I had my first lesson with Ms. Vickers this Thursday, and she was extremely helpful in helping me find the range in my voice and showing me how I can practice singing along to the original song. Turns out I can hit a few high notes that I didn't think my throat was able to do, and overall, I feel confident in at least singing in song (it's a work in progress; I still sound horrible). But I think with enough practice, I can make it. Also practiced more on the guitar!

I had another short lesson with Mr. Andino, more practice on the three chords and really trying to get them down now. All my left-hand fingers still hurt like hell, and I think I might've figured out an easy way to make sure I can have the guitar in the background for the whole song (my fingers can't take the beating. I really didn't realize guitar strings can hurt that much).

Also practiced singing in the car on my way back home!

I learned about the chords I need for my song, and I practiced a lot on trying to get those three chords down cuz they are really hard to play, and my fingers hurt like hell now. I have a permanent line just across all my fingers.  Playing the guitar is no easy task, but I would say it's still easier than the piano. the first chord is particularly hard because I have to use all of my 4 fingers to grab different strings at different frets. But yeah, I practiced a lot today and had my lesson with Mr. Andino. I had to reschedule my lesson with Ms. Vickers since she had a meeting, but I'm meeting with her Thursday!

04/02/24

Caroline Vickers

Gilmour Academy 

34001 Cedar Rd, Gates Mills, OH 44040

Dear Mrs. Vickers,

I hope this letter finds you well. I deeply apologize for the length of this letter. My name is Cedric, and I am a senior at Gilmour Academy. You’ve known me since I was 10! That was a long time ago! I am writing to introduce myself as a participant in the senior project program and seek your guidance and mentorship. Throughout my academic journey, I have been trying to find time to explore my musical interests, which I never seem to find the time for due to school and all my extracurricular activities. I’ve been playing piano on and off for the past five years, but I've always wanted to learn to sing and play the guitar.

After careful consideration, I have decided to focus my senior project on “The Absolutely True Diary of How to Sing and Play the Guitar.” My project will fall under the creative pathway, with a specific focus on music. I believe that this project will not only allow me to deepen my understanding of music theory/singing but will also equip me with the skills and knowledge necessary to achieve my future goals and hobbies. My essential question for this project is: "What is it like to do simple things like sing and play the guitar as a normal highschooler?".

In order to help answer my essential question, during my senior project experience from May 6th - May 14th, I would like to work on the following:

● [5 -10 hours of working with you on singing. (If possible)]

● [5 -10 hours of working with Mr. Andino on learning the guitar. (I’ll go talk to him)]

● [20 - 30 hours of practicing everything by myself].

I'm hoping that by the end of my 40 hours, I can at least comfortably play and sing one song during my senior project performance. This is, by all means, not a question of your professional expertise but of my musical competence. 

To fulfill my requirements at Gilmour, please note that I need the mentor's approval of this plan. As my mentor, your verification of my 40-hour log will also be required once the experience has been completed. If you have questions or would like to make suggestions for adjustments, my email address is lic@gilmour.org, and my phone number is 4408406881. We will be using a website called Glave (I think you’ve used this before) to administer this Senior Project. If you are willing to serve as my mentor, look for an email with the subject, Welcome to Glave. Once you click on the link from that email, you'll then set a password. After that, you will be taken to a dashboard page where you can accept the invitation to serve as my mentor. As I log time during my project, you'll receive additional emails asking you to validate the time. Please let me know if you run into any problems while using Glave, it was created by one of my teachers, Mr. Adiletta, (adilettad@gilmour.org), and if you prefer, we can confirm hours on paper in May.

Thank you so much for your time and willingness to work with me. I value your time and expertise, and I look forward to learning from you and working with you in May. I think we’ll have a fun time working together!

Sincerely,

Cedric Li

I practice the three chords and try to memorize the lyrics of the song. I also watched a few YouTube videos on music theory and how the guitar works compared to a piano, it turns out they are very similar, and jazz piano sheet music is the exact same as the guitar!