Music Lessons In Your House:
The Musical Card Game

One great thing about Shuffled Ink is that we are always seeing fun and innovative projects come through our doors. 

Music Lessons In Your House (The Musical Card Game) is just one of our latest, with an aim to teach children music notation in a fun way.

For this blog we spoke with Michael Hoover, the CEO of  Music Lessons in Your House, a music lesson delivery service in Florida, Virginia, & Maryland.

He developed this musical game over the years by using prototype decks with his students

Michael holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA) and is an active  member of the National Piano Guild (American College of Musicians). He has produced four albums of original material and is a musician at Faith Church. 

Over the years Michael has learned that passion for music can’t be taught, but appreciation for music can be encouraged.

He lives by the philosophy that students are the teacher, and he is just the guide. In this way, all students are self-taught. 

Michael first had the idea for his game early on in his career after speaking with a colleague, Dick Johnson. He remembers Dick saying “kids like to play games. If you can incorporate that into your lessons, you’ll make it a fun learning experience.”

Michael’s advice to those looking to create a game is to “follow through with your idea, even if it sits on the back burner for a while.” This card game came to completion 33 years after that initial spark!

For the design, Michael wanted to keep things true to the origins of the game.

The design features black and white notes, just like the ebony and ivory keys of a piano. 

Fun fact: each note you see in his deck is hand-drawn! There was some debate on his end on if he should freehand the art or do exact computer notation. Ultimately, he decided  to freehand the art for a more organic look. 

The object of the game is simple – the first player to get rid of all their cards wins! 

The game begins with each player being dealt 5 cards. The rest of the deck is then placed face down. Players then begin placing Lettered Note cards in sequential order. 

The aim is to have a full set of notes completed on the board, ABCDEFG. If  a player cannot play a card from their hand, they pick up a new card and place one of their existing cards in the discard pile. 

Players continue on drawing cards and playing their hand until the deck is empty. If the set is not complete at that point, play continues on by dealing from the discard pile.

Or, alternatively, it can be used as a one player flash card memorization game. With this type of play, the participant will set a timer to see how quickly they can name all the notes. You can check out the full rules of the game here: Game Rules

When deciding who to work with, proximity was a big factor for Michael.

He looked at other card companies, but liked the fact that we were close enough for him to come by and visit us to discuss his project. 

Which, that is true! We love when our clients visit us. Whether it be picking up an order or discussing a new project, we enjoy meeting with everyone. 

If you are reading this and in the Orlando area, come by and see us for your card needs!

Looking to learn more about Music Lessons In Your House?

Please check out his website and Facebook. They are currently operating in three states: Virginia, Maryland, and Florida.

If you are a current client of ours and interested in being featured on our blog, please reach out to social@shuffledink.com for more details.