It all started with stick figures on a whiteboard – lines, circles, and a splash of colored markers for cool effects. Through years of teaching, I realized something important: EVERYONE loves stories! Regardless of age, stories have a way of captivating us, sparking curiosity, and inviting us into worlds filled with imagination and discovery. 

With that in mind, I began introducing new musical concepts, vocabulary, and rhythms through stories. At first, my stories were stick-figure drawings on a whiteboard. Then, they progressed to PowerPoint slides filled with colorful images. But I wanted more. I wanted to bring my drawings and images to life! So I took voiceover courses and trained with professional voice actors, leading me to create animated digital storytelling content for my students. To make stories and images more engaging, I incorporated interactive elements such as images, audio, animation, and visualization. 

Through observation, assessment, and feedback from the students, I began to see something exciting: they were developing a deeper understanding of musical concepts as they explored and discovered music-making using the background knowledge they gained from the story.  How cool is that!

If stories can spark curiosity, imagination, and engagement in students, then why not use storytelling as a way to introduce new ideas and concepts?

So, who’s ready for a story? 

Here we go…

Once upon a music time…