Grace Notes Apopka began offering lessons at its new music studio on 1021 W. Orange Blossom Trail on Oct. 16, according to a post on the business’ Facebook page. 

“In music, a grace note is a decorative note, or a note that happens before the main note of the melody,” founder and instructor Michelle Martin said. “And then from a Christian perspective—because that’s where I come from—the meaning of the word ‘grace’ is ‘unmerited favor.’ So I named us Grace Notes…because I want to reflect the grace and the kindness in the way that I treat people who come through the door.” 

Grace Notes Apopka offers six music classrooms and provides lessons from 13 music teachers. The teachers offer lessons in 20 different instruments, the most unique including accordion, mandolin and dulcimer. Teachers assign homework through the Practice Space app, which gives students digital gems they can trade for prizes.  

“On our busiest night, I do have five rooms going, but only for a couple hours each,” Martin said. “I think we have the space for probably over 300 or 350 [appointments] until we need to start adding more. So we’re just getting started, but it’s been very promising.” 

Although the name “Grace Notes Apopka” arrived in August of last year, Martin started her music studio at home in 1990, according to her LinkedIn page. She graduated from the State University of New York Potsdam’s Crane School of Music with a bachelor’s degree in music education in 1992. She has previously served as an elementary school strings instructor and a middle school orchestra director for Orange County Public Schools. 

Martin’s studio started out small when she was a full-time homeschool mom. When her kids grew older, she decided to focus more on growing her clientele. 

“Within one month, I went from 20 students to 40 students—literally in less than 30 days,” Martin said. “I was like, ‘Wow, the calling here is really big.’ And then, a few months later, I was up to 50, and I felt capped off. And then I felt awful because I kept turning people down.” 

Martin began talking with her husband about opening a separate studio in January. They decided on the location in June. Martin appreciates her studio’s central location in Apopka and its proximity to other child-centric businesses like Sylvan Learning, Little Angels and Kidzdance. 

“It’s really a nice little kids corner over here where parents can kind of schedule two kids at the same time in two different activities,” Martin said. 

Martin said she loves teaching music because her music teachers offered her the emotional support she needed as a child. 

“I had a father who had cancer, and it was a difficult time,” Martin said. “Music was a great escape. And my teachers were…so impactful [and] supportive, and it helped me direct what I was going through into musical expression.” 

Although Martin plays the viola, violin and piano, her favorite instrument is the violin. 

“With a bow on the violin, you can sustain that note for a long time,” Martin said. “You can grow with the note and diminish with the note, because the note doesn’t just die off when you play it. So it’s just got a lot of potential there for coloring the sound and things like that.” 

Eventually, Martin would like to close off the back portion of the building to convert it into a classroom for ensembles and group lessons. In the meantime, Martin is planning a grand opening, complete with food, an instrument petting zoo and student performances. 

“I just think music study can be transformational for kids in a lot of different ways — emotionally, artistically, spiritually,” Martin said. “That’s the best thing about it, is just being able to impact little lives — or big lives.”