Sunday, June 21, 2009

A New Chapter...

Every so often, I feel as if we are opening a new chapter in Haley's musical life. Lately, we are turning those pages very quickly. Yesterday, Haley had her first lesson with Brian Conway. He heard Haley play at the Fleadh and asked if he could teach her. I found out that Kathy had him in mind for Haley at some point but couldn't figure out the logistics since he lives 2.5 hours away.

He told us that he wasn't taking on any new students and was allowing his student load to drop off by attrition but when he heard Haley play, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to teach her.

We had to drive in pouring rains which caused traffic and accidents making our 2.5 hour drive into a 3.5 hour drive. We were a half hour late for the lesson and Brian had a wedding to attend so was only able to teach her for about 45 min. In that 45 minutes he gave her so much information. He gave her exercises for practicing techniques, bowing specifics for jigs, went over a new tune with her, and played her 2 other reels to think about for Ireland. He doesn't know her yet...so will probably be a bit surprised when she has them learned by the time he sees her again.

If only we didn't live so far away. I feel that he has so much he can teach her and she will soak it all up like a sponge. Our summer is crazy busy with camps, weddings, and Ireland.

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