, and part of the problem there is that he memorizes the wrong thing, or forgets the right notes, so practices notes wrong.
I'm not sure about the best way to move forward with that. I would love him to work on his reading - maybe with an app? There are games you can get to help you learn.
March 30th, 2021
Marco has been working on the Entertainer, and is making progress. He still tends toward memorizing, but that's pretty normal.
We worked through some troubles he was having with synchronizing the hands - playing the left hand at the right spot in the right hand's notes.
March 23rd, 2021
Marco and I continued with the Entertainer.
Here's the music:
https://musescore.com/user/167019/scores/162108
I really pressed him to work with both hands. He should practice with both every time he does it.
Also, remind him to resist the urge to memorize and to watch his hands, instead reading the music.
March 16th, 2021
Marco cannot come today. Can meet virtually at 7:30pm:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/6994346838?pwd=dzY2dmhIOSttTTNOcHZmdTdFdVgvQT09
Meeting ID: 699 434 6838
Passcode: lessons
March 9th, 2021
Marco said he didn't work much on his song Bandana Start Menu, because he wasn't sure how to figure out what notes and chords go with each other.
So we spent some time with the circle of fifths, explaining how the notes work together.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Circle_of_fifths_deluxe_4.svg/1200px-Circle_of_fifths_deluxe_4.svg.png
These will show you the three major and minor chords for every key, along with how many sharps and flats there are.
We then made up some quick melodies to put his own chords to using this method.
March 2nd, 2021
Marco played through Fur Elise for me - it's better than last week! Keep trying to get it smooth.
He then played a couple of songs for me that he was writing. In the hope of helping his site reading, I encouraged him to write the melody down. We used LilyPond at Hacklily.org
Here's his melody:
header {
title = "BANDANA Start Menu"
composer = "Marco Pacheco"
}
score {
relative c' {
d8 e
d8 e
d e
}
layout {}
midi {}
}
February 23rd, 2021
Fur Elise:
https://www.hacklily.org/?edit=jasonsilver/sheet-music/lessons-fur-elise.ly
Marco played through Fur Elise for me - at first I thought he hadn't been practising, because he just played with the one hand, but we worked through it a number of times. We added the left hand three note arpeggio, so work on that this week.
Also find a new song you'd like to learn, and we'll try to find the sheet music for it.
February 16th, 2021
This week's song:
https://capotastomusic.blogspot.com/2011/11/fur-elise-free-flute-sheet-music-notes_23.html
Last week's song:
https://www.hacklily.org/?edit=jasonsilver/sheet-music/lessons-beethoven-9th-c.ly
February 9th, 2021
Did Marco forget? Didn't see him today. :-(
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/6994346838?pwd=dzY2dmhIOSttTTNOcHZmdTdFdVgvQT09
February 2nd, 2021
Today we went through an old website I made a long time ago, called readsheetmusic.info.
IN it, I write out some basic lessons for reading sheet music. We got through the first three, and I asked Marco to continue on his own.
After he has some basics in reading, we're going to start writing out songs with notes to help him take the next step in learning.
January 26th, 2021
We continued working on Fungal Wastes, writing out some more of the song.
Marco wanted to know if he was ready to switch to saxophone, and that he was bored with the piano. I said that he hasn't really learned enough in the piano yet to have it help him very much with the saxophone, and that I wouldn't be able to teach sax, as that's not one of my skill sets, but if he could find a teacher, he could start anytime.
January 19th, 2021
Marco added a new song today (after playing through the Rugged Ridge one).
It's Fungal Wastes, from Hollow Knight.
I wrote out the intro and verse - see if you can get that memorized and smooth by next week!
:)
January 12th, 2021
Marco came in a bit late today, but we added a new song called Rugged Ridge - well, the last 11 seconds of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qVrPtq2tcg&ab_channel=MasStream
January 5th, 2021
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/3019566325?pwd=G9uKt0UAwD2wIumekTziMw
I missed Marco again today. Are we still doing virtual lessons?
December 29th, 2020
I guess Marco forgot today. Let's try again next week (unless it's onerous, in which case I'm fine with waiting.
