Rock & Roll 101

January 24th, 2022

Sherry wasn't available today.

January 10th, 2022

I showed Sherry some other things she can work on with the piano, like octave scales in both hands, or octaves in the left and chords in the right. Also, scales in other keys, and alternating notes in octaves with the left and/or right hands.

December 20th, 2021

Sherry showed me some of the stuff she was working on, and we talked about what to add next as a practice routine. I suggested continuing with scales, but to go more than one octave. To continue up the piano (or down), don't play the pinkie on the last note, but instead tuck the thumb under again. It's three notes, and then four as the fingers and thumb trade off their roles.

December 6th, 2021

Sherry showed me how she had been working on Jingle Bells, and we talked about things to do to continue working on it. I suggested that if she's going to sing and play, to focus on just the chords. It might be easier to put them them together.

We also discussed working on inversions a bit, as a thing to help in abilities and future growth.

November 22nd, 2021

Sherry returning, and bringing back piano.

I recorded Jingle Bells and Winter Wonderland for Sherry, and wrote out the notes on a piece of paper for her.

She borrowed the piano again for another couple of weeks.

November 8th, 2021

Sherry has a doctor's appointment this day.

October 25th, 2021

Sherry didn't bring her book, so we used my tablet and went over some of the songs I've got in there, like Hallelujah, You Are My Sunshine, and Imagine.

She also borrowed my 88 key piano again and will be bring it back on the 22nd (4 weeks away).

September 29th, 2021

Sherry recorded me playing three songs for her to work on: Blue Moon of Kentucky, Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry, and another which I forget.

She also rented my 88 key piano for two weeks, so until October 13th

September 27th, 2021

Sherry cannot make it today. We are moving her this week to Wednesday.

September 13th, 2021

Sherry played on my 88 key e-piano today. We went over the things she'd been working on and I showed her arpeggios, and the back-and-forth way of playing the chords (top two notes together, then the thumb).

We looked at the Blue Moon of Kentucky song together again.

August 17th, 2021

August 17th, 2021

Sherry wasn't able to make it this week, and Kiera couldn't come in her spot, so the next time we see Sherry will be in two weeks.

August 3rd, 2021

August 3rd, 2021

We didn't connect today.

July 6th, 2021

July 6th, 2021

We continued with working on chords and scales and Sherry had some questions about fingering - we then worked on a couple of songs (Blue Moon of Kentucky and Stand By Me).

We worked on arpeggios, and quarternotes, and left hand single root and double octave.

June 29th, 2021

We went through the scales to work out some more fingerings (D and E).

We went over a song, Blue Moon of Kentucky:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avHd5soKr0M

I wrote out the chords for her in the key of C.

June 16th, 2021

This was our first lesson. We talked about finger exercises Sherry can do by building strength and independence between fingers. We talked about how to find triads, but using the first note of the chord as the name (for example, C major starts on a C note, A minor starts on an A), and the difference between a major and minor chord being based on the middle note of the chord. Also, by counting the number of notes between the first and second note (three between would make a major chord, and two between would make a minor chord).
We talked about when to tuck the thumb over, and how it's different for each hand depending on whether you're using the left hand or right hand, and if the hands are moving toward each other, or in the same direction.
We went through a couple of songs together, and I shared the Google Drive folder with her that contains all my secular music charts. (If you're interested, I have another folder full of Christian music - I saw your cross, but didn't ask if you were a Christian).
There's a lot to cover in the beginning, but I suggest you focus on your "fly-away" fingers, and strength, and the rest we'll take a bit at a time.