Piano Instructor Sharing Her Love For Music With Her Young Students

Kellie Edick has been playing piano for most of her life. For the last 23 years, she has carried this passion into music and piano lessons for young students. Kellie’s Piano Studio, located in her home outside Glenwood, opened in 2020.

Edick’s youngest students attend Sound Beginnings and Let’s Play Music courses. Sound Beginnings is for students under 4 years old, while Let’s Play Music is aimed at those between 4 and 6 years old.

The goal of these programs is to help children gain an understanding of music through play, singing, and experimentation, before sitting down for a structured lesson at the piano.

“The whole model is play. And you know, kids are antsy. They’re not supposed to sit still, and they actually learn better if you change activities every two to three minutes,” Edick said.

Classes include the use of bells, bright colors, and simplified chords to keep young children engaged and learning without making things too strict.

These classes also incorporate parent involvement. At the earliest ages, parents attend weekly lessons with their child. As the students get older, their presence slowly scales back to every other week or once a month. Edick appreciates the way this involvement helps build parent-child bonds.

Students who complete the Let’s Play Music Course, or are older than the recommended age range, can attend private piano lessons at the studio. These students have one-on-one lessons at the piano, working on performance, theory, and overall musicality. They also have the opportunity to perform in twice annual recitals.

To help students prepare for their performances, Edick offers group classes that let students play for a small audience of their peers.

“Now I never have students who are super nervous,” she said. “For the most part, those group classes really help, because they performed in front of their peers already, and they know what it feels like to have the pressure on.”

The path to opening Kellie’s Piano Studio in Glenwood was years in the making. Edick’s husband recently retired from the U.S. Air Force. During his career the family was stationed in multiple states and countries. As they moved, Edick began playing piano for her church and took on some students for lessons.

When the family was stationed in Germany, Edick met an accomplished piano teacher who soon served as her mentor. Edick pulls many of her current teaching strategies from this experience.

“She was like the biggest influence on my teaching life. And so once we had to move from Germany after that, every time I moved, I would find another mentor to help me,” Edick said.

Since she wasn’t in one place long enough to develop lengthy relationships with students, Edick grew a strength for teaching beginners. She’s learned the importance of starting lessons at a young age for students to become successful instrumentalists later on. Through young exploration and immersion in music, children learn and progress through their formal lessons faster.

“I really wish that everybody that wants their kids to be musical would know that, because sometimes when you’re a young parent you don’t realize that you have to start them so early,” Edick said.
In the future, she is planning to build a separate space for her studio, which currently takes over a few spaces throughout her house. As she reflects on her experience teaching thus far, she worries less about the mistakes students make and more about ensuring their enjoyment in the practice.

“I think the joy that they get out of music is the most rewarding,” Edick said. “It’s not about perfection, it’s about the journey.”

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This Business Spotlight is sponsored by the Mills County Chamber Of Commerce.