December 22nd, 2020
Marco played through the Grinch for me, a few times - he has made some improvement, but I sure wish it could have been more. :)
He also played the Hollow Knight, and I videoed it. I'll try to remember to share the YouTube link with you.
See you in the new year, unless we can't because of the lock down...
THANKS SO MUCH for the Portuguese sweet bread and biscoti! I cannot wait to try it.
December 8th, 2020
We worked on The Grinch again today, and tried it with the orchestral sounds on my keyboard. We decided that it needs more work until it's really "ready," so Marco said he'll practice it more this week.
December 1st, 2020
Marco wanted to add a new song today, "You're a Mean One Mister Grinch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hj3U18FHgQ&ab_channel=StPeteArtisan
This is a fun one, and it's got some complex parts in it... so a good selection to take on.
November 24th, 2020
Marco seemed to be in a good mood today - we worked through the song, and it is getting closer and closer.
November 17th, 2020
We only practised for the first 15 minutes, and Marco wanted to chat. He said he's been feeling down about things and wanted to talk about it with me, so I didn't push it. Hope that's okay.
November 10th, 2020
We continued with Hollow Knight today. We've almost finished - a few more bars and we're done.
November 3rd, 2020
Marco continued working on the Hollow Knight song today - he had the first two lines down (I think it was the first two?) but not the rest of it, so we practised during the lesson, and worked out where he was having trouble.
October 27th, 2020
I missed Marco today - hope all is okay.
October 20th, 2020
Marco added a new song today, a really pretty piano song from a video game, called Hollow Knight Ambience.
Sheet Music:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BGOzlVlZ2wFZbmEZF0S5s3_uSTPGO64S_0e3OxDiHAk/edit?usp=sharing
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppGaFJ0CY64&ab_channel=TheEmbracedOne
October 13th, 2020
I think Marco is getting tired of the Cuphead song (and I don't blame him, it's challenging for both of us!) and he hasn't been enthusiastic to practice it as much lately. He's got the first part up to 75% speed, but whether we'd ever get it to 100% is doubtful. Also, he fizzles out on it around 1 minute in.
Video game songs like this are typically complex, and very difficult... we're keeping at it because he said his mom didn't want him moving on until he was actually done a song.
I asked him to practice last week's part of the song in the last 15 minutes, but he couldn't seem to focus on it. I kept asking if he needed help, and he said, "No, I'm okay..." so ... not sure what's the best course of action.
October 6th, 2020
Marco and I continued with Ruse of an Ooze, and wrote out the next section - we're still not even half way, and this song is extremely long and complicated-- but he's doing well on it so far. I'm really happy with the two handed stuff he's doing. Keep it up!!
September 29th, 2020
Today we added some chords to Ruse of a Muse, which was really fun - I'm so glad that Marco was game to add them, because in the past he seemed resistant to both hands playing.
It sounds great... we did the part through the trumpet solo... and a bit after that.
September 22nd, 2020
We continued working through Cuphead's Ruse of an Ooze today. I wrote out more notes, so we're up to one minute into the song.
Marco was able to play it at 65% speed, and almost at 75% speed. I'll be pretty impressed if he can get it any faster than that! This is a hard one!
September 15th, 2020
Marco came at 2:40 today - and I was in the middle of something, so he played with my dog in the back yard until 3.
We went over Ruse of a Muse together, trying to nail down the additional parts we hadn't learned yet. I wrote it out for him again in Google Drive.
Not only is it challenging to play at 25% speed, but once at 100% speed it's nearly impossible! Keep working on it, we're getting close!
September 8th, 2020
I wrote out Ruse of an Ooze for Marco, and we went through it together, working out the parts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saZ0ZKE8sdo&ab_channel=MasStream
We can add more next week once he's learned this, and got it up to speed.
June 23rd, 2020
Today Marco didn't have his uke, but he said he wanted to play the piano.
He showed me a song from a video game that he wanted to play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3D2M2ksImg
It's called Porkrind's Shop. It is a honkey tonk piano style.
