Over the years, I’ve watched shy children become confident performers.

I’ve watched students who wanted to quit discover resilience they didn’t know they had.

I’ve watched friendships begin in waiting rooms.

I’ve watched teachers become mentors.

I’ve watched parents tear up at recitals because they suddenly saw something in their child that had been there all along.

Those moments have very little to do with scales or chord progressions.

They have everything to do with growth.

⸻

As Music SO Simple celebrates ten years of music education, I find that my dreams have actually become simpler.

Yes, I want our school to grow. Yes, I want to reach more families. Yes, I want to continue building an incredible team of teachers.

But if I had to reduce everything down to one thing…

I want every student who walks through our doors to leave believing they are more capable than they thought they were.

I want them to discover confidence. Joy. Perseverance. Creativity. And maybe, somewhere along the way, a little bit more of themselves.

Because music has a funny way of doing that. It doesn’t just teach us to play an instrument.

Sometimes…it teaches us who we are.

So this is definitely my “why.”- not to create musicians. But to create a place where children (and even adults) discover who they are—and who they can become- and find happiness.

Music just happens to be the language we speak.

And after ten years, I can’t imagine a better conversation to be having.


What if the greatest gift music has to offer isn’t an instrument…but the person your child becomes because they learned to play one?

1. Listening. Have them listen to recordings of their music and of other great music. Involve them in picking out pieces or composers to listen to. (A future blog post will include some of my top listening and video suggestions.) Active listening. When traveling, bring a photocopy of a few of their pieces and have them listen to recordings while following along with their music. Even just passive listening soaks in and as a bonus, it helps regulate nervous systems.
2. Make practicing a part of their regular routine. Help them to think of practicing like brushing their teeth. Make it a part of the daily routine. A normal expectation. Just like you might check to see if they brushed their teeth or put away their toys, check if they have remembered to practice. This does not mean “nag” them. It may take time to build this as a regular part of their routine, but as it becomes more and more a part of their regular habits, it will become less of a “chore” and more just a part of who they are.
3. Incentivize. Occasionally put out an incentive- especially if they have been in a rut.  Maybe a trip to the ice cream shop for consistent practice every day for a week. Or plan to purchase a special item they have been wanting as an encouragement for mastering a particularly hard piece they have been working on. 
4. Driving games. When driving, put on the classical music station and discuss the pieces you hear. Who do you think the composer might be? Does this piece have a fast tempo or a slower tempo? What is the mood of this piece? Do you like it? Why or why not? You can gamify this by seeing who gets the composer right.
5. Rewards. Build in a reward system for mastering (or making good progress in) certain skills. An example of this would be playing legato in one hand while staccato in the other hand. Ask your teacher for examples of some skills that your student can work on at their level. Your teacher knows your student and can provide pieces or excerpts for them to work on. 
6. Ensembles, Duets and Trios:  If you or another family member plays an instrument. Find some basic duets to play with your student. Trios and quartets can be great fun. Even the littlest family members can get involved using egg shakers, maracas or bells. Just make it fun. I have great memories of laughing together with family members and friends when we would play duets together. Making music together is a terrific family activity.
7. Bundling. One of my families has bundled several expectations together and has found it to work. An example of this is that each child reads 30 minutes, practices 20 minutes, makes their beds and does math enrichment activities every day. They have a check-off list and once all the siblings have finished, the kids can play a game together that they love to play. 
8. Annotating. Photocopy a piece of their music and have them highlight and color certain aspects of their piece. For example, they could highlight all the eighth notes in green or circle all the dynamic markings in purple. If possible, depending on their age and skill level, let them take the lead on this. 
9. Attend a live concert where you live. In the DFW area: Basically Beethoven Festival… Chamber Music Festival. Find out what colleges are having programs. Sometimes they will post recitals their students are having. This is a great thing to do during the year as well. Go see a local college’s wind symphony or choir concert. Support chamber music. Go to see a professional orchestra. 
10. When traveling, check out the local music scene. Often there are summer music or art festivals around the world. These are great ways to expose your kids to music and art. Try some different genres. Maybe go to a jazz concert or a blues concert. Go to an opera or musical (always check it out first. 😊  Musicals can be great as well as long as you make sure the staging etc. is age appropriate. (Trust me on this one. There are a great variety of artistic decisions that go into these productions and sometimes a production that you would assume is “PG” —isn’t.)
11. Participate in a MSS Flex Experience. There are so many great options to choose from. Our teachers have such a wide variety of skills and interests that they are excited to share with your students. This also gives them the opportunity to meet and interact with other music students.
12. Keep your student(s) taking regular lessons in the summer. I can hardly emphasize this enough. Lessons help keep them moving forward and give them accountability. Their teacher will make sure the practicing they are doing is correct and that they are on the best track. Also, in the summer, teachers often emphasize different aspects of their musical training such as theory or rhythm that enrich and enhance their overall music education experience. Lastly, it is a great time to prepare for festivals and the music theory exam. 
13. Teach. Have them teach a piece to you (or another family member/friend such as an aunt.) They can also just teach you some of the basics. Kids often get excited to teach their parents. 
14. Find online theory/rhythm/music history content. There are some excellent sites where your student can join (for free) and move forward with their theory skills including exercises and quizzes. Alternatively, there are some fun basic rhythm practice videos on YouTube with multiple levels. (You can do this with them and see if you can clap the rhythm too.) 
15. Compose. Let them just play around on the piano creating music. Encourage them to compose something to go with a story they have just read or with a picture they have seen. ​

