Minnetonka Music

08/01/2026

A $100 Music Lesson Can Cost Less Than a $50 Lesson
People compare music lessons by the hourly price, as though every teacher delivers the same amount of learning during that hour.
They do not.
A lesson may be scheduled by time, but its real value is measured by what the student understands and can do afterward.
By the end of the second lesson, my students have composed and written an original, legitimate song with accurate harmony, melody, and rhythm.
Not a five-finger-position exercise.
Not a pentatonic shortcut.
A real song.
Many can also play it immediately. For some, playing it takes a little longer—but the song itself will already exist.
Now suppose one teacher charges $50 an hour but takes four lessons to teach what another teacher can teach clearly in one $100 lesson.
The “cheaper” lessons cost $200.
The $100 lesson costs half as much—and saves three hours. With weekly lessons, it also saves three weeks.
One student secretly compared my teaching with lessons at music schools and stores throughout the Twin Cities. After about three years, he finally told me where he had been:
“I learned more from you in one lesson than I did from anyone else in a month.”
The cheapest lesson is not necessarily the one with the lowest hourly price. The lesson that saves you months—or years—of slow learning and confusion may prove to be the cheapest lesson of all.
The important question is not merely:
“What does the teacher charge?”
It is:
“What will I understand and be able to do because I took the lesson?”
Minnetonka Music was named Best Music Lessons in Lake Minnetonka Magazine’s Best of 2014.
I currently have room for about five new students.
There are no contracts or registration fees. Prepaid lessons never expire. Scheduling is exceptionally flexible, seven days a week—and in more than 60 years, I have never charged a student for a missed lesson.
Lessons are available:
• Online
• In your home in Hopkins and surrounding communities
• At Bongo’s and Bud’s in downtown Hopkins
You may switch an in-person lesson to online whenever weather, travel, illness, or convenience makes that helpful.
No missed week. No lost momentum. No need to challenge a Minnesota snowbank to single combat.
The rates are the same online or in person. The value is in what you learn—not where the chairs happen to be.
See lesson options, rates, and complete information:
https://minnetonkamusic.com/lesson-pricing
Call or text Bob:
952-474-3277
Easy to remember:
952-47-HEARS
There is only one of me.

07/17/2026

Music lessons designed to fit your life—not control it.
In more than 60 years of teaching, I have never charged a student for a missed lesson.
There are no lesson contracts, no registration fees, and prepaid lessons never expire. Scheduling is exceptionally flexible, seven days a week.
Lessons are available:
Online
In your home in the Hopkins-area communities
At Bongo’s and Bud’s in downtown Hopkins
You may never have played an instrument before. That is fine.
You may be working on your third album. That is fine, too.
By the end of the second lesson, every student will have composed and written an original, legitimate song with accurate melody, harmony, and rhythm.
It will not be a five-finger-position exercise or a pentatonic shortcut. It will be real music. Many students will also be able to play their song immediately. For some, playing it will take more time—but the song itself will already exist.
My approach helps students learn much faster and retain what they learn longer because they understand how the parts of music work together. You will not spend months memorizing key signatures, endlessly drilling scales, or learning piles of seemingly useless information before you are allowed to enjoy music.
One student took lessons from me for a couple of months, disappeared for a couple of months, returned, and disappeared again. This continued for about three years.
Finally, he said, “I suppose you wonder where I’ve been.”
I answered, “No. I thought you were probably just practicing what I taught you.”
He explained that during those absences he had studied at many of the major music-teaching establishments in the Twin Cities.
Then he said:
“I learned more from you in one lesson than I did from anyone else in a month.”
Minnetonka Music was named Best Music Lessons in Lake Minnetonka Magazine’s Best of 2014.
Take a few lessons with me. Then try someone else. I will not criticize you if you do—and I will not hold it against you when you come back.
Call or text Call or text Bob: 952-474-3277
That’s 952-47-HEARS
I have openings, but not many.
There is only one of me.

07/13/2026

I’m opening a few music lesson spots now for serious students who want to understand music without wasting years. Hungry to learn?

I teach piano, guitar, improvising, composing, arranging, and understanding music. Other instruments or questions? Ask.

Yes, I can teach songs. But I don’t only teach songs. I teach how music works.

It is much easier to learn a song by Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, or Billy Joel than to become Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, or Billy Joel.

That is where music lessons often go wrong. The student wants music. The lesson turns into imitation. Besides, maybe you have a guitar but still want to understand Piano Man.

Do what you can do until you can do what you couldn’t.

Don’t just learn songs. Understand music.

Lesson info: MinnetonkaMusic.com
Message Minnetonka Music with questions.

07/12/2026

Are you immortal?

If not, don’t waste years learning music the slow way.

I’m opening a few lesson spots for serious students who want music to make sense. Piano, guitar, improvising, composing, arranging, and understanding music. Other instruments or questions? Ask.