Great job today, and this year Marco! I hope you decide to keep taking lessons, because you've got real talent potential. I would recommend you pick one instrument, and really go with it. The piano would be my first choice for you.
Again, have a great summer and blessings!
June 16th, 2020
Marco played through Somewhere over the Rainbow for me - it still needs quite a bit of work, but he was ready to move on, so we added Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, and I showed him how to finger pick this one.
It's fairly easy, so he should be able to wow me by next week. :)
June 9th, 2020
We continued with Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and I wrote out more of the melody/chord combination for him to work on.
Near the end of the lesson we got disconnected- I'm not sure what happened?
June 2nd, 2020
Marco worked some more on Fly Me to the Moon - he said that Soldier Poet King was too frustrating without the capo, so he'd been working on Fly Me to the Moon.
I had him play that through again.
We then added Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I wrote out the melody and the chords for him.
May 26th, 2020
Marco played Fly Me to the Moon, with the chords injected with the melody.
We then added Soldier Poet King, and this requires a capo on the guitar for the sixth fret:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z8zZBBkIRw&ab_channel=LostInAisle12
May 19th, 2020
We continued with fly me to the moon, first the chords, and then the melody, and then worked on putting the chords and melody together to be played at the same time.
We then reviewed Tiptoe Through the Tulips again, although without the capo.
May 12th, 2020
Marco played Tiptoe Through the Tulips for me, and then we added Fly Me to the Moon by Sinatra.
May 5th, 2020
Marco played and siang through Please Never Fall in Love again, and then we added Tiny Tim's "Tiptoe Through the Tulip.,"
April 28th, 2020
Marco played through what he could do of Come Out and Play, but felt it was too challenging for him, so wanted to go back to the uke.
We added a new song by Ollie MN called Please Never Fall in Love Again.
We went through that, and I wrote out the new chords for him at the bottom of the chart.
April 21st, 2020
Marco started out by playing through and singing My Way - I wish I had recorded the first time he did it, because it was great! After that, we added a new song by Billie Eilish called Come Out and Play - this required some new chords: C major 7 and F addB, which is F,#5.
The finger picking and chord pattern seems to repeat through the entire song, so should be easy to get this one smooth.
April 14th, 2020
Marco switched to learning guitar, and had already learned a number of chords to the song My Way by Frank Sinatra. We continued through the song, with me showing him how to play the other chords that he'd been frustrated with.
After getting through the song, Nicole and I walked through Google Drive, and how I'll share songs with the kids.
April 7th, 2020
Marco hadn't worked anymore on putting the two hands together for the song he wrote last week, but he wanted to be able to play along with Francisco, so I wrote out Uke melody, chords, and tab for him to play O Canada, and the other songs his brother is learning.
We briefly touched on Green Green, but I don't think he really worked on it this week anyway, so we can maybe come back to it in the future.
We went over O Canada, and Twinkle together, and he was able to play out the tab quite well. I look forward to hearing he and Francisco play them as a band!
March 31st, 2020
I started out by suggesting how to help him play both hands at the same time for the song he's writing. By going one note at a time, he might be able to figure out better left hand chords that don't clash. Another thing to try is to record the melody on his iPad (the right hand), and then make a left hand that fits while looping the right hand recording.
We then went to Ukulele, and Marco wanted to learn Green Green from the Kirby Game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCH6nQYflwY
I wrote out the parts of the melody in note form and as TAB- and emailed it to him. If he installs Google Drive, that might be easier for us to share notes from the lesson in real time.
March 10th, 2020
In Marco's lesson, he really wanted to take a break from Before I Go, and try his hand at writing some 8-bit style songs for a video game his friend wants to make.
We hooked up my little keyboard controller, and I helped him through the process of writing two or three little ditties.
Songs are best when they have both melodies and chords, so that will be the next step he needs to take in this project. I wrote the melody for him for the first one, so he might want to try writing his own melodies AND chords for the other two. (I think they're just melodies if I recall correctly).
March 3rd, 2020
Marco did fairly well on Listen Before I Go, but had forgotten the arpeggio parts, so I wrote them out for him on a piece of paper. We went over it slowly a few times, and then tried with the recording.
