Week #1

I have taught 5 lessons so far this week, and these people are blowing me away! They catch on so quickly - much faster than I did when I took lessons.

Rachel. When I asked her what she wanted to do for the recital at the end of all this, she chose to think of a popular song, which I will simplify (or not, depending on her progress). I don't play much popular, modern stuff, so this will be a new experience for me too! Rachel has a lot of potential to go far in this piano-playing process.
P.S. She's writing a novel. She's 18. If that's not impressive, I don't know what is.
Hazel. Apparently, I promised her my first-born child. (I do not remember that!) Then during the lesson, when I asked her to play Mary Had a Little Lamb, she told me I now owe her my second as well. She really has a light mood about this introduction to music at the age of 55. She is a pro at rhythm though! I showed her the rhythm sheets and she just clapped right through them - no problem. She finished three when I had an expectation of one. She's also already chosen a song for the recital. Way to go, Hazel.
Ben. He's the youngest student I have. He's 6, but he has more drive than I've ever seen in a person. He knows exactly when he makes a mistake and he just starts over so he can fix it. I don't have to tell him anything! He did so well, I promised him Jolly Ranchers for next week. (Little kids need a little more motivation.)
Pam. The most intelligent, worldly person I have ever met. I am truly lucky that she agreed to participate in this project. She is so diligent and devoted to learning, no matter what it is. That's refreshing. Ear training may be a small battle throughout this journey, but we will make improvement.We ended the first lesson with improvising a couple songs together, and they sounded great! It's going to be fun teaching her every week.
Ryan. Ryan is, by far, the quickest learner. He's a 16 year old boy, so I think he made this a little competition for himself. When we were doing note-reading, I told him nobody had gotten that far in the book, and he said, "Let's do one more so I can be really far ahead." When I told him to play Mary Had a Little Lamb in G Major, he started plunking it out, and had it memorized by the time he left. We had so much time left, I taught him Chopsticks and Heart and Soul too.