Thaddeus Arndt

I teach creative piano, guitar, bass, songwriting, music theory, Ableton, Logic Pro, recording, and music production lessons online and in Los Angeles. I am a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign music studies graduate, and my students include kids, teens, adults, total beginners, returning musicians, songwriters, producers, and players who want to feel more confident making real music.

I have played piano for 23 years, starting when I was four. I trained classically growing up, learned improvisation through jam bands in high school, and studied jazz and open music studies at UIUC, where I took a wide range of piano, theory, musicianship, and creative music classes. I have also played guitar for 14 years, with experience across rock, blues, jazz, indie, math rock, punk, grunge, folk, and improvisational music.

Alongside teaching instruments, I bring 10 years of hands-on music production experience. I started producing in Ableton Live in college and have since worked with hundreds of artists and clients in beatmaking sessions, recording sessions, mixes, and custom song-building sessions. Hundreds of released songs on Spotify use my beats or production work. I also write songs myself and have been writing since I was 10, so I can help students connect instrumental skills with lyrics, melody, harmony, arrangement, and finished recordings.

My lesson style is practical, creative, and personal. I do not believe students should wait months before they get to play music they care about. In the first lesson, I listen to your goals and do a simple musical diagnostic: rhythm, ear, chords, technique, theory, creativity, and confidence. From there, we build a clear plan around the skills that will make the biggest difference for you.

For piano students, lessons can include hand coordination, chords, reading, ear training, improvisation, harmony, technique, songwriting at the keyboard, and learning or adapting favorite songs. For guitar and bass students, we can work on rhythm, chord vocabulary, riffs, lead playing, fretboard understanding, improvisation, tone, and playing in the styles you actually listen to. For songwriting and production students, we can work on Ableton or Logic workflow, MIDI, recording, sound selection, melody, lyrics, arrangement, beatmaking, mixing basics, and finishing ideas instead of leaving them as loops.

Every student gets a lesson path that matches their age, level, taste, and goals. Some students want a structured weekly foundation. Some want to write their first song. Some want to understand theory without it feeling abstract. Some want to learn songs by ear, prepare for performances, produce better demos, or finally connect the instrument to the music they hear in their head. My job is to make that process clear, encouraging, and musically useful.

If you are looking for lessons that combine a university music background with real-world musicianship, creativity, improvisation, songwriting, and modern production, I would be happy to help you build a stronger relationship with music.