As we mentioned in the lesson, if it doesn't come really easily to him, he quickly gets discouraged, and doesn't want to keep working on it. The issue that brought this to light was the little run with the right hand which uses the middle finger to scale up with a duet of two notes.
February 25th, 2020
Before we worked through the Listen Before I Go song together again today, we reviewed minor 7ths, minor minor 7ths, major sevenths, minor major sevenths, etc.
We then played along with the recording, and tried to keep with the recording (don't play the chords too low on the piano, or it sounds muddy).
We added the new parts, from the bridge as well.
February 18th, 2020
Marco brought his animation in today, and we added the sound effects, then recorded some video of him dancing, and mixed it all together in iMovie.
February 11th, 2020
Marco wanted to learn a song where he's playing all the instruments again. We started out with Break My Stride, but it's actually quite hard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNsB4kCntH0
His next song choice was much simpler, by Billie Eilish, Listen Before I Go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvzE4ZofxGw
There are four chords repeating over and over again in this (at least as far as what we listened to), so we focused on playing those with good inversions, and using the major and dominant sevenths as needed.
February 4th, 2020
We brainstormed things to do for his leap audition, and came up with a script idea (not completely fleshed out yet).
We also had a bit of a chat about his concerns of going to leap, and he got quite teary. If you'd like to chat about it more, I'm happy to share the things he said.
613-344-1717
January 28th, 2020
Francisco and Marco are on a cruise today.
January 21st, 2020
Marco went first.
We started by reviewing Riptide, and he did well on it - there was a bridge which we hadn't written out yet, so I did that, and we went over it together.
He then wanted to learn Soul Sister, and already knew much of it in C - however, I wanted to stretch him to learn some chords he was less familiar with, so we did it in D.
January 14th, 2020
We learned a song by Vance Joy, called Riptide:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=BdsdgL4_wuY&feature=emb_logo
Here are some felt picks that Marco could get if his finger cuticles hurt too much when he strums:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81Nx6aq944L._AC_SY550_.jpg
The song goes by pretty fast, try playing it at slower speeds to get used to the chord changes.
January 7th, 2020
Marco wanted to switch gears and just focus on ukelele so he transcribed a bunch of chord shapes so he could work on memorizing them.
Next week it will be great if he remembers to bring his instrument, so we both have a uke to work with.
December 17th, 2019
We went over Sia, Snowman a few times - there were a few chords played wrong, but by the end of the lesson, he had them mostly corrected (I should say, most of the time he didn't misplay them).
We went over it a number of times, and I asked him to work especially this week on figuring out the inversions for each chord so he doesn't have to move his hand so far for each chord change.
We then went over a few minutes for Francisco by working on the scale fingerings for the C scale, both hands.
C D E F G A B C
The thumb tucks under the middle finger going up, with the right hand, and coming down, the middle finger crosses over the thumb. (the thumb would play the bottom C, and the F going up with the right hand.)
It works the same way with the left hand, in mirror.
December 10th, 2019
Marco went first today.
We listened to the mix of Circles, which I completed today- I sent it to Nicole's email as an mp3 in Dropbox (let me know when you've got it so I can delete it).
We then chose a new song, by Sia, Snowman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPcUH7CbGWc
This is in Db, and the Db chord is inverted down 1 inversion - Marco insisted on playing it that way, which might make it harder, but he's determined! :) I'm impressed that he wants to bite off so much, but if he gets discouraged with this song, we might try lowering it to the key of C to make it easier.
December 3rd, 2019
Marco started out today.
We worked through the rest of the melody of the Circles song - unfortunately, part of the time was with the wrong sound, but it sounds good nevertheless.
He wants to work on a Christmas song for next week, he said, or the Peanuts theme.
November 26th, 2019
We recorded some keyboards on Circles tonight - first the pads, then the intro theme, and finally the melody - he didn't know all of the melody so I asked him to write that out for himself this week, so we could record it next week.
Then we'll learn a Christmas song for next time. His dad wants him to learn Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.
