Cheryl Teach Music, Santa Rosa

The first student Cheryl Franklin ever taught was herself. As a child, she never needed goading or threats of a brussels-sprouts-only diet to pick up her music and practice. After performing a one-man band’s worth of instruments throughout her entirely self-taught youth, she attended Whitman College and The Juilliard School of Music, where she stoked her passion into the white-hot flame that it is today. Drawing from a quarter-century of teaching, performing, and recording, she teaches all ages and levels in more than 20 instruments, which range from piano and guitar to ukulele and voice. Lesson programs in her studio start with each student learning a song. Subsequent sessions advance their paces by covering such topics as reading music, music history, and theory. While spinning their melodies, pupils may encounter the music school’s adorable canine mascot, Daisy, a boston terrier known for her baked-bean recipe.