A World Where Everyone Plays Offers A New Insight Into Music Education

A World Where Everyone Plays is a book written by Simply Music Master Teacher, Bernadette Ashby. The book came ten years later after Bernadette joined Simply Music.

Her Musical Journey

Bernadette was lucky enough to have music in her young life. Her parents signed her up for piano lessons with a professional player when she was just a child. She trained with the teacher, who she remembers as very structured and scheduled.

Unfortunately, her experience was less than pleasant, so she told her parents that she wanted to quit. Her parents wanted her to try again. So they hired a different teacher to see if Bernadette would enjoy her lessons.

She found this music teacher to be less structured and more open to creativity. Unfortunately, the music did not stick and she quit again. By then, she concluded that playing piano and music would never be part of her life.

Fast forward to college where she started to take up music again. There was music inside of her and she knew she wanted to express it. She once again she hired a personal piano teacher. Things did not go well and she quit again for the third time.  Threes a charm.

Years later, when her daughter turned five, she enrolled her in music class, hoping that her experience would be better. Ultimately, she found the Simply Music program.

She signed up hoping to teach her children how to play. Surprisingly, Bernadette ended up liking the program and wanted to do more. She reached out to the founder, Neil Moore, who eventually would become her Mentor.  He encouraged her to become a teacher and to keep learning.

Her desire to express herself musically is what turned Bernadette into a Simply Music teacher and the rest is history.  With over 20 years of experience, she has taught hundreds of students to play the piano.  This method has become the catalyst to write about the message of Simply Music in her book.

About The Book

The book is centered around stories from Bernadette's time as a Simply Music Teacher. The stories are about how people overcame their challenges to express, practice, and learn music.

One such story is about Jenna, a blind and deaf student who learned to play the piano. According to Bernadette, Jenna’s parents challenged her to teach their daughter. Bernadette took up the challenge and taught her to use her fingers to move and feel the keyboard.

Another story is that of a blind teacher in the program who not only learned how to play but has taught others to play as well. She did this by teaching others to see sequences, shapes, patterns, and the use of mapping.

Simply Music

Simply Music is an educational organization that has changed the lives of many people who have a dream of playing the piano. These stories are immortalized in this book. The organization’s core belief is that all humans beings are naturally musical. We take that innate musicality and  teach people how to play the piano.  It’s as simple as that!

Listen to Bernadette as she shares about her book, A World Where Everyone Plays.