Why Choose Us?

Creative Keys has been a family-owned business since 2002. We have helped thousands of students discover their talent in music and have a blast in the process! You can be assured that yourself or your child will receive a high quality music education, whether your goal is just to have fun or pursue serious study.

Lessons at Creative Keys are month-to-month so you can decide how long you would like to take lessons. Most students take lessons long term because they truly love learning new songs and techniques while interacting with their instructor. You’ll never be committed to a semester or annual contract!

Hayley and Derek Fair, along with Derek’s mother, Susan Wilkenson, founded Creative Keys with a goal of inspiring children and adults to begin a life-long love of music. Their passion and enthusiasm for music truly shows!

Creative Keys has two locations to serve you. Our Dunedin location is at the corner of Keene (C.R. 1) and Achieva Way. The Dunedin location has students who travel from Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Oldsmar, Clearwater, Safety Harbor, Largo, Pinellas Park, Holiday, New Port Richey, and Westchase. Our second school in Carrollwood is located at 11014 N Dale Mabry, Tampa, and is central to many North Tampa neighborhoods, including Citrus Park, Westchase, Northdale, and Lutz.

Our Dunedin office is open 7 days a week and our Tampa office is open 6 days a week to serve you. You’ll find friendly, smiling staff at the front desk, ready to help with any questions you may have. Feel free to stop by during our business hours for a tour, or contact the office by phone, text, or email at any time.

We carry all of the beginner books recommended by our teachers, along with a great selection of supplementary materials in a variety of genres. CK frequently orders books as requested by students or teachers.

Our students and parents always feel at home at both of our schools. Both the Dunedin and Carrollwood locations offer spacious family waiting areas with Wifi, a children’s area (TV, books, and board games), coloring / art tables, and plenty of comfortable seating. With an open door policy, parents always have the option of sitting in on their child’s lesson, or can feel free to enjoy some personal time in the waiting area.

Creative Keys offers a variety of summer camps each year. Students have a great time learning and reinforcing musical concepts through games and activities. Teachers also periodically offer group classes or ensembles throughout the year.

Our instructors are comfortable teaching a wide variety of music genres – and are fun, patient, and friendly, too!

Our teachers hold various credentials, including Bachelor or Master degrees, professional teaching certificates, various memberships such as National Guild of Piano Teachers, Music Teachers National Association, along with extensive performance experience. You can feel confident that you or your child will receive a solid foundation in your music studies as our instructors teach note reading, rhythm, proper technique, expression, ear training, improvisation, and more. Teachers are skilled in adjusting their teaching style and plans to suit the unique needs of each student and work hard to help students accomplish their goals.

Creative Keys is open year-round so that students can continue their studies without a long break. We do not follow any district school calendars since we have students attending lessons from multiple school districts as well as private schools.

Participating in performances helps with goal setting and overall confidence and students love the feeling of accomplishment performing brings. Creative Keys offers a variety of performance opportunities throughout the year. Venues have included Steinway Piano Gallery, Starkey Ranch Library Theater, R.E. Olds Amphitheater, Carrollwood Village Park Amphitheater, assisted living communities, and more. All of our recitals and performance events are optional and free of charge to students and their families!

Students can choose from piano, guitar, voice, violin, cello, viola, drums & percussion, ukulele, bass, flute, clarinet, saxophone, banjo, mandolin, trumpet, french horn, trombone, and more!

We have many families who have children taking lessons on more than one instrument or sibling groups who take lessons with two teachers at the same time. Parents love to learn, too! Often, parents sign up for lessons so that learning music can become a bonding activity for the family.

Our Dunedin school offers a wide range of lesson times 7 days a week, and our Carrollwood location offers lessons Monday through Saturday! In addition to afternoon and evening options during the week, lunchtime and early afternoon lessons are available for adults or homeschooled children. Our Carrollwood location even opens at 11am Mondays and Wednesdays for students who prefer earlier lesson times.

Creative Keys is a proud supporter of our local schools! We are business partners with many schools and also donate gift certificates to fundraising events. In addition, Creative Keys is a business partner of MusicLink Foundation, a top-rated non-profit.

Our instructors work well with students of all ages, from 5 to adult. We are happy to make recommendations on which instrument to pursue, based on your child’s interest level and age. We don’t just teach children – we have many adult students who decided to pursue studying an instrument as a hobby or stress reliever, or even to be able to help their own children excel at music. It’s definitely never too late to learn an instrument!