Baylie reviewed "The Pink Panther". She remembered more this time. Our next endeavor was to read from Macy's book. I wanted to see how well she could read. We never saw her books and thus, I never saw the level she was playing. We decided to use Macy's book and she did very well. Occasionally, we had to teach a new concept (there is a new one in each lesson), but by and large she did very well. On each of the new concepts she picked it up very well and corrected any mistakes.

Baylie played only the Pink Panther. She remembered most of it and we did our best to finish it. She was very determined and every time she made a mistake it was pointed out to her that the key of the piece was E minor. What that means is that whenever she forgets what the notes are that she can focus on the E minor triad and probably get the right notes.

Macy continued to learn songs from the book. She was challenged, however, that only made her more determined. She learned a theory concept and we decided to learn a song on page 27 that was many songs further than where we were learning. She understood the concept and played it very well. She wasn't able to master it, perhaps she will next week.

We started to learn "The Chart". It is all the major scales with major and minor chords, plus arpeggios. She earned many checks on the chart. We also did a simple chord progression which helped her earn more checks on the chart.

What I've noticed about Macy is that she gives it her all for a short amount of time and wishes to explore another area. That attitude keeps the lesson fresh and challenging.

Macy was given the option of picking the first piece she wanted to either review or learn towards mastery. She chose the last piece we did which was the hardest. Since it was on page 27 she attempted it because the theory concept was easy, however, she did have a little problem thinking through which hand was supposed to play the written note. On her next attempt the mistakes were fewer. Practice is something that would solve the problem. We proceeded to do another piece that was not as demanding and she played it much better than the first.

Macy decided that she would begin learning intervals - the distance between two tones or notes. There are 13 intervals. Macy is the first student I've every had in over 40 years of piano teaching that learned all 13 intervals in one day. We approached it using an interactive method. It took some time, however, little by little she was determined to get all 13.

Baylie was not present due to illness.

Baylie worked hard today in putting both hands together. Very proud of her... She has a good attitude when it comes to being resilient. We discuss how to use music theory as a means to remember and focus. Looking for patterns is essential and music is full of patterns.

We started learning to recognize intervals - two notes - when played on the piano. There are 13 total and she was able to learn the eight intervals we started with today.

Macy reviewed the songs that she learned previously; We learned some more easy pieces; she learned about the Major scale "formula"; we did the C Major scale and the C major triad; Macy attempted to learn a piece of music that was entirely in the C root position.

Macy has to remember so many commands that come from the note, rhythm, fingering and reading. She is resilient. Proud of her accepting the challenge...

Macy reviewed information from the last lesson. She knew it very well. I gave her the new book and we started to play one song after another. She stated that her fingers were tired. She focused better with each new piece. We did go over some of the other songs in the book as a way of looking forward to mastering her only problem which was being able to tell which hand played a section of notes. By going over the material not played she realized the value of having the skill to tell the difference. We stopped a couple of times because she was intrigued by what the piece was introducing her to and we played those pieces. Macy learned the C scale and C triad. More scales and triads as the weeks go by...

Macy has incredible hands. She "attacked" - a technical term in piano - with conviction. She is eager to learn, loves a challenge and her mind does not fatigue as easily as most students when being presented with new material.

Baylie reviewed what she had learned last week. Amazing focus. She started what my students call the chart - a methodical approach to learning the scales and chords. We needed to reach a certain scale - E major - and learn the E major triad and change it to E minor. It is in the key of E minor that the Pink Panther is written. She also learned to recognize the triad played in Root, Ist and 2nd Inversion. Since she loves volleyball, this was easy for her. It is presented like volleyball in that we have to rotate the triad. Baylie was able to learn the right hand of the first page. Next week we will play both hands together for the first page.

Baylie focuses beautifully, a key component of learning any new skill. She stated that she practices every day before she heads home which is the reason she was able to go to the next new thing without being retaught last week's lesson.

Had Baylie play very easy music to access her ability to read notes, read rhythm, tempo accuracy, and generally asked questions to access her knowledge of theory. Basically, Baylie did very well. What she excelled in was her ability to stick to the music until she was able to do it correctly. Had to let her stop because she was making mistakes that she had not been making before, a sign of fatigue. What a trooper.

Taught her a different way to count eighth notes. Much more accurate.

Taught Baylie the beginning of "The Pink Panther". This is a very easy piece, it has a great pattern. Baylie picked up on the pattern immediately. She practically knows the entire left hand. I will continue working with her on the basics of theory while she is taking lessons. She should be able to play what is considered more advanced music with the early knowledge of music theory. Her hand width is great, which is why I thought she might enjoy "Pink Panther". She focuses very well.

Baylie will practice "The Pink Panther" often so as not to forget what she was taught today.