Our Story
History of Lake Music
Lake Music was founded in 1970 by Sid Smither. As a 3rd generation musician, he was set on a career of an opera singer. Unfortunately, a surgery that didn’t go well for him, closed that door. But instead of losing hope, Sid worked hard to open his own music store, Lake Music, and continued another 3rd generational tradition – music education.
Over the last 51 years, Lake Music has served as a hub for musical instruction and mentoring. So much so that Lake Music is now seeing the grandchildren of students who had learned music at Lake Music.
The sudden demise of Sid Smither in 2013 left the music store and the community he so much loved, behind. But rather than see Lake Music close, Sid’s son, Tim Smither, did everything possible to keep the music store alive. The pandemic further made Tim quarantine himself to understand the business and by June 2020, he left his job of 20 years to work at Lake Music full time.
Founder
About the founder of Lake Music – Sid Smither
I always like to refer to our core 4 words. Learn. Love. Play. Local.
Learn – We should always be learning new things and also from our mistakes.
Love – We must always remember to embrace love in our lives. Love for ourselves, others, our passion and the world.
Play – It’s important to be playful in life and understand not to take life too seriously.
Local – this can mean so many things. One being, the contribution we make to the community for the best to happen.
We strongly believe that these are great words to live life by. When our founder Sid Smither started Lake Music in 1970, little did we know the immense contribution it would one day make to the community. Taking forward his passion, we are continuously on the path to provide a culture of respect that is nurturing for beginners and inspiring for musicians of all levels.
WHY CHOOSE US
Credibility
We come with 50 years of experience, and that speaks for our credibility
Authenticity
Our promise: Only the right instrument, music notes and teachers
Deliverability
The moment a child enrolls with us, their bright music career begins
Commitment
We embrace the commitment to excellence for continuous improvement
Dedication
Our dedicated teachers ensure each child passes with flying colors
Results
It is all about the result at the end, and we promise to deliver from the start
Our Vision
To become a destination hub for music enthusiasts and inspire greater participation in musical arts at all levels. We ignite and inspire the pure joy, love, learning, and longing for music in all forms.
Our Mission
To provide high quality, creative, collaborative, and inspiring music learning experiences in Lake Oswego for musicians of any age, level, ability and interest.
Our Services
Music Lessons
Love music?
Want to ace the art of playing at least one instrument? Then be a part of Lake Music’s assortment of music lessons designed for people of all ages. We come with an accumulated experience of 50 years and teach guitar, violin, piano, drum and more.
Hire Bands
Instrument Rental
Nurture the musician inside you as you rent or buy high-quality instruments from us to kickstart your journey towards music. We have a wide variety of instruments that are available for rent and buy. Some instruments that are available guitar, banjo, keyboard, violin and mandolin.
Instrument Repair
Broke a string or key? Don’t worry as we have you covered. Lake Music is home to some of the best instrument experts who are well-acquainted with the various parts of all forms of instruments. Your instrument will be in safe hands and handed back to you like new.