In June 1996, Director Jack Dowdell resigned from his public school post, closed his San Antonio guitar studio and relocated to the Seattle area with the intention of continuing his public school and part time private instruction practice. Within 3 months, the private instruction practice had become too busy to properly manage as a home business. So in August of 1996, the Half Note Music School was officially established as an outside business.

Shortly after opening, the school began receiving requests from people interested in studying other instruments in a private school setting. To meet the requests, Jack put together a small staff of instructors capable of teaching their disciplines at the same level and with the same integrity Jack's guitar students had come to expect.

As a result of the careful selection of the top instructors and a priority of quality service, the HALF NOTE enjoyed growth of 400 percent its first year in business. To this day, Jack still hand-picks the Half Note teaching staff and boasts having a staff at the "top of their game!"