Keys
Piano
The instrument that teaches you all the others
- Ages: Ages 4 and up
- Lessons: Private, 30 to 60 minutes a week
- Price: from $140 a month
Music lessons for every age · Austin
Every great songstarts with a first note
Piano, guitar, voice, violin, drums and songwriting with teachers who play for a living and teach for love. Your first lesson is on us.
- students this year
- 640 students this year
- on 210 reviews
- 4.9 on 210 reviews
- years old
- 4 to 84 years old
Find your instrument
Press a key, meet a lesson
Every key is one of our lessons. Try them all; the trial lesson is free, so the only wrong choice is not to start.
Strings
Guitar
Campfire chords to fingerstyle and lead
- Ages: Ages 7 and up
- Lessons: Private, 30 to 60 minutes a week
- Price: from $140 a month
Voice
Voice
Find your voice, then use it
- Ages: Ages 6 and up
- Lessons: Private, 30 to 60 minutes a week
- Price: from $140 a month
Strings
Violin
The voice of the orchestra, in your hands
- Ages: Ages 5 and up
- Lessons: Private, 30 to 60 minutes a week
- Price: from $140 a month
Rhythm
Drums
The heartbeat of every band
- Ages: Ages 7 and up
- Lessons: Private, 30 to 60 minutes a week
- Price: from $140 a month
Writing
Songwriting
Write the song only you can write
- Ages: Ages 13 and up
- Lessons: Private, 45 or 60 minutes a week
- Price: from $195 a month
Your path
From the first note to the big stage
Learning music is a climb you can hear. These are the milestones our students reach, one step up the staff at a time.
Week 1
Your first song
Every student leaves the trial lesson able to play something real. Usually it is the song they came in humming.
Month 2
Reading the page
Notes, rhythms and chords start making sense, so practice at home stops being a guessing game.
Month 4
Playing with others
A duet with your teacher, then a session with other students. Music gets twice as fun.
Month 6
Your first recital
A friendly stage, an audience of families and a grand piano. Everyone plays; everyone is cheered.
Year 1
Your own sound
Pieces you choose, a style that is yours and, for many, the first song you wrote yourself.
Beyond
The big stage
Exams, auditions, a band, a festival slot on Sixth Street. We go as far as you want to.
Plans
Weekly lessons, one simple price
Pay by the month, change or pause any time. Siblings get 10% off.
Half hour
30 minutes a week
$140a month
The right start for young beginners up to about age eight.
- Four private lessons a month
- A practice book with a weekly plan
- Both recitals a year
- Make-up lessons with a day’s notice
Most popular
Three quarters
45 minutes a week
$195a month
Our most popular plan: time to play, learn and try something new every week.
- Four private lessons a month
- A practice book with a weekly plan
- Both recitals a year
- One group workshop a term
- Make-up lessons with a day’s notice
Full hour
60 minutes a week
$250a month
For advanced students, exam preparation and adults who want to go deep.
- Four private lessons a month
- Exam and audition preparation
- Both recitals a year
- All group workshops
- Recording time in the studio twice a year
Coming up
Come and hear us play
Recitals, open days and workshops. Most are free, and everyone is welcome, not only our students.
Open day
Open house and instrument petting zoo
, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
Lark & Lyre · 418 Mariposa Street, Austin
Tickets: Free
Workshop
Songwriting workshop: the chorus
, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Lark & Lyre · 418 Mariposa Street, Austin
Tickets: $35
Teachers
Musicians who love to teach
Every one of our teachers still performs, records or writes, and brings that into the lesson room.
Nora Halvorsen
Founder and piano teacher
On repeat: Grieg, Lyric Pieces
Diego Castillo
Guitar and songwriting teacher
On repeat: Gillian Welch, Revival
Amara Bell
Voice teacher
On repeat: Ella Fitzgerald, Live in Berlin
Ivy Chen
Violin teacher
On repeat: Bach, Partita No. 2
Marcus Reed
Drum teacher
On repeat: Stevie Wonder, Innervisions
Families say
Notes from our students
My daughter used to hide during school concerts. Last month she played Clair de Lune at the winter recital and asked when the next one is.
Rachel M.Parent, piano with Nora I am fifty-two and finally playing the guitar that sat in my closet for twenty years. Diego never once made me feel late to the party.
Tom W.Adult student, guitar Amara taught me to breathe before she taught me to sing. I got the lead in our school musical.
Jasmine K.Age 15, voice
Questions families ask
What age can my child start?
Piano, violin and voice from four or five, guitar and drums from about seven. There is no upper limit: our oldest student is eighty-four.
Do we need our own instrument?
Not for the trial. We can recommend affordable first instruments and rentals, and every room has one to use during lessons.
How much should my child practise?
Ten to fifteen minutes on most days beats an hour on Sunday. Your teacher writes a simple plan in the practice book every week.
What if we miss a lesson?
Tell us a day ahead and we will reschedule it within the month. See the lesson policy for the details.
Journal
Notes from the practice room
How to choose a first instrument
Age, hands, personality and the music they love: how we help children and adults pick their first instrument.
Ten minutes a day beats an hour on Sunday
How to build a practice habit that sticks, for children and adults.
Students only
Calming stage nerves before a recital
What our teachers do before they walk on stage, and how students can use it.
The practice letter
One short email a month: a practice tip, the next recital and an open spot in the schedule when we have one.
Your first lesson is on us
Thirty minutes with a teacher, any instrument, any age. Come and see if it clicks.
