I have picked up a guitar 2-3 times over the last 20 years and always quit. Not this time! Keith allows you to learn at your own pace and customizes instruction to the type of music you like and want to learn. You start playing the music you like the first lesson and can change course at any time with him! 

 

I have been playing for over 6 months now with Keith and have all the basics down already that you need to know of chords, picking and strumming. I can throw on a BB King recording, play right along, sound pretty decent and not miss a beat(or a note). In addition to Keith's qualifications and formal education in music for traditional teaching, he also utilizes the advanced technical tools available to help in your learning. During my sessions we have utilized applications and technologies like Spotify, mobile device recorders and video as well as YouTube and other social media to communicate as well as to reinforce techniques and music theory taught at lessons.

 

Can't go wrong on this choice, no matter what style of music you want to learn.

 

- Paul D.

 Austin, TX

 

 

 

 

Keith is talented, thoughtful, flexible, and keenly interested in affording you an environment to learn the magic of guitar. My daughter, age 13, has taken lessons from Keith for some 18 months. She looks forward to her weekly lesson more so than just about anything. She started from scratch, and now confidently strums classic songs, like Black Bird, Walk the Line, and Here Comes the Sun, owing to hard work, focus, and Keith's brilliant gift. Thank you.

 

-Jack K.

Austin, TX

 

 

 

 

There are so many guitar 'teachers' in Austin, the universe led me to Keith. I consider myself lucky because almost a year later I am still learning and progressing. Every Thursday Keith I have my music lesson and will continue to do so. This guy is present and punctual every time. He also has great taste in music and actually teaches not just shows. His knowledge and skill is incredible. If you are serious about learning about guitar and music this guy will not disappoint. Keep on rocking in the free world!!!!

 

-Jenna L.

Austin, TX

 

 

 

 

Keith is a great guitar instructor with excellent qualifications. The free trial lesson he offers was a great way to determine if his style was what I was looking for in an instructor. I was sold after the trial lesson!

 

Keith has the ability to teach all music theory but the lesson plans are customized to the student's wants and needs. The lesson plan won't force you to read music, learn music theory, etc., unless you want to learn these topics. My lessons have been a mix of music theory and just learning to tab and play songs. I've been able to go way back and learn some fundamental songs that helped fill in some elements that I'd been overlooking all of these years. The lesson material is put forth in a way that makes it easy to understand and implement. 

 

So far, the hardest part of the lessons has been choosing 5 songs that I wanted to learn how to play. The 5 songs that I chose ranged from alternative, blues, classic rock, heavy metal to alt country.  Keith didn't skip a beat with these varying styles and I was able to learn each of the songs and learn a bit of music theory with each. All of my lessons have been fun and I always look forward to the lessons even if I haven't practiced as much as I should have. I enjoy discussing music, old and new, with Keith. I'm also able to keep up with the band Burgess Meredith in which Keith is the drummer. I feel that Keith has a love for music and a passion for teaching others.

 

-Charlie W.

Austin, TX

 

 

 

 

Keith Lough - the guitar guru, the sensei of strumming, the rabbi of rock, the bodhisattva of blues, the...shaman...of...shredding? Okay, we don't do much shredding in our lessons, but if that's what I wanted to learn I'm sure Keith would oblige. I've been taking lessons with Keith for about a year and a half now, after years of playing with no formal instruction, and it's been an awesome experience. The deep well of Keith's knowledge of all things guitar (and music in general) seems bottomless - whether he's talking theory, intervals, chord shapes, history, or just nerding-out on gear, his passion comes across loud and clear. But most importantly, where Keith truly separates himself is in his teaching. A lot of people know a lot about guitar, but Keith has the qualities that make a great teacher; deep knowledge, the patience of a monk, and a desire to see his students get better. He tailors the lessons to suit my whims as a student (which have ranged from Zeppelin to classical pieces), and suggests pieces that might stretch my abilities, because at the end of the day that's the only way to improve. I could go on but you get the idea - knowledge, passion, patience - Keith has it all. And not to mention he's a genuinely cool guy. Do yourself a favor and call him.

