Local Piano Teacher Stresses Importance of Music

Having music as an outlet means having another way of communicating.

That’s the premise behind musician Justin Molsbee, a Lake Bluff resident and native who has experienced the passion that comes with the artform and is now relaying his knowledge to others through a unique offering of piano and music theory lessons.

“Music is an assortment of ideas that transcend verbal language,” said Molsbee, a lifelong North Shore native who first received inspiration learning his craft through Lake Bluff and Lake Forest schools. “It’s something that kids can sort of subconsciously exercise their mind with while having fun. If someone does not have the ability to meditate, music is something that can impose that.”

“I valued the opportunity to study music at LFHS and Lake Bluff Junior High as well,” added Molsbee, who moved to the area from Massachusetts with his family as a fifth grader. His parents said the school system and “overall spirit of the North Shore” is what brought him to the area.

It was not only a move in the physical sense, but one that would have a long-lasting impact on him.

“At LFHS, we always had practice rooms available, and plenty of instruments,” recalls Molsbee, who says he is more proud of the two IMEA (International Music and Entertainment Association) awards he won in the jazz composition category while at LFHS than any other moments in his career.

An independent study with LFHS band great Dennis Lindsay was “perhaps one of the most valuable educational experiences of my life,” he says, also crediting Donna Green, a LBJH teacher and Frank Caruso, one of Chicago’s staple piano players on playing a positive role in shaping his music life.

“I probably wouldn’t have been so excited about pursuing music if it weren’t for the opportunities afforded to me at LFHS.”

But fast-forward a couple of decades and it is now Molsbee inspiring others. Molsbee began teaching at age 17, while he was attending Roosevelt University - where he continues to study today always seeking additional knowledge for himself.

Always adding some improvisational technique to his lessons, Molsbee can follow the traditional or Suzuki methods, but he uses “a blend of 3-4 methods” in his lessons, which can be geared to children of any age or skill level and adults as well. This helps keeps the students attention during longer lessons.

“For me it is more rewarding than the student knows - especially when I see a student start from scratch to tackle a piece and own it,” he said of teaching. “Knowing that I had something to do with them acquiring this new knowledge. You can’t put a value on that.”

Playing an instrument and teaching others to do so at a high level are only some of the ways Molsbee communicates through music. He sings too.

“Traveling with Tim Haskett (Lake Forest High School Choral Director) and his choral groups to perform in Chicago and Ohio was also very rewarding,” he said. “We sang in some ridiculously gorgeous venues.”

Now, he sings with the Union Church of Lake Bluff choir and is now “a proud member of the congregation” while holding a chair on the Music and Worship Committee.

In addition to communication, Molsbee contends music plays an important role in the development of language as well.

“From our earliest records of human civilization, the practice of music has been a fundamental part of our cultural development,” Molsbee says. “Drums, flutes, and string instruments have been around even longer than primitive farming equipment. That says something about language, and more basically, something about the way we learn …. I believe that language is music. The cadence in human speech does not differ from cadence in music.”

Its importance on the mind of a child developing language skills cannot be overstated.

“When little kids hear words they recognize in music on the radio, tv, etc., physical connections are being built between the sounds they are hearing and the words they are remembering,” Molsbee explains. “Rhyming, singing, and even dancing, help toddlers maturate the ability to read and speak language. It is important to sing to/with your kids, or at the very least, it helps progress literacy/language skills. Little kids recognize words, timbre, rhythmic patterns, and pitches, well before they talk.”

Legendary pianist and conductor, Daniel Barenboim, once said music “means different things to different people and different things to the same people at different times.”

For Molsbee, music is a tool for learning, expression and learning how to express. Above all the theory, nomenclature and endless debate about what exactly it is, music has been and will always be his best friend.