The story of Froggy and Hoggy’s music school begins in 2017 when I started teaching at a local piano lessons company. At first I struggled teaching beginners.  Having just graduated from a rigorous music program where I was used to practicing for hours and hours, I found it difficult to empathize with young students who would show up to their lessons week after week having practiced very little, if at all.  I had high expectations that were impossible for most of his students to meet, and most lessons ended in disappointment for teacher, student, and parent.

Through trial and error, I realized that music lessons were more fun, both for the teacher and the student, if I was able to meet the student where they were no matter how much they had practiced.  In the words of my teaching mentor, “Don’t focus on practice, just make the lesson fun!”   

What I figured out was that students WILL learn on their own time, if they experience joy through the power of music via lessons filled with fun and encouragement just for trying their best.  I learned that it was possible to push students to be the best version of themselves, both musically and on a human level, in a fun and exciting way; in a way that made the students excited for their lessons every week, regardless of how much they had practiced.

You might be asking yourself, who the heck are froggy and hoggy? They’re about to enter our story! I was in a real electric teaching groove.  I was highly recommended and requested, and everything was going great.  Then the pandemic happened.

Switching from in person to Zoom lessons, I quickly discovered that teaching via video chat was incredibly challenging, and I was struggling to keep the students attention and keep the energy moving when not in the same room.  I found myself disappointed with my ability to keep the students engaged, and sometimes I even found myself unable to keep the students from wandering away from their device!

That’s when I remembered that a few years earlier, I had bought a silly looking frog puppet that caught my eye.   This was Froggy Joe, or “Froggy” for short.  One day, while having a particularly hard time keeping a student’s attention, I slipped the puppet on to my hand and had Froggy speak to the student in a Louis Armstrong voice.  I was amazed how captivated the student became - so I tried the puppet technique on my next student, and the one after that, and so on.  To my amazement, I found that this technique added a level of engagement for students of all ages.  It provided a nice break from the discipline of learning music, and gave the students something to look forward to.

Soon Froggy Joe got lonely, so I added another character, Hoggy Jr, a little piggy bath toy that would join in and argue with Froggy.  Soon the Cast of Characters expanded to Humby Hippo, Cranky Crock, Mr. Cheese, and many, many more!

After developing this technique and getting it down to a science over 8 years, I created my own private lessons studio in 2022.   Now, Froggy and Hoggy’s Music School is dedicated to connecting enthusiastic teachers with a fun teaching attitude to parents who want their kids to have a blast learning music, as well as adults who want to start learning music, or want to heal a broken relationship with music lessons.   We believe that learning music should be exciting, hilarious, and inspiring.  We believe that music is all about love, and the desire to spread joy!