Our mission is to create inclusive communities of music explorers and empower teachers to build sustainable careers.

Who We Are

Our mission is everything to us. It drives who we are and where we're going. Musicologie was started by husband and wife Kay and Joseph Barker in their house and we're now the largest music education company in Ohio with six studios in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati and a team of 100+ amazing teachers with diverse backgrounds and specialties. We teach 100,000 music lessons every year to people of all ages and abilities.

What We Do

We help people become better musicians, and better humans! We are unabashedly passionate about music – teaching, performing, recording, everything! We teach almost every instrument and specialize in one-on-one private lessons for kids and adults. We also do group classes, events, in school presentations, summer camps, workshops, and we write articles, like this one about the teaching methods we use in our toddler class.

How We Do It

The way we teach music is called The Musicologie Method®. We apply it to every lesson, no matter the instrument, age, ability, or the lesson books used. The Musicologie Method® is rooted in two things: a safe environment, and education through play. Research tells us these two elements are key components of the way everyone learns, from kids through adults.

In music lessons, a safe environment means a place where you feel free to be who you are, encouraged to play the music you enjoy, and excited to try new things. Education through play means having fun playing your instrument! That's why it's called playing music! We use games and strategies to help our music students make serious progress while enjoying the process.

Our Philosophy

Every student is different, with unique goals, capabilities and needs that we need to meet. One of the core strengths of Musicologie is our adaptability, using both proprietary and third-party curriculum to meet the needs of every student. We don’t pretend that we have a single method that is best for every learner, or a curriculum that can fit the teaching style of every Teacher. What we have instead is an Educational Philosophy that informs every lesson, every class, regardless of instrument or curriculum.