Happy birthday to CMDW founder, director and teacher April Hamm, known affectionately by her students of all ages as "Miss April!" We thought today would be a great day for some Q&A with Miss April. We asked about her early music experiences and why she loves music...
Q: When did you know you were interested in music?
A: My favorite thing about all my favorite childhood movies was the music. I ended up with a keyboard at some point (I think because nobody liked my singing), and when I was about 8 years old my mom signed me up for lessons with a piano teacher in our neighborhood. Mrs. Meganson was wonderful! She taught me a lot, but what I really loved as a kid was that she would put Skittles on the piano keys when I did well lol! I was so motivated to earn Skittles that I usually had enough to share with my younger brother after every lesson!
Q: Did you have a hard time practicing when you were growing up? What made you motivated to keep up lessons all those years and then study music in college and graduate school?
A: I actually did not like to practice when I was growing up! And I'd be fibbing if I told you I learned to like it in graduate school! However, now that I'm out of school, I find that when
Q: When did you know you were interested in music?
A: My favorite thing about all my favorite childhood movies was the music. I ended up with a keyboard at some point (I think because nobody liked my singing), and when I was about 8 years old my mom signed me up for lessons with a piano teacher in our neighborhood. Mrs. Meganson was wonderful! She taught me a lot, but what I really loved as a kid was that she would put Skittles on the piano keys when I did well lol! I was so motivated to earn Skittles that I usually had enough to share with my younger brother after every lesson!
Q: Did you have a hard time practicing when you were growing up? What made you motivated to keep up lessons all those years and then study music in college and graduate school?
A: I actually did not like to practice when I was growing up! And I'd be fibbing if I told you I learned to like it in graduate school! However, now that I'm out of school, I find that when
I'm free to practice whatever I want and create my own music, I love it and actually have to limit myself so I can get other work done!
Q: Was there ever a time you wanted to quit?
A: Yes! When I was in college I started to feel really disconnected from classical music. It was hard to stay motivated to spend hours practicing music I felt no real connection to. That's when my teacher at the time, Dr. Laura Gordy, introduced me to a collection of music by African-American women composers. I learned a piece called Troubled Water based on the spiritual "Wade in the Water" by Margaret Bonds. To this day, I can say it's the number one reason I'm still playing piano!
Follow Miss April's Musical Arts Studio on Facebook to see footage of one of Miss April's practice sessions of Troubled Water released for the first time ever (coming soon)!
Q: Was there ever a time you wanted to quit?
A: Yes! When I was in college I started to feel really disconnected from classical music. It was hard to stay motivated to spend hours practicing music I felt no real connection to. That's when my teacher at the time, Dr. Laura Gordy, introduced me to a collection of music by African-American women composers. I learned a piece called Troubled Water based on the spiritual "Wade in the Water" by Margaret Bonds. To this day, I can say it's the number one reason I'm still playing piano!
Follow Miss April's Musical Arts Studio on Facebook to see footage of one of Miss April's practice sessions of Troubled Water released for the first time ever (coming soon)!
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