About Us
What We Value
Singing
Our voices are our natural instruments, so we believe it’s so important we students to feel good expressing themselves with their voices. And, of course, singing with other people unites us in a powerful way.
Folk Songs
Folk songs are a part of what makes us human! We believe that these songs (and other songs in the public domain) should be available to the folk!
Making Music
We believe providing active music-making experiences (not just learning about music) are the best way to engage learners and provide them with skills and appreciation, which will last a lifetime!
Organization
We value your time, so we help you find what you’re looking for by searching our website – organized by musical concepts and lesson objectives!
World Cultures
We continue to add songs from countries and regions from all over the world to honor people and their cultures.
Collaboration
#bettertogether (something our team often says to each other)
Working together, we end up with better results! And we know music teachers are often the only ones in their buildings. That’s why we are here for you!
Improvement
We are obsessed with making our products the best we can, so we are constantly improving – and we value your feedback!
Flexibility
Use what you want, leave the rest. Our lesson ideas can be used with any curriculums around the world!
Who We Are
Beth Thompson + Lukey
Founder + CEO
Beth is an educator at heart. Sit still long enough, and she’ll try to teach you something or organize your closets! Beth has spent the last 35-ish years teaching music to children, ages 6 weeks to 6th grade in different settings: public schools, daycare, piano lessons, and a private children’s chorus.
With a Bachelor’s in Music Ed and a Master’s in Administration, Beth loves to combine both into making this website rich in musical content in an organized way. She started blogging in 2009, and presently, bethsnotes.com has thousands of subscribers from 140+ countries who represent music students from early childhood to adults!
Beth, unfortunately recently widowed, lives in Chicago with her three cats, son, and daughter-in-law (see Chanel on the right) and celebrates her grown children and newborn granddaughter.
Erin Nowicki + Cannoli
Content & Operations Manager
Erin is a talented singer-songwriter, who also has a passion for diving deep into research, fact-checking, and content sourcing. With a Bachelor’s in Music, she excels in people-centered roles where compassion meets structure.
When not working, you can usually find her traveling, hiking, experimenting with herbalism, cooking something new, or exploring a creative passion—whether that’s music, photography, or writing. She is happiest when curiosity and creativity collide.
After moving around a lot, including Germany, Belgium, and around the U.S. (Chicago, Tennessee), Erin now lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, with her husband, Jon, and their two beloved fur babies, Macaroni and Cannoli—the true CEOs of their household.
Chanel Roche
2D Illustrator
Chanel is an Oscar-winning 3D Artist and 2D Illustrator, and until recently, she worked on the VFX team that brought to life the movie Avatar: Fire and Ash. How can we be so lucky to have her on our team? Well, she happens to be Beth’s lovely daughter-in-law!
With a smile that can light up a room, Chanel enjoys the four Ps: painting, puzzles, popcorn, and people-watching. She also adores Skittles, even though it doesn’t start with a P.
She graduated from Full Sail University in Central Florida with a Computer Science Bachelor’s Degree in Game Art. After spending three years in Los Angeles, she now finds herself in Chicago with the love of her life and four cats (in addition to Beth’s three cats!) (That makes seven cats under one roof, by the way!)
Sound Thinking Interactive: a Kodaly-based interactive curriculum
We admire programs that value active hands-on learning, not just watching a screen of someone else performing or describing music concepts. As music educators, we are uniquely qualified to lead our students into making music: singing, playing instruments, dancing, improvising, composing, etc. This is why we like Sound Thinking Interactive, with the tagline, “We plan, you teach!”
Kristopher Brown, Owner
Sound Thinking Interactive
Kristopher runs another site called “The Kodaly Viking” and works as an independent education consultant, providing professional development, curriculum content creation, and behavioral management sessions.