We practiced before dinner because we were going over to a friend’s house. I decided to do something we have never done: play a duet in Read This First that was not a Suzuki song. First, M read through the notes about 3 times, identifying the note names. I was a little frustrated that she couldn’t identify the problem notes after we went through it; I’m trying to get her to problem-solve on her own, rather than always having me identifying what needs work.
But she got through it, and we played it through together a few times. It sounded nice, and we played one four-bar passage several times to get it sounding good. This was all conflict-free and seemed to have a pretty good payoff in M’s satisfaction.
Next, we worked on the C and D sections of Meadow Minuet as follows:
- M played melody, I played bass;
- I played melody, M played bass; and
- M played both in the C section only.
This went well. Her only issues are (1) pinky shape, and (2) paying attention (aiming) before starting to play.
At one point, as she was figuring out what bass note to play, she said:
“I’m corn. Because I’ve got such good ears!”