Dr. Melody Hanberry Payne is a classically trained pianist and enjoys teaching piano lessons in her home studio to children of all ages and abilities. She strongly believes there is music in every child, and it is her joy to help every student she teaches to fall in love with music. Additionally, she writes blog posts for piano teachers, and she enjoys spending time creating and selling educational materials in her online music resources store for music teachers and students around the world. 

Her shop includes a variety of pedagogical resources for piano students, including piano technique books, worksheets, printable and online games, and more, plus tools created especially for piano teachers, including planners, piano studio calendars, recital kits, and more.

Melody is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music who began her full-time teaching career at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has also taught at Louisiana State University, Sterling College, Mississippi College, and Emory and Henry College. In 2009, Mississippi College presented her with the Pittman Young Faculty Award for excellence in teaching and for leading and directing the Taylor School, the MC Department of Music’s musical outreach program for children and adults in the community. Additionally, Melody designed and administered the Piano Pedagogy Master’s Degree Program at Mississippi College.

Dr. Payne holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and a Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy and Doctor of Philosophy in Music with dual emphases in music education and piano pedagogy from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, where she studied piano with Constance Carroll and piano pedagogy with Dr. Steven L. Betts. She is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, the Virginia Music Teachers Association, and served as President of the Blue Ridge Music Teachers Association.

She has presented research on online piano lessons, practicing, early- and intermediate-level pedagogical piano compositions, and piano performance accuracy at the National Conference of the Music Teachers National Association, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, and the Mississippi Music Teachers Association State Conference. She has presented lecture recitals and workshops on beginning group keyboard experiences, intermediate piano literature, practicing, online piano lessons, and technology in the piano studio at local, state, and national levels.

Melody and her husband Greg live in Marion, Virginia, a small town nestled in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, where they love to go hiking and exploring and spend as much quality time outdoors as they can.