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Day Two Hundred Nine (Year Three)

So, tonight's lesson/exploratory meeting (because let's be honest, the first lesson is more about figuring out where to go from there than it is anything else) went really well.  My student wasn't kidding when she said that she really only knows three chords.  And yet, I feel like we got somewhere concrete tonight.  She's had her guitar for 12 years, and has learned 1 chord for each 4 years she's had it.  Of late she's been learning out of a book/DVD combo pack that lost her immediately by having her learn a version of "Tom Dooley," or as she put it "some really ancient folk song I don't care about."  I may have showed my nerdiness by mentioning that the Kingston Trio did a great version of that song.

The other great question I got tonight?  "The guy from the DVD thinks I need to learn scales too, what do you think?"

It's always interesting to have to defend learning at least a few scales.  I suggested that it might be a good idea to learn a few, but told her that, for now, I'd rather she focused in on chords, as that would get her feeling like she was making music faster.

She had me play her instrument for a bit, just to prove to her that it was capable of making actual music.  She's got a really nice guitar.

We're not planning to get together every week right now, but she's thinking maybe every other would work.  I can live with that.  We'll have her learning more chords sooner than the next 4 years, that much I can guarantee.

That's really the big news for today.  More playing of my own tomorrow.

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