Since she was in the eighth grade, music has coursed through Nancy Ziccardi’s veins.

After all these years, the retired social worker, now 61, teaches music lessons to others so they too might share in her love for all things musical.

“I want them to create their own style,” Ziccardi said. “That might not be their goal when they start the classes, but that is my hope for them. That is always my goal for each student.”

Ziccardi moved to Selma to start a bookstore in 2006, and after the business folded a few years later, she turned the Martin Luther King Street building into her personal art and music studio.

The walls of her studio are lined with paintings and photographs, which all help tell Ziccardi’s personal creative journey.

Ziccardi said the first thing she has to do when teaching someone — whether they are learning piano, guitar or music theory — is to ensure they are comfortable with themselves and the music they are playing.

“The most important thing about teaching anything is encouraging someone to express themselves through the music, while being comfortable and relaxed within themselves,” Ziccardi said. “They can’t be uptight in how they present themselves whenever they are playing.”

Ziccardi said her favorite part of training young children is the moment the stress fades away and the music makes sense.

“That’s the fun part, watching someone calm down and really find themselves, and their voice, through music,” Ziccardi said.

While she has taught dozens of students over the years, Ziccardi said she is still a student herself.

“Everyone has their own way of learning, so I have to adapt to each different style,” she said. “And, really, I’ve really learned as much form my students as they’ve learned from me. I just learned a new song from a 10-year-old from Camden.”

Along with instilling her love of music into others, Ziccardi said she has always enjoyed using her hands to make something out of nothing.

And music, just like painting and drawing, allows Ziccardi to express herself.

“Even when I was doing social work, I was writing music,” Ziccardi said. “I have always worked with my hands. Working with music is working with your hands, and it allows you to express yourself in the greatest way possible.”