My dream is that this little program/idea might eventually morph into something super awesome, like a career that has me starting and spreading joyful community jams all over the place. If I can get 10 students/families in one community signed up, I would be happy to travel to that community to host a joyful jam party or two (once we have built up a small repertoire of songs, using this virtual program). Together, the silent background video slideshow and the Master's Project link on "About Me" page accurately depict the end goal- many people smiling, dancing, singing and playing songs together.
Using a collaborative platform called Watch2Gether (tutorial link in footer), and 25-minute weekly video calls with a child (or adult!) in your family, I plan to teach concepts, introduce resources, and help create a daily practice schedule which will include some combination of singing, playing, reading, writing, moving, listening and creating. I will focus on a particular familiar, uplifiting song each month to teach many concepts (rhythm, melody, harmony, form, chord progressions, timbre, tempo, dynamics, etc.- if you really dig in, a LOT can be learned from a single song), while working toward having each child (with some family members?) demonstrate their learning and creativity in a fun arrangement and video performance of the song. In an attempt to elicit a sense of community and connection, I will piece/layer videos together to create a unique rendition of each song we learn, aiming for something falling technically somewhere between these outfits:
In order to participate you will need a laptop (an ipad will work too, but not quite as well), an instrument- whatever you happen to have laying around your house is fine (piano, melodica, ukulele, recorder, bass, drums, buckets, guitar, xylophone, etc.), and a child who is keen to learn/practice, and can operate said laptop and instrument. Printing capabilities would be a bonus. Age-wise, I'm thinking 7 and up, but am welcome to other suggestions (I do enjoy working with adults too who, like me, maybe took piano lessons their whole life, but never learned how to jam). If you have no instruments, and are interested in making a purchase, please see affordable recommendations below. I CANNOT teach anyone how to shred on any instrument. My intentions are to keep things fun, simple, and real while teaching you a little more about music, getting you confidently playing on your own and with others, and hopefully making you smile and laugh a little. If you are interested, feel free to watch the short tutorial in the footer, and head on over to "Book Online" to pick a time for a free trial. If you choose to continue after the trial, payments will be monthly (4 sessions).