Of course this is not an exhaustive list and these things can be incorporated throughout the year as well. I would venture to say that you are already doing many of these things in your daily life. Giving them the gift of music is something that will benefit them their entire lives. By providing them with lessons and music experiences you are giving them a strong foundation. Great job!​

Of course, ten years hasn't all been easy.
There were months when I wondered if we'd make payroll.
Days when I questioned my decisions. (Actually, make that many days!)
There were difficult conversations, unexpected changes, staff transitions, long nights, and moments when I felt completely overwhelmed.

​There were seasons where I questioned whether I was the right person to lead this school.

But looking back now, I realize something.
Every challenge shaped the Music SO Simple we are today.
Every difficult teacher conversation taught me how to lead better.
Every student success reminded me exactly why we do what we do.
Every goodbye made room for a new hello.
And every season—both the joyful ones and the painful ones—helped clarify our purpose.

People often ask me what has changed the most over these ten years.
Ironically, I think it's me. (And honestly, the most change over this past year!)

I've learned that leadership isn't about having all the answers.
It's about listening.
It's about admitting when you're wrong.
It's about surrounding yourself with people who are better than you in different areas.
It's about staying true to your values even when it's difficult.

And perhaps most importantly...
I've learned that success isn't measured by how big Music SO Simple becomes.
It's measured by how faithfully we serve the families who walk through our doors.

We often believe that if we just push through something hard…eventually, it will get easier. But that’s not actually how growth works. Instead, it gets harder. Not because we’re doing something wrong—but because we’re doing something right.

One of the most powerful ideas from the Maximize Your Joy podcast is that JOY isn’t found at the destination—it’s found in the journey. And that journey? It requires intentional growth.

We don’t go through hard things so life becomes easy. We go through hard things so we become capable of handling more. Get stronger. Get more aware. Get more skilled. And that’s when I thought--
This is exactly what we do in music lessons.

Think about your child’s musical journey. At the beginning, everything feels hard:

• finding the notes
• keeping a steady rhythm
• coordinating hands
• remembering what to practice (or just TO practice!!)

Then something amazing happens—they improve. But we don’t reward that growth by making things easier. We give them something harder.: a longer piece, more independence, more expression more responsibility.

​Because growth doesn’t remove difficulty—it elevates it.
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Another idea that stood out from the podcast is that success is a series of steps—it’s not one giant leap. And even more powerful: Your next step is your most important step. That is music learning in its purest form. Students don’t jump from beginner to advanced.
They move step by step:

• one measure
• one hand
• one phrase
• one breakthrough at a time

And each step done well is success. Success that is right now.

Joy doesn’t come from things being easy. It comes from growth and from realizing:
✨ “I can do this now.”
✨ “I figured it out.”
✨ “I’m did better than last week.”
This is where real confidence is built and it’s exactly why students who stick with music—through the hard parts—gain something far beyond notes on a page.
They gain resilience.

