Q: What’s your musical background?
We grew up in Tennessee so the musical influence in our lives is rich and varied, from rock to worship and rap to bluegrass – we enjoy it all. Up until we started Busy Kids Do Piano, only the oldest three had taken any lessons, and only the oldest really connected with it, though everyone likes to play around on the piano and guitar and ukulele.
Q: Anything fun or unique you’d like to share about your family?
We have an obnoxious amount of instruments in our home…at least a dozen guitars, a banjo, 2 pianos, a lap dulcimer, and hammered dulcimer, a ukulele, a violin, and a pipe. Dad plays most of them, but oldest brother is a musical genius who is able to play anything he touches. Listening to and enjoying music is a favorite pastime in our home. Even though oldest brother is a natural, teaching his younger siblings is not his forte, and we were all needing some instruction to take our “playing around” to the next level.
Q: How do you structure piano lessons/practice for your family? Any tips to share?
We treat piano lessons as one of our homeschool subjects so practicing fits easily into our daily schedule when school is in session.
Q: How did you learn about Busy Moms/Kids Do Piano?
With 5 of us wanting to take lessons, the cost and time for private lessons was out of our reach. I learned about Busy Kids Do Piano from a facebook post sharing about one of Carly’s Music Camps. Realizing this set up would allow all 5 of us (myself with Busy Moms and the youngest 4 with Busy Kids) to take lessons on our schedule and in our home, we signed up immediately.
Q: Do you have any stories you’d like to share about your musical journey with piano lessons?
The children are learning the fundamentals, but the real enjoyment comes from the bonus lessons. The Star Wars and Moana songs are played daily here and have springboarded the kids into looking up other songs online and figuring them out…there was a whole lot of “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” being played and sung around here this last month.
Q: What is your goal with having your child learn to play the piano?
Our primary goal of lessons is simply to develop an understanding of the fundamentals of reading and playing music so we can have more fun playing around on all the instruments we have around here, and Busy Kids (and Moms) Do Piano has made that possible for us.
