A Noteworthy Entrepreneur
Editor’s note: This interview, conducted by editor Bill Paddack, appears in the latest magazine edition of Talk Business & Politics, which you can read here.
Music master Glenna Cook may hold the keys to the biggest children’s learning tool since Hooked on Phonics.
Cook of Vilonia has been using whimsical drawings of a dog, a cat and other animals since the 1990s to teach piano and guitar. This creative animal note method – her husband, Neil, calls it “associative learning” – has helped numerous students learn to read notes and play songs.
Now the perky pets she calls Noteimals have hopped into an app that is available on iTunes in hopes of reaching – and helping – more children.
With nimble fingers, a charming smile and an ever-ready iPad, Cook, 76, loves to demonstrate just how quickly a child can soon be playing tunes like “Hot Cross Buns” and “Yankee Doodle.”
Talk Business & Politics Editor Bill Paddack asked her to tell us a little bit about the app, how it was developed and the role of the Cooks’ former Russian exchange student, Stas Filippov, who is now an American citizen and vice president/engineering for Visual.ly in the San Francisco Bay area.
TB&P: Why create a Noteimals app?
Cook: The app came into being in hopes of getting piano and note reading into more children’s hands. So many children do not have this opportunity, but an app on a school tablet can change that.
TB&P: What do you hope to achieve with the app?
Cook: The keyboard on the app can be used to play the songs available on the app or as the instrument used when teaching from the series of books available at www.noteimals.com. A child as young as three can easily get started learning to play the piano, match the animal on the grand staff to the one on the app’s keyboard, learn the differences in tone, gradually learn to use all fingers and have the wonderful joy of playing a song. What is available on the app is the first phase of three. The next phase will be a practice working toward ease in note reading. The third phase will work with timing. We would like to get the app in as many schools and preschools as possible, as well as homes.
TB&P: How involved was the former Russian exchange student who you now consider a son?
Cook: Stas Filippov is an amazing partner. He has helped me from the day he heard Neil and me talking at the dinner table about my music parents wanting me to make a book from the printer sheets I had created and I just could not see how I could do it. Stas helped me find a way, even wrote a computer program to help create the first timing book. It was the greatest. He has always done the programming work. He created the first websites and found a method I could use to work with our new one. He is totally in charge of the app design and functions. I help and he relies on my music ability, but he does the rest of it. He’s very, very good.
TB&P: Sounds like you’ve long had a knack for working creatively with your students.
Cook: I hope I do; I really do care. This method works. I have had I don’t know how many children that have succeeded with Noteimals. For me, it’s about what we can do to help our children. The children of today are the leaders of our nation and the world tomorrow. Music and piano do make a world of difference. I see it every day. It is amazing and an important mission.
TB&P: What is the best business advice you’ve ever received?
Cook: John Chamberlin [founder of Arkansas Systems] invited and encouraged me to attend the 1 Million Cups of Coffee Club. We feel confident we have found an excellent advice and support organization that hopefully will help us move forward.