What if a piano lesson could set the trajectory of your child’s life?
For Magdalene Taylor, it all started with her great-grandmother’s 113-year-old inherited piano, 87-keyed and dreadfully out of tune. At age 12, an inspired Magdalene started figuring out songs by ear. Over the next two or three months, she explored that piano, and what she could accomplish through it.
“It was around Christmas time, so I looked up a tutorial for Carol of the Bells,” Magdalene says. “That’s when I started to learn hand independence. It’s like breaking the connection between your hands so they can do different things. After that, it just felt like I was a lot freer to play.”
When her parents noticed her enthusiasm for the old piano, they wondered if lessons might be a wise step forward.
“I was so excited about it,” Magdalene says. “I didn’t really have any specific goals in mind, I just loved making music and I wanted to get better at it.”
Shortly after 232 Music Studios took on its first classes in 2017, Magdalene began her journey as an official piano student.
“Drew was the reason I was so excited to start,” Magdalene says. “I was so, so picky with my teachers, as a teacher could really make or break an experience for me. When I had my first lesson with Drew, he was just so open and warm and welcoming. He was so encouraging of ear training, and I just felt at home instantly.”
Drew remembers Magdalene’s beginnings at 232 well, and marvels at all she was able to achieve in six short years.
“In that time, Magdalene became a super accomplished performer, composer, and teacher,” Drew says. “Then she even went on to go to school for music composition.”
For Magdalene, and many musicians like her, music is unspeakable joy.
“There are just some deep feelings inside, and I don’t think even poetry could express them,” Magdalene says. “But when you hear music or you’re playing music, you can feel it in your chest.”
When the studio eventually approached Magdalene about taking on some teaching duties at the studio, that passion became generational.
“I felt like I was still a student, so I wasn’t really very sure of myself at first,” Magdalene says. “I felt like ‘What right do I even have to teach these people?’ So I had to gain confidence in my own abilities to teach, but also stay humble enough and remember what it’s like to be a student.
Piano taught me structure and discipline, and that’s something that has stayed with me ever since I started. As a teacher, I learned patience, trying to see things from a student’s point of view, and figuring out how to explain concepts on their level.”
Drew and other 232 staff championed and empowered Magdalene’s first foray into teaching.
“I felt very supported as both student and teacher,” Magdalene says. “With Drew as my teacher, he always encouraged me to pursue the repertoire that I wanted to play, and he always encouraged me to develop my ear.
He was so encouraging of creativity and experimentation and expression, so that was fantastic. When I became a teacher, the whole studio was always very accommodating if I needed anything, and both gentle and clear if I ever stumbled or needed direction.”
Some of Magdalene’s favorite memories of her time at 232 involve collaboration.
“All the recitals…working as part of a team to create something that is so important to the kids and the 232 community…was really amazing,” Magdalene says.
Though Magdalene is quite humble about her personal impact at the studio, Drew sees the ripple effect her dedication has created.
“Magdalene sharing her gift was a tremendous service to me and to so many of the other students at 232,” Drew says. “I think every time she performed there was someone else who got something from that, someone she inspired. She was also an inspiration because of the steps that she took from student to teacher. I think she used music to serve in more ways than she even knows. Even in service to her family as she filled her house with music, her happy howling dog accompanying.”
Magdalene’s mother has enjoyed a behind-the-scenes view of her daughter’s growth, and sees the direct difference 232 has made in Magdalene’s life.
“Magdalene’s love of music has taken her from our living room couch, where she would tune and play her lap harp, to the stage of 232 where she always pushed herself to play more complex pieces, to studying music at university,” Magdalene’s mother says. “Her life is daily enriched by the music she plays, creates, listens to, and studies. Drew and 232 Studios took her love of music and nurtured that love by allowing her the freedom to choose repertoire pieces that she loved, while still challenging her to work through her piano books, learn music theory, and some beginning music composition. She is the musician she is today in part thanks to Drew, Rachelle, and the 232 team.”
One particular impact moment still brings a flood of emotion for Magdalene today.
“One of my students told me that she looked forward to a lesson with me as her teacher every single day,” Magdalene says. “Then she hugged me, and ran across the hall. I had to hold back tears. It was amazing…knowing how much I can touch someone’s life.”
That moment is no surprise to Drew.
“She has the power to do that,” Drew says. “She’s been given that gift, and it goes so far beyond just her.”
