The Music Rooms journey began around 14 years ago when Rodney was approached by a gentleman asking if he’d teach his son the guitar.
Word got around that he was teaching and thanks to some local music shops, Rodney soon had a mobile teaching service in Ballymena and the surrounding areas for 3-4 nights a week.
After taking sometime out to travel, Rodney returned and set up a small teaching room just above ‘Singer Sewing Centre’ on Wellington Street Ballymena. He welcomed back students old and new and the business grew. Rodney and his long-time friend and business partner John Carleton knew that they were creating something special – so they formed what is now known as The Music Rooms.
They built new teaching rooms in Galgorm and began developing the business even further, bringing on and training new teachers, adding new instruments and very soon the business was booming. They opened the Antrim branch a year later and then in 2014 John left The Music Rooms to start a new adventure. The business is run by Rodney and has expanded each year with shops and tuition in Ballymena, Antrim and Coleraine as well as an Online Music Store.
Rodney was overlooked in school when it came to music. Despite having a natural flair for drumming, he was turned away from the school orchestra because he couldn’t read music. It always stuck with him that despite his ability and love for music, that the education system didn’t really have a place for him and so, this rejection turned into a passion to make music accessible for anyone and everyone.
Our Passion is not just to teach an instrument. It’s for people to experience the joy that music can bring, to experience the release and identity it can give an individual. It’s important to achieve but it’s much more important to feel and belong to something – The Music Rooms is a place that provides these opportunities.