Memorized shortcuts help you pass specific tests. Understanding helps you play.

Don’t just learn songs. Understand music.

Lesson info: MinnetonkaMusic.com

06/28/2026

To my former students and parents of former students:

Hello, my name is Bob Bushnell.
Some of you may know me from Bushnell’s Minnetonka Music, Minnetonka Music, Kullberg Studios, H & R Music in Crystal, Metropolitan Community College, Wayzata Jr. High, Wayzata Sr. High, community education, the Minneapolis Summer Arts Festival, lessons in your home or mine, or from many years of teaching many instruments, many styles, theory, improvisation, composing, arranging, and the general business of making music make sense.
I am trying to reconnect with former students and parents of former students.
After more than 60 years of teaching music, I sometimes wonder where everybody landed.
Are you still playing?
Did music stay with you?
Did you go on to perform, write songs, teach, record, play for yourself, or just understand music better?
Was there something from your lessons that stayed with you?
You do not need to write anything polished. A quick hello, a memory, or a sentence about what music has meant to you would be great.
I am also updating my teaching materials, Facebook posts, and future music projects. If you send me a comment or message that you are comfortable letting me use publicly, please say so. I will not use anyone’s words, name, or story in a post or teaching material without permission.
I am still teaching, still writing, and still trying to make music make sense.
If I taught you or your child, I would love to hear how you are doing.

04/07/2026

Music should make sense.

That is not why I teach music.
I teach music because it matters.
And because it is much easier to understand than most people have been told.

I do not teach “music as therapy.”
I teach music.
How it works.
How to hear it.
How to use it.
How to make it work for you.

The side benefits are a bonus.

Music is like Tai Chi for the brain:
easy, natural, and powerful.

I have limited openings for lessons.

Once you start lessons, your lesson rate is locked in for life.
If you have taken lessons from me before, you can return at your original rate, subject to availability.
That’s like buying gasoline at 25 cents a gallon.

My book is almost finished. I’ll let you know when it’s out.
When the book is released, lesson rates for new students will go up.

Message me if you are interested.

03/28/2026

Most beginners learn the first few notes of “Smoke on the Water.”
That’s a start. But it’s not the song.

Here’s what happens when you understand how the music works and turn a fragment into something you can actually play and make your own.

Private guitar and piano lessons with Bob Bushnell
Hopkins • local in-home • live online
MinnetonkaMusic.com

03/25/2026

Music has been a long road for me—teaching, performing, writing, and constantly rethinking how music is taught. I’m putting fresh energy into lessons again, and I’m glad to be back at it.

I’m back.
After many years of teaching, performing, writing, and rethinking how music is taught, I’m putting fresh energy into lessons again.

Private guitar and piano lessons are now available in Hopkins, in your home locally, or live online.

Many teachers show you how to copy a song the way someone else played it. I can do that too. But my real goal is to help you understand how the song works, so you can turn it into something you can actually play, enjoy, and make your own.

No registration fee, no sign-up fee, no contract.
Prepaid lessons don’t expire, are transferable, and lesson times are flexible.

If you’ve been thinking about lessons for yourself or someone else, message me or visit MinnetonkaMusic.com

03/25/2026

I’m back.
After many years of teaching, performing, writing, and rethinking how music is taught, I’m putting fresh energy into lessons again.

Private guitar and piano lessons are now available in Hopkins, in your home locally, or live online.

Many teachers show you how to copy a song the way someone else played it. I can do that too. But my real goal is to help you understand how the song works, so you can turn it into something you can actually play, enjoy, and make your own.

No registration fee, no sign-up fee, no contract.
Prepaid lessons don’t expire, are transferable, and lesson times are flexible.

If you’ve been thinking about lessons for yourself or someone else, message me or visit MinnetonkaMusic.com

08/09/2022

WHY MUSIC?
Music is necessary for all people of all ages. Music is at least as old as language.
Music stimulates the right and left brain and increases memory capacity. Students who are actively learning music do better in school. Elderly think clearer.
Friedrich Nietzsche: "Without music, life would be a mistake." A little extreme? Maybe not. Most philosophers throughout history seem to agree; Plato, Confucius, Einstein...
Albert Einstein's wife said when he was working on the Theory of Relativity, he would come out of his room and play the piano for about a half hour and then return to continue working on his theory. He said, "I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music."
Plato said, "Let us describe the education of our men. What then is the education to be? Perhaps we could hardly find a better than that which the experience of the past has already discovered, which consists, I believe, in gymnastic, for the body, and music for the mind."
Confucius put music as the second most important thing to teach. The most important being "Ceremonies".
Don't just learn music, understand it. It's easier. Traditional music theory is cluttered with misdirection and unnecessary information.
Remember, we don't work piano or guitar or violin or erhu, ...we play it. It should be fun.
-Bob Bushnell, owner and founder of Bushnell's Minnetonka Music.