Making Music.  Making Connections.

          This is the second business "slogan" I came up with when I opened up The ARK in Snohomish.  The path to brainstorming mottos is always interesting- a deep look at where you are, and what you hope to accomplish, all morphed together into a snappy statement suitable for business cards and t-shirts.  

          For me- it always starts with single important words.  In 2010 my focus words were "nurturing" "creative", and "community"- my teaching style, the type of person I am, what I wanted to share, and the people I wanted to share them with.   In 2018 after a cross-country move from Maryland to Washington state, going the independent route rather than creating a creative community around me, and coming back to teaching after spending 3 years focusing on performing church music, it was pared down to "music", and "connections".  

         Music is central to what I do, and who I am.  I started my journey as a pianist, but I'm also a singer, a teacher, an organist, a conductor, a ukulelist (is that what you call someone who plays the uke??  inquiring minds want to know!),  an arranger... it's a lot!  And it's not just about the instrument in your hand, or the notes on the page, but how the sounds flow together to create Music.

           But what exactly is Music?  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was quoted as saying "music is the universal language of mankind", and it truly is.  As human beings, we ALL experience our mother's rhythmic heart beat as the first thing we hear from the womb.  And we all carry this pulse around inside us- almost at the very center of our beings.  EVERYONE.  And if we continue to look beyond our own beat, and our own families, to our larger communities, there is a musical tradition that exists in every human community, on every continent, throughout history.  

           And Music doesn't just connect us with each other- it also connects us to the world around us.  It's easy to start with the natural world- bird song, the rhythm of ocean waves, mountain echos, windchimes in the trees, frogs and crickets in the evenings, etc. BUT it's even bigger than that.  Every single discipline in the modern education system can be made better thru music.  Reading and writing?  Starting from the basic 7 letter musical alphabet that young children learn backwards and forwards, you've also got music that can tell a story, to more advanced lessons like reading lyrics as poetry.  There are a TON of ways at all levels that music makes better readers.  Math?  Counting basic rhythm, understanding fractions thru rhythm relationships, the octave is a string split in half... so much math!  You an use music to introduce customs or languages in geography or history.  Sound waves, acoustics, the Doppler Effect, sympathetic vibration, feedback loops... there is so much science AND math in music- it's so shortsighted to cut music in favor of "STEM"- but I digress.  There's also philosophy- Plato, Martin Luther, Paganini, John Lennon... I could go on- engineering, psychology, but I'm going to stop there, because in addition to connecting us to multiple "outer" disciplines, music also connects us to our "inner" disciplines- things like patience and perseverance, keeping a growth mindset, attention to details, learning how to prepare, practice and present an idea, or a product.  Music has the power to bring so many things together to connect us- intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally.  

          So... finally!  Here we are- I am Amy Riffle-Kouyeas of The ARK Music Studio in Snohomish, Washington, and I am Making Music AND Making Connections!  Thanks for reading and please feel free to see my past projects on my Portfolio page, learn about my current projects on my Blog, and if you're interested in becoming a future student, please schedule a lesson here

Goodbye for now!  Amy :)

About Amy Riffle-Kouyeas

Amy loves instructing piano, ukulele and voice and has been doing so for more then 20 years.  Her supportive and understanding approach to music pedagogy fosters student success and a creates a life long love of music!  

Amy moved to Snohomish with her husband (a Theatre designer and technician) and 5 year old son Leander in 2015.  In 2016 she founded The ARK (Amy Riffle Kouyeas) Music Studio to bring her love of performance and music pedagogy to the Snohomish community. Since then the studio has found a home on 109th Avenue and grown into an exciting, competitive and distinguished music instruction program.  

An active freelance musician in the Puget Sound area, Amy is also the Music Leader at Peace Lutheran Church in Monroe, WA.   Amy is a member of the Music Teachers National Association and is active in local chapters.

​Prior to moving to Snohomish, Amy earned  a bachelors degree in Music Performance from Frostburg State University and a Masters of Music in Performance and Pedagogy from West Virginia University where she completed a thesis in child music learning styles and methods.  She has studied with master professors throughout her career and and considers herself a life-long learner. 
     
Throughout her career Amy's passion has been teaching the next generation and providing private instruction that fosters  success!  She is immensely proud to have students who have performed around the country and have gone on to competitive musical careers... but mostly to have helped all her students find a love and appreciation for the arts, improve their academic performance, focus, self-esteem and especially, make a connection!