learning music from the sound up

Join us in our mission to bring free music lessons to kids in need. Thank you Randy Mang, Rebekah Pulley, and Eddie Rosicky for our very FIRST official donations!

What is Beginner’s Mind Music?

First and foremost, Beginner’s Mind Music’s mission is to provide free or discounted lessons to those in poverty or with financial hardship, especially kids. Normally priced lessons, for those who can afford them, are an important part of helping to fund our mission.

We also aim to bring healing music to the community in the form of concerts, immersive musical experiences, group lessons and workshops.

Furthermore, Beginner’s Mind Music is an all-inclusive community of students, teachers, mentors and enthusiasts of music embracing all styles, genres, interests, experience and levels of proficiency.

Browse the site for free educational material, including sheet music, charts and visualizations, videos and more. We are continually growing the site and adding content, so come back often for new material.

Find a teacher online or in-person in the Tampa Bay area.

Schedule a free consultation/introductory lesson.

Apply for financial aid for discounted or free lessons!

What is beginner’s mind?

In Zen Buddhism, "beginner's mind" (Japanese shoshin) refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner would.

I’m Tom Kersey, founder of Beginner’s Mind Music.  I’ve been a musician for most of my life and have taught music since 2002.  I started BMM to showcase my philosophy and approach to both music education and life in general.  Throughout my years of teaching, I’ve developed a lot of ideas and techniques, and I’ve seen some major issues pop up over and over again with some of the ways music is taught.  I’ve seen things which could be improved, and some things which are actually harmful to a student’s natural progression and development.  

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I’ve learned a lot from my own teachers, colleagues and even my own students, and I want to share my insight and experience.  One of my greatest joys in life is sharing music with others in the same spirit as the child who comes across a fascinating little creature or a beautiful seashell in the sand, excitedly cups it in their hands, finds another person and says “look what I found!”

here are some interesting ideas about the fundamentals of music...

  • perceptually, music is sound, emotion and movement

  • scientifically, music is a complex arrangement of frequencies

  • pitch or notes are very high frequencies, pulse or rhythm are very low frequencies, therefore pitch and rhythm are one and the same and we perceive them subjectively as two separate elements of music

  • music theory is a tool to show how music is much less complicated than you think it is

  • chords, scales, modes and key signatures describe the same objects from different angles

  • dimensionally, music is primarily an art of time