In Free to Focus, Hyatt contrasts two very different types of recovery:
Passive Recovery

• Scrolling on a phone
• Zoning out in front of a screen
• “Vegging out” after a long day

While these activities may feel relaxing in the moment, they often leave us feeling:

• Foggy
• Drained
• Mentally scattered

Hyatt describes a different category of rest — activities that restore us because they are:

• Focused
• Engaging
• Purposeful
• Structured

He specifically points to creative pursuits, exercise, and skill-building hobbies as high-quality rejuvenation. And that’s where music lessons fit beautifully.

From a Free to Focus lens, music lessons are rejuvenating because they do something rare in our modern world:

• They Require Focused Attention: You can’t multitask while playing an instrument. Music gently pulls you into the present moment.
• They Engage the Whole Brain: Music activates emotion, cognition, memory, coordination, and listening — all at once.
• They Create Flow: There’s a natural sense of “losing track of time” that happens when you’re immersed in music.
• They Restore Energy (Instead of Draining It): Rather than leaving you overstimulated, music often leaves us calmer, clearer, and more centered.
• They Are Structured, Not Passive: Music has goals, progression, and feedback — which makes the experience deeply satisfying.

Music lessons also stand apart because they:

• Demand presence — you must be fully there
• Create measurable progress — you can hear improvement
• Produce joy and mastery, not depletion
• Calm the nervous system while sharpening the mind

This is fundamentally different from:

• Doom scrolling
• Passive entertainment
• Filling space just to “turn your brain off”

Music doesn’t shut the brain down — it tunes it. (That's funny AND true!)

Every parent has moments where time suddenly folds in on itself. A single image, a familiar song, the way your child turns their head—and suddenly you can see every stage of their life all at once.

That’s how I’ve felt watching my daughter, Juliette, dance in this year's Nutcracker.

She’s a senior now—her final Nutcracker season, her final year at Dallas Ballet Center—and I can’t help but see the tiny girl she once was inside the young woman she has become. The one who used to twirl in the living room, the one who clapped off-beat in her first Music Together class, the one who fit in my arms like nothing in the world could ever be as small or as precious.
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Music has been woven into her life from the very beginning. She started classes at just three weeks old. Three weeks! It’s hard to believe now, but Juliette grew up surrounded by melody and rhythm the way some children grow up with a second language—absorbing it, living in it, breathing it in.

And then came ballet.

photos: coco and peanut

On November 24, 2025, our community lost someone truly special. Mike Corley passed away at the age of 80, leaving behind a legacy of kindness, strength, and steady devotion to the people around him.
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Mike built a respected and successful career in the banking industry. He was a man of discipline, the kind of person whose actions told you everything you needed to know. Even at 80, he was known to stay in great shape by going to the gym to staying active and healthy.

For me, though, Mike wasn’t just a respected community member. He was part of my life long before I ever imagined I would grow up to run my own music school.

I first met Mike as a child. He and his wife, Becky, were our carpool drivers for St. John’s, and it was almost always Mike behind the wheel in the early mornings, ready to take us to school. My mom usually handled the afternoon pickups, but the day always began with Mike—patient, reliable, unfailingly kind. I didn’t know it then, but that quiet steadiness was the same steadiness that would guide me later as an adult.

In September of 2000, I began working for Becky at Dallas Music. Becky taught me what I didn't learn in school about being a piano teacher. But she also taught me about running a highly successful music school. When Becky had to step away from Dallas Music in the early 2010s, Mike “became” our boss. He stepped in with grace and commitment and taught us even more about the business side of the music school business. I worked for Mike until June of 2015, when he sold Dallas Music. Those years shaped me more than I realized at the time.

Mike and Becky both taught me so much of what I know about running, operating, and caring for a music school. Not just the logistics—the heart of it. The integrity. The balance of compassion with standards. The belief that music is more than lessons; it’s community, purpose, and connection.

When I look at Music SO Simple today, I see pieces of what I learned from them everywhere. Mike lived a life defined by dedication—whether it was to his family or his work. I will always be grateful for the role he played in my life and in my journey as a business owner. He made an impact simply by being who he was: steady, humble, devoted, and deeply good.

​May his memory be a blessing, and may we all carry forward some of the strength and gentleness he brought into the world.

Music Ball has become one of my favorite studio traditions—not just because it’s fun, but because of what it does for our students. This friendly 6-week competition brings out the best in them. And this year, that was clearer than ever.

When I sat down and looked at this year’s Music Ball results (with the help of AI), one thing stood out immediately:
The scores went up almost every single week—across almost every team.