 

-Spencer C.

Austin, TX

 

 

 

 

I highly recommend Keith Lough as a guitar teacher for people of all ages and musical interests. He is very adept at adapting his teaching to the interests, ability and level of knowledge of his students. He uses his expertise in a great variety of music to help his students  pursue their interests while ensuring a solid grounding in the fundamentals.  He is extremely patient and generous with his time, and the result is a relaxed approach that gives his students confidence and encouragement.

 

Keith started tutoring me about five years ago when I had very little musical background or experience. He helped me learn to play and sing folk music after teaching me some of the basics of playing a classical guitar and reading music. He  provided appropriate chords, strumming  and timing for favorite songs simply by listening to famous singers on the Internet. He gave particular attention to helping me learn to move well among difficult chord sequences and master appropriate timing.

 

Keith initially taught me in person and then by Skype when he moved to Austin. Both ways worked well. He plays for a band in Austin and thus keeps up with the interesting and ever changing music scene there.

 

 

-Michael C.

Falls Church, VA

 

 

 

 

I have been taking weekly lessons from Keith for around 4-5 years now and have been extremely pleased with my lessons with him. I'm older (50's) and having busted my butt all my life in the corporate world I wanted to finally take the time to learn to play guitar now that I have more free time. Many of my friends are great musicians and I just wanted to play with them when they came over to my house or learn songs I can play and sing when I go camping, etc.

 

My impression of Keith is that he is super patient, encouraging, innovative and a very enthusiastic teacher. His approach (with me) has not involved reading music (although he has pushed me to learn the fret board, etc.!) and/or a systematic (drill type) method to learning guitar, but rather a more expansive (free form) method of working on certain songs and guitar riffs associated with a song or the blues. 

 

He has been very innovative with me and has done this by recording songs, scales, etc. on my iphone that I can then play back on my system at home and practice to. In the early days we also added a drum machine that has been a huge help with my rhythm.

 

I started taking lessons from Keith in Arlington Virginia but now do the lessons over Skype. It works well and of course when working on a new song, Keith sketches it out fast and will post to Google doc's where I can print it, refer back to it etc.

 

-Peter H.

Arlington, VA

 

 

 

 

I began taking lessons with Keith for over two years ago as a novice/intermediate guitarist in DC. I was so happy with my lessons that I made arrangements to keep studying with him over Skype after he moved to Austin and I moved to Seattle!

 

My primary interest is songwriting and music theory, and Keith has proved very flexible and accommodating to my goals as a learner. He has deep knowledge in a variety of different categories: composition, improvisation, theory, rhythm and more. Moreover, he's well-organized in his approach and strives to regularly set realistic but challenging goals. The results of the time we've spent together are obvious: my ability not only navigate but also UNDERSTAND the fretboard has improved dramatically since our first lesson.

 

Bonus: he has experience playing in a number of different bands and styles, and he's a great drummer as well as guitarist. That well-rounded perspective on music translates well in the lessons: he'll often place the seemingly rote exercises in the context of my favorite music, or help me deconstruct the techniques of my favorite musicians. Oh, and he's got great taste: I first chose him as an instructor when he recognized Michael Karoli of CAN; we've had many conversations about King Crimson, Brian Eno, Miles Davis and other greats.

 

-Ethan H.

Seattle, WA

 

 

 

 

