Rock & Roll 101

November 23rd, 2021

November 16th, 2021

I missed Eli tonight - hope all is okay!

November 9th, 2021

We talked some more about the piano keys, and Eli had fun playing random songs. I tried to interest him in Paw Patrol songs and showed him how to play the first few notes, but he said it was too hard.

We did other musical activities, like what sound do different animals make, and stuff like that... hopefully he's still enjoying it.

November 2nd, 2021

Eli isn't feeling well today.

October 26th, 2021

I missed Eli tonight - hope all is well?

October 19th, 2021

Eli wanted to learn piano today, because he said the drums are too loud. I kept in mind that he mostly wants to just have fun. I tried to teach him the names of the keys, but instead we ended up just messing around with the piano. I would play a couple notes of Jingle bells or Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer, and he would copy me one or two notes at a time.

October 12th, 2021

We had a good lesson today with Eli, just going through songs and enjoying them. By the end he said he legs were pretty tired! :) That's a lot of drumming for a little guy.

We worked on We Will Rock You,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoWhB0U_P9Q

It's My LIfe by Bon Jovi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=won1f_dp6Gg

Paradise City:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIBZrX5eoI8

Sugar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzbxy40hO-Q

Uptown Funk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSQg-jrD3yA

October 5th, 2021

Eli plays very enthusiastically, but struggles with a sense of rhythm. :) It might have been easier when mom was here to help redirect him? I'm not sure why he isn't understanding what I'm asking him.

:)

When I try to clearly point out the thing I want him to do, he just keeps doing it the way he was doing it before, almost like he thinks he already is doing it that way. I don't think he's being obstinate, he just maybe doesn't know what I'm trying to do? It's a bit perplexing to me.

If you're okay with him just having fun, that's fine with me too - I can give him songs to play along with etc. I just want to make sure we're on the same page, so that you won't get frustrated with my teaching.

We added this one tonight just to have fun. :)
https://youtu.be/SSQg-jrD3yA?list=RDMM

He can't really play along with it, but he likes to hit the snare! haha. :)

September 28th, 2021

Eli went over Seven Nation Army for me - it was kinda random playing, lol, but it was enthusiastic, so that's awesome. We tried to work out to play on the right beat, and he still needs to focus on that at home some.

We then added Queen, We Will Rock You. Here's a simple cover of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoWhB0U_P9Q

Encourage him to really match the drum beat of the video, if he can.

September 21st, 2021

Eli came with dad today, Mark, if I remember correctly.

(Miss Muffett left her pink bracelet behind - I hung it on my coat rack next to the door).

We played through the four beats we tried last week, and I saw a big improvement. Eli still seems tempted to go off on his own and just wham them, hey, who can blame him!?

We played along with 7 Nation Army by The White Stripes, which is pretty repetitive and easy to learn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3qy8H6-5WY

We went through it a few times.

September 14th, 2021

In order to help Eli with playing on time, I had him close his eyes and clap based on hearing and feeling rather than sight. It seemed to help a lot!

We worked on playing the toms on beat one and me playing the piano (or counting) on the other beats. Gradually I gave him more beats to play, and different instruments to play on each beat.

I think we're making progress!

September 7th, 2021

We worked on a few different things, but the most important focus should be on learning how to copy rhythm.

As he showed interest in something else, I tried to make that a teaching topic, and move him on to whatever we were initially working on.

August 24th, 2021

Today we spent the lesson trying to familiarize Eli with counting on the beat. We clapped together, and tried hitting the drums together to get the idea in. :)

Thankfully, his mom is a better teacher than I am!! haha!

Something like this might help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exnmzJH8HgM

August 17th, 2021

This was Eli's first week. He was pretty nervous and shy at first, but by the last 10 minutes, he was daring to play the drums.

We went over the drum names, and tried some basic rhythm copying with him, which he had some trouble with. I think we might start with clapping different rhythms next week to warm him up to the idea.