During a five-week research study, a kindergarten class of 14 five- and six-year-old children learned to sing and play soprano ukuleles. The study had a dual purpose: to teach the children foundational music skills, and to teach them to read lyrics at the emergent reader level. Csikszentmihalyi (2009) cites one of the pitfalls of traditional music training, noting that often "too much emphasis is placed on how they perform, and too little on what they experience." (p. 112). While guided, formal music lessons are a successful route to mastery of an instrument, the lesson sequence in this study deemphasized the teacher's role and emphasized children's agency as music-makers. Each child in this study showed a unique response to music, bringing their personalities and perspectives to the experience. The behaviors of individual children suggest that making music is both a personal and social experience, one as unique and diverse as the children themselves.