Picture this…me living in my pajamas, crying into my coffee, binge watching way too much (amazing) TV, quarantining with my family and “homeschooling” my kids at the kitchen table in March 2020. By June I had decided it was high time to do something positive and productive so that I could look back on the year and remind myself that I hadn’t given up (completely). So I decided to create SingPlayStudios LLC as a free online music school with lots of music content for beginner and advanced students, and I launched my little company in the summer of 2020. I really had no idea what I was doing, all I knew was that I needed to do something.

I began to create mini music lesson videos and family covers for youtube to encourage my own kids to practice, and then my rockstar sister, Annie, made a suggestion about offering my courses online. So I composed pieces, wrote curriculum, recorded tracks and created content for beginner piano, ear training, and vocal warmups. And boy did I learn so much along the way! Through trial and error, I became a better writer and music producer, I learned how to record and edit videos, produce practice tracks, promote content, semi-master Finale (an amazing music notation program), how to effectively deter fruit flies from ruining a thousand takes, and also how to make the midi piano light up in my videos like all those cool people online!!

I launched my first series in the fall of 2020 and soon had students from all over the world emailing me about how much they were enjoying my courses. It was totally thrilling! I was also composing and writing everyday, placing songs in libraries, releasing new singles and albums, and writing tracks for TV and film. By Christmas 2020, I had started getting little “sync” placements which made it even more of a standout year for me. I now look back on 2020 as a turning point in my life. It’s the year I truly heard my calling for the first time. I have been playing the piano for over 40 years, and singing since I was a teen, and I finally decided I want to make the world a better place. For me, music and the arts are the simple answer. I love people, and I love community, and I really think there’s something to this music thing. In a year when people all over the world were hurting so badly, and so many souls lost their battle to Covid, I wanted to bring a little joy into the world.

Music has been my lifeline throughout my journey, giving me something to hold onto when times were tough. The piano has always been my sanctuary, something I could pour my soul into, a place where I could get beautifully lost and escape reality. It connects me to my past, and teaches me so much about other peoples’ stories. I’ve realized over 25 years of teaching that you really don’t need to know very much about music to begin to truly enjoy it. Two or three simple piano chords can transport you to another world in moments. Learn a few more chords, and you might just reach the stars!