Black & White Keys: A New Sound in Milford's Musical Measure

Tammie Margosian has a piano. And it's name is "Rosie."

Margosian, a Milford resident, said the instrument she loves to play every day earned its name because of it's color, which is red.

"Well that, and because my niece was with me when I got it," she told Patch. "And my niece's name is Abigail Rose. So, it just fit."

'My Own Studio'

And now the longtime music teacher has teamed up with Rosie to create Black and White Keys LLC — Margosian's new small business through which the educator can now offer private piano lessons right in her Naugatuck Avenue home.

"This has always been a dream of mine, to have my own studio to give lessons." she said. "And now seemed like the time to finally just do it."

An Early Start

Margosian has been playing the piano since she was four years old. And although she comes from a musical family, she says the main reason she began training at such an early age was due to a disability.

"I am partially deaf," she explained. "And the playing was part of my physical therapy."

Teaching Music

Eventually, Margosian knew that teaching music was what she wanted to focus on for her professional career.

She started in the musical therapy field, but eventually shifted into education: teaching music in the Bridgeport School District for several years, as well as giving private piano lessons for a time at a music studio in Fairfield.

Currently, the certified music teacher works in the Easton Public School District as a special education paraprofessional.

"I just love working with the kids," she said.

'A Better Understanding'

And Margosian says her own experience of growing up with a disability, extensive musical training, career as a professional educator and more recent work within special education classrooms, puts her in a unique position to provide focused and fun piano lessons for students with special needs.

"I have a better understanding of their frustrations," she said, adding that it is always much easier to work with students one-on-one during a private studio session than in a larger classroom setting.

"And there is nothing like watching their frustrations turning into success stories," Margosian said with a smile.

A Lifelong Gift

She added that musical training on an instrument can have a lasting positive effect not just on a student with a disability, but on any child that sits down at the piano — and plays. 

"You're not just giving them the technical side of learning how to multitask and think abstractly, things they can take out with them into the real world," Margosian said. "You're also giving them the passion and emotion of music.

And that, she added, is a lifelong gift, too.

"You can always come home after a stressful day and play," she said. "The piano's not going to talk back to you."

More Information

For more information about Black and White Keys piano studio, email Margosian at tmargosian711@gmail.com, or call and leave a message at 203-641-3167. And the studio also has its own Facebook page, too.