DALTON, Ga. — Nine-year-old Glendi Reynosa carefully plays the drums while her sister Noemi handles the electric keyboard and her dad Santiago and brother Wilson strum their guitars.

The family is running through a version of “Como Quisiera” (“How Would I Like To”) from the Mexican rock band Maná, part of its weekly music lessons in the Daniel Luna Music School.

The entire family, except for the mom, joined the school in February with the goal of eventually playing together at their church, said Mr. Reynosa, who moved with his family from Guatemala eight years ago.

“I’ve always liked music, but I had never been able to take classes,” the Chatsworth resident said during a music class on Wednesday. “One day, I asked the kids if they would be interested in learning how to play an instrument, and all of them said ‘yes’ and picked the instrument they liked.”

The petite Glendi, youngest of the three children, said she chose the drums simply because she liked them.

“And I just have a passion for the guitar,” added 12-year-old Wilson.

Daniel Luna, a Mexican singer from the northern state of Monterrey, opened the school in March 2008, about two years after he moved to Dalton.

“When I first came, I wanted to form a band, but there were no musicians ready to form one,” said the 30-year-old musician who started playing the piano when he was seven and currently teaches guitar, keyboard, drums.

It wasn’t because of a lack of interest, but a lack of places to perform, he said, sitting in one of the small classrooms inside a house off Airport Road, where he gives the lessons.

The school, taught by himself and two other instructors from Monterrey, has about 50 students. Most are learning to play the guitar, he said, but the school also offers singing lessons, keyboard, piano and drums.

Students start by learning to read and play classical music, said Mr. Luna, but as they progress, they can branch out to any genre they like.

Terry Tomasello, executive director of the Creative Arts Guild, said learning the music of other cultures helps broaden a child’s perspectives.

“By learning about our culture’s music we connect with our community and begin to understand and appreciate the cultural differences throughout the world,” he said.

Although the school is open to anyone in the community, Mr. Luna said he caters primarily to the Hispanic community.

“I feel it’s something I have to do, first, because I’m Hispanic, and second, because there’s not another option for the Hispanic community to learn to play regional Mexican music,” he said.

The school offers classes in English and Spanish because the children of Hispanic parents often feel more comfortable in English, he said.

As for the music preferences, students range from Agueda Maciel, who likes Spanish pop music, to the Reynosas, who want to learn to play Christian music. Agueda recently moved from Mexico to Chattanooga and has taken singing lessons with Mr. Luna since her arrival.

“I’ve been singing since I was seven, and I really love it,” the 10-year-old said in Spanish after her lesson, where she sang “La Bikina,” a classical mariachi song. “I like it that he lets us choose our own songs. The teacher I had in Mexico was older and chose the songs I was going to learn.”

Mr. Luna, who has released five albums as a solo artist and owns a recording studio, said his goal is for people to learn how to use their talents and even be able to making a living in music, like he does.

“Only positive things can come out of learning how to play an instrument,” he said.

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