That means:

• Students practiced more.
• Stayed accountable.
• Improved their consistency.
• And most importantly, felt motivated.

Some teams started strong and stayed strong.
Some started slow and made HUGE jumps.
And some teams skyrocketed near the end with a burst of energy and teamwork.

​A few patterns really stood out:

• The Moons, Rockets, Black Holes, and Comets slowly climbed every week — steady, dedicated effort.
• The Astronauts had one of the biggest turnarounds: from lower early scores to a huge improvement by Week 6.
• The Milky Ways, Meteors, and Shooting Stars were powerhouse teams with consistently high scores.
• And almost every team had their best week near the end of the competition.

Earlier this week, I listened to a conversation between Jay Shetty and Laura Lynne Jackson, and something she said stayed with me long after the episode ended: “The universe is always communicating with us—but it speaks softly.”

Now, I've read 2 of her books and completely loved them, but, it's been a hot minute since I've read them. Hearing that line stopped me in my tracks. Life gets so noisy with decisions, schedules, expectations, and the rush of everything happening at once- especially these last few months. Yet the most important guidance often comes in the quiet — the subtle nudges, the coincidences, the moments that make you pause and think, “That can’t just be random.”

Lately, as I’ve been moving through a season of change at Music SO Simple, this idea feels especially true.

A few days ago, I was sitting in my office after a long day of meetings, reviewing schedules, and handling the usual swirl of decisions that come with running the studio. I felt mentally full — that “too many tabs open” kind of feeling.

Right then, one of our students walked by the window, completely lost in their own world, humming the melody they learned earlier that day. It was simple, sweet, and completely unprompted.

And it stopped me.
It was such a tiny moment — just a kid humming.
But in that instant, it felt like the universe whispering, “This is why you’re here. You've got this- keep being you!”
Not the logistics.
Not the stress.
Not the behind-the-scenes chaos that no one ever sees.
Just the joy.
The magic.

The reminder that music finds its way, even when everything else feels loud.

That moment felt like one of those “quiet signs” Laura Lynne Jackson talks about — the kind you only notice when you slow down enough to see what’s right in front of you.

Laura talks about intuition, signs, and how answers often appear when we’re finally still enough to notice. I whole-heartedly believe this.

For me, running MSS has always been a mix of structure and instinct. Yes, I plan, budget, hire, and organize. But the deeper decisions — the ones that shape who we are — tend to come from paying attention to the softer voice inside:

• This is the right direction.
• This change is necessary even if I don't like it.
• This is a letting-go.
• This is an opening.

And when I look back, some of MSS’s most important growth moments started with something unexpected — something I didn’t plan for, but something that made sense later.

The biggest lesson I’m sitting with right now is trusting the unfolding. Not everything has to be understood immediately. Not everything arrives neatly packaged, right?

Sometimes we only understand the “why” after we’ve lived through the “what.”

One of our favorite times of the year at Music SO Simple is recital season! Our Holiday Recitals are just around the corner, and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate the hard work and growth of our students- our special theme this year is "Silver Bells ".
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At MSS, we believe recitals are about so much more than just performing a piece of music — they’re about building confidence, sharing joy, and celebrating progress. Every performance, big or small, represents weeks (and sometimes months!) of learning, dedication, and heart.

Recitals are a chance for students to shine — to show what they’ve learned, to overcome nerves, and to share something beautiful with others. We teach our students that performing isn’t about being perfect; it’s about sharing their love of music and taking pride in their accomplishments.

These experiences also help develop important life skills: confidence, poise, discipline, and perseverance. Each recital is a milestone, and the sense of accomplishment students feel afterward often carries into other areas of their lives. Recitals truly give you a full picture of all that music lessons teach us!

Our teachers have been busy helping students choose recital pieces that fit their level and personality — music that allows them to perform with confidence and expression.

We also set a memorization deadline of December 7th, which gives students enough time to polish their music, work on dynamics, and practice stage presence before recital day. Meeting this deadline is a big part of setting every student up for success — it transforms “last-minute nerves” into excitement and readiness.
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Being prepared means more than just knowing the notes. Students should:

• Have their piece fully memorized
• Play with clear dynamics and musicality
• Know how to start and end confidently
• Be comfortable bowing and walking on/off stage
• Have practiced performing for family or friends