November 19th, 2019
In Marco's lesson today, we recorded the Uke, the drums, and the bass. I'll do some edits, and then lay down some more tracks next time he's in the studio.
November 12th, 2019
Marco played through Circles for me on the drums, bass, and uke. We're going to record it some week when it's just him here.
We learned part of the melody on the piano, so that he doesn't have to sing the melody on the recording.
November 5th, 2019
Jason sick today.
October 29th, 2019
Marco started out with drums, and played Circles along at 75% of speed. He said he hadn't been practicing it as much because he felt he had it down pretty good. I suggested he practice it at the 100% speed, and work on accuracy, and also adding the extras that he hears in the headphones, such as drum fills on the toms, etc. and also not to play the hi-hat too loud.
We then moved to bass- he'd been playing it on the wrong string, so it was in the wrong key, but he's getting better. He should try to work on playing it as smoothly as he can, and to fight against his "double jointed" issues - so that he can reach up to the next string with a different finger, not the same one.
We then tried guitar, but he was having trouble with the pain of the fingers, or the frustration of not being able to hold down the notes.
We tried ukulele after that, and I showed him the chords for that with the Circles song.
October 22nd, 2019
Marco is so enthusiastic, I enjoy teaching him.
Today he started by just messing around a bit with the Uke, although he wanted to go right to the bass. He feels frustrated that his fingers aren't long enough / strong enough to play the bass part as smoothly as he'd like to, but considering his doublejointedness, he's doing great.
We then went to guitar and I showed him the chords (and wrote them down for him) that are played in Circles. It was hurting his fingers, and so he wanted to switch to play drums for a while. We went through the part a bit with the recording, and he's getting close. When he plays along with the recording, he falls behind a bit on the snare and kick, because the highhat part is hard for him to keep in time. I recommended he play without the highhat, but "think about" the highhat part while he plays it, so he gets used to the right speed... then to play along and adjust the tempo as he slows down.
October 15th, 2019
Marco started with bass, and we played through Circles again. I increased the detail of the bass line from what we had done last week, adding some more rhythm to it, and the "transitional" notes between the main chords.
After playing for 15 minutes, we switched to the drums, and talked through what the drums are doing there. We then tried to do the eighth note beat with the kick on every quarter.
Slowing down, and really trying to process each step of the way will have more effect than just playing through it and making lots of mistakes. Take your time. :)
In Francisco's last 15 minutes, Marco tried Back in Black, and then returned to Circles.
October 8th, 2019
Marco wanted to try bass this week, so we started with the basics, the 6 note scale starting on the low E string.
We played through a few songs with different rhythms on the bass, including Happy Birthday, before trying Bad Guy and then Circles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sca9FP6zl8
He can practice on the guitar until he has a bass.
October 1st, 2019
Marco was sick today.
September 24th, 2019
Marco did well today - we started with piano and moved to drums.
I showed him how to do a chromatic scale correctly, alternating between thumb and middle finger and going to first finger on the half step white notes. Practice with both hands.,
He played the other song for me, and I asked him to find a better inversion for D.
We then moved to drums, and he learned the quarternote and eighth note beats, as well as crashes on 1, and an introduction to rolls.
DOn't hold the sticks too tightly, don't hold them against the surface of the drums (the surface is called the heads), and use the head of the stick instead of the shalf against the high hat.
September 17th, 2019
Marco did really well on his song - he wrote out the melody notes for Bad Guy, and showed me what he had done.
We worked again on inversions, with me explaining them, and showing him how to play them up the keyboard for G minor and C minor.
We worked on figuring out the right inversions to the song and how to figure them out.
I asked him to rewrite the melody for the song, with the chords underneath the melody, in lower case letters, so he knows when to switch chords.
September 10th, 2019
Marco and I worked through some of the basics to start, figuring whether he knew the note names, the flats and sharps, major and minor chords, etc.
He wanted to start with the Billie Eilish song, Bad Guy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-TbQnONe_w
This chord has G minor and C minor, and D in it, so we talked about how to play that with inversions, and how to represent the chords on a timeline using a chord chart.
September 3rd, 2019
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