Tammy is the founder and director of My Piano Studio, which was first established in 1986. She is an accomplished pianist, accompanist, choral director, composer of music, writer of childrens books, and master of Christian meditation. She holds an Advanced Teaching Certificate of Progressive Series of Music from the St. Louis School of Music/Arts Publication Society. She studied classical music un
der the instruction of Judy Donellan, a master artist of piano and voice for 8 years. She was pianist for historic Hopewell Baptist Church in Lavaca, Alabama, accompanist for First Baptist Church of Butler, Alabama Youth Choir, and accompanist for Expedere', a US touring religious ensemble until 1981. She was presented the prestegious Who's Who in Music award for her musical accomplishments in 1981. In more recent years, Tammy has co-written and recorded music with Jimmy Hunter of Cazadore Studios in Los Angeles, California. She reduced her personal student enrollment in 2002 to venture into the restaurant business where she, along with her sister owned and operated TheChiliHouse.com, an upscale restaurant in downtown Meridian. The restaurant centered it's theme on art, music, and southern comfort food, showcasing new and upcoming artists and musicians of the area. Even in the restaurant, art and music took top priority. In 2009, she and her sister decided to close the downtown business and offer their goods and services through the original online site, www.TheChiliHouse.com . Though a most fun and educational life experience, Tammy decided to retire into the peace and reward of music education. She is still very involved in promoting the arts in her area. With her passion of unveiling the unique God-given musical ability, possessed by every living person, Tammy develops the talent of her students and offers ways of showcasing their newly found musical confidence and self esteem. In addition to her administrative duties in the studio, Tammy also teaches private piano and theory lessons, music classes, voice and music therapy, as well as being responsible for all music education areas of My Piano Studio, including course development and student teacher training. It is because of Tammy's strong commitment to the holistic approach of finding and developing the musical ablility of her students, on an individual basis, that My Piano Studio excels in music education. Educational Philosophy
At My Piano Stuido, our philosophy holds that young children need to be active in the hearing and the participation in music as they learn the language and develop skills. They need to have kinesthetic experiences such as singing and moving to music – which builds brain connections that are hardwired for life. Moving to music integrates the right and left sides of the brain, which enables children to learn faster. This holistic approach to music is preferable because students learn experientially, which is different than just learning to play pieces. Early exposure to music through a holistic approach is better than beginning an instrument without any background. Moving to music, singing, and experience with a keyboard instrument exposes children to a new language. Beginning a specific instrument at a young age is comparable to asking children to read a book and learn letters without having ever heard the language. Meanwhile, learning to play beginner pieces by reading notes can be a negative experience when the child hasn’t been exposed to music as a whole. We use “music to teach music.”
Photo: Tammy is the founder and director of My Piano Studio, which was first established in 1986. She holds an Advanced Teaching Certificate of Progressive Series of Music from the St. She was presented the prestegious Who's Who in Music award for her musical accomplishments in 1981. The restaurant centered it's theme on art, music, and southern comfort food, showcasing new and upcoming artists and musicians of the area. It is because of Tammy's strong commitment to the holistic approach of finding and developing the musical ablility of her students, on an individual basis, that My Piano Studio excels in music education. We use “music to teach music.”