Keith is AWESOME. I really can't say enough good things about him. I started lessons with Keith almost 4 years ago in the DC area. Since he has moved to Austin I continue lessons with him over skype. There are a ton of teachers that are local in DC that I could have switched over to when Ketih relocated to TX but I chose not to because I knew that I would never get the same level of attention and effort that I get from Keith. When I first started with Keith I was really a novice - I played a lot of strummy kinds of babyish songs in all those dumb Hal Leonard guitar books. Keith began to truly customize our lessons and rather than relying on the crappy lesson books that are floating around - Keith took the actual music I like to listen to and arranged it so I could learn how to play it on the guitar. This was key to me becoming a much stronger player. It is 10000% more pleasurable to practice when you're playing songs you actually like and want to play well. In this process, Keith actually encouraged me to shift into more of a finger style guitarist. This was a milestone in my playing -- finger style was something I intuitively just picked up a lot faster than strumming and my level of play shot up exponentially in just 6 months. Keith really cares about your musical growth and at the same time never makes you feel bad if you've had a busy week and didn't practice as much as you should have. As a very busy working professional I really look forward to my weekly 1 hour lesson with Keith. I think if I hadn't stuck with Keith I probably would have gotten discouraged or lazy and stopped playing. I'm sure there are a lot of great guitarists in Austin - but that doesn't mean even a fraction of them are good TEACHERS. With Keith you get a great guitarist and song writer AND a phenomenal teacher. One final anecdote -- Keith was so beloved in the DC area among his students that when his band, Burgess Meredith, came on tour and stopped in town to play,  the venue was at least 50% his former students come to cheer him on. The music was great too :)

 

-Sue K.

Arlington, VA

 

 

 

 

My son has been taking lessons with Keith for about 3 or 4 years.  Keith is my son's second guitar instructor. (My son also has  private instruction in the double bass and orchestra teachers from elementary school through now high school).  I highly recommend him to any parent looking for a teacher for their child who is beginning lessons because he is patient and positive, but doesn't allow your child to lose focus.  For intermediate and advanced students I would recommend Keith for his knowledge of music, easy going style, honest and genuine personality and his reasonable rates.  Keith has been very accomodating of school, sports and vacation schedules as well.  If you want your child to learn to love music, want to play and really grow as a musician, hire Keith.  If you're more advanced, Keith is a multi instrumentalist with a full formal musical education who can help you discover new ideas and refine your technique.

 

-Drew B.

Arlington, VA

 

 

 

 

Keith is an excellent guitar teacher.  Working with him renewed my interest in playing guitar and my love for music.  I took weekly lessons from Keith for about a year in the DC area prior to his move to Austin.  He catered to the areas I needed help in and the specific style of music I was interested in playing.  He took the time to write out practice material at the end of every session.  I have folder filled with pages of guitar tab, chord charts, and notes that I regularly reference.  Working with Keith was truly a fantastic musical experience.

 

-Tommy T.

Arlington, VA

 

 

 

 

Keith is the man when it comes to the jam! multiInstrumentalist with a pension for the blues. I give this cool cat 5 stars for helping me with my chops.

 

-Brandon G.

Fairfax, VA

 

 

 

 

My son and husband took  guitar lessons from Keith for 2 years.   They were both beginners, and I can't speak highly enough about the experience they  had.  Keith is great,  teaching  at all skill  levels.    He has the patience of a saint.  They both enjoyed  his mellow, yet encouraging attitude. He went  out of his way to find music that was  interesting for each of them.  His musical enthusiasm  inspired Benjamin (my 14 year old son )  to the extent of choosing music as a major in school.  Keith encouraged   growth as a musician.  He  was always accommodating for class times. He has been a pleasure to work with."   We were a sad family when he moved away.

 

-Lisa H.

Arlington, VA

 

 

 

 

I began lessons with Keith in 2011 and only was a student of his for about 6 months. My goal was to expand my playing as I'd already played for about 5 years prior to beginning the lessons. Instantly, Keith had me playing more advanced riffs and expanded my musical influences by exposing me to the blues. In the 6 short months I felt my playing improved dramatically. Keith's laid-back style caters to whatever you want to get out of your guitar playing whether its learning to play popular songs, performing on stage, or just fiddling around.

 

-Michael H.

Milwaukee, WI

 

 

 

 

I still play almost every day the guitar pieces I learned from Keith a couple of years ago, before he moved to Austin. They range from Led Zeppelin's Bron-Yr-Aur to Andrew York's Snowflight to Leo Kottke's The Fisherman to a Leo Brouwer etude. He can teach a variety of genres of music, and is eager to go in whatever direction a student's interest takes him. His enthusiasm, patience and encouragement helped me stick with those pieces until I could play them well. I would recommend Keith to students at any level, no matter what type of music you'd like to play.

 

 

-Mike H.

Arlington, VA