Music Lessons by Kelly Richey | Guitar & Handpan Reviews

Justin Beitz 2025.12.03

     

I've been taking Handpan lessons for over a year now with Kelly and I couldn't ask for a better local teacher! She's knowledgeable and helpful. She can not only provide lessons, but also provide an understanding of the handpan, the different construction of them, and how to pick one out.

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Vincent Scot 2025.12.03

     

I've had the good fortune of learning from the greats. My taekwondo instructor was a two time Olympic coach. The editor I work with edited Stephen King, Lawrence Block, and Joyce Carol Oates. Now, I'm learning guitar from Kelly Richey, who makes the process fun and interesting. From her experience, Kelly has the unique ability to see into a person and extract the artist. By working with her, you can't go wrong. Vince

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mlee Penn 2025.04.29

     

Kelly is a great teacher and person. She is caring about her students and always willing to listen even if not evolving music studies. Thank you, Kelly!

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Carolyn Grant 2025.04.29

     

Kelly took me on as a new guitar student - total beginner! I appreciate her method of using older blues songs to learn the basics. She has also helped me learn some of my old favorites as my goal is to learn something new in retirement and to be able to jam with friends and family (including my grandsons!)

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Drew Davis 2025.04.14

     

I’ve learned more from Kelly in a few lessons than I did in years of trying on my own. She makes guitar feel fun and easy to remember with clear practice routines. Her teaching has enriched both my playing and my personal life. Highly recommend.

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Jason Stewart 2025.04.07

     

I have been taking lessons from Kelly for over a year now...and it has helped me make great strides in my playing. Not only is she a great teacher and player...she is a great mentor and person! I highly recommend Kelly.

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Wayne Stein 2025.04.07

     

Kelly is a great teacher, very focused on the basic building blocks to lay the foundation for success. She is very patient which is great for me. I recommend her highly!

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Mike Ball 2025.04.07

     

Kelly is an incredible instructor and true mentor. Kelly was able to pinpoint the issues I was facing in my playing and created a practice routine that greatly improved my play. Kelly also navigated me through the world of blues, teaching the basics and breaking down advanced techniques that I have able to incorporate into my play. Try out a lesson with her, there's no pressure and her schedule is very flexible.

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Hunter Saturn 2022.04.27

     

Kelly is a fantastic guitar teacher and has been instrumental in my progression as a guitarist! She is a blues master and focuses on chunking concepts and songs down I can master all the small pieces to eventually play the full picture with ease. She's a teacher who I feel truly get's me and has as much excitement about the blues and guitar as I have. We have shifted practice and teaching styles throughout my lessons that better fit how I learn best, which has been a highlight and a hallmark of her great teaching and mentor skills.

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Stephen Ettorre 2022.04.25

     

Been taking lessons from Kelly for about 6 months. It is very cool getting instruction from a world-class guitarist. However, what really sets Kelly apart is that she has a heart for teaching and really cares about her students and their progress in learning guitar.

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Ryan Batura 2022.04.19

     

At 50 years old, after playing guitar for most of my life without ever having any professional instruction, I was bumping into some roadblocks with my playing, songwriting & recording. I had met several incredible musicians over the years that were also experienced guitar instructors, but none of them seemed to understand what I was frustrated about. In December of 2021, I stumbled across a video of Kelly playing with Sherri McGee in their 2 piece band The Spear Shakers. In reading a bit about the band, I noticed that Kelly was also a guitar instructor, so I wrote to Kelly and shared a bit about my history and what I was currently working on. Kelly immediately messaged back and seemed to understand the issues I was bumping into as a result of being a self-taught guitar player, deeply set in my ways. After Kelly listened to some of my band’s releases, along with watching some video footage, she had some ideas on how to help. After only a few lessons together Kelly provided me tools to begin to unlock my own roadblocks, but in a way that was not disruptive to my existing playing style. I love that Kelly does not want to change who I am as a player. She is interested in me being able to better express myself in my own style. Moreover, I have found Kelly to be an incredible resource for so many other prereferral things related to guitar playing such as studio recording, live shows, fronting a band, etc-etc. There have been lessons in that we have not even discussed guitar playing because I have so many other questions. We spoke for an hour yesterday about setting up a new gig amp setup and pedalboard, after which she emailed me detailed information and web links about each component we discussed. I wish I had known Kelly 10 years ago, because all these things that I had discovered thru my own trial and error she already knows! Beyond all this, Kelly is simply a delightful person to talk with. A real person with real life experiences, that clearly has a gift for connecting with and helping other people. I am both humbled and thankful to have her instruction and insight.

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Ozkan Bekiroglu 2020.03.05

     

When i was searching for a guitar teacher who could understand my needs and who could guide me through the learning and improvement process accordingly, i met Kelly through internet, worked with her nearly two years through Skype and then three weeks one to one at her studio in Cincinnati during a visit of mine to US. I feel very fortunate to have the chance to work with her. Her focused teaching attitude, great communication and feedback skills, very well structured and documented teaching infrastructure makes the lessons not only informative and very effective but also makes you concentrated and get prepared for each forthcoming meeting. She made me understand the musical theory better, thought me that the devil is really in details and how to develop my motor skills accordingly. Although I live in Turkey, literally on the other side of the world, we took the advantage of the time zone difference to schedule our meetings and it had always been a big joy for me to get prepared for each lesson after a working day and attend her afternoon cofee, learning and improving in every minute.

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Jacob Clabes 2020.02.28

     

One of the best in the business. An unbelievably talented, patient and knowledgeable teacher. And a beautiful human to boot. You’ll learn a lot more than how to tear the roof off the mother hanging with Kelly!

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Chris White 2020.02.28

     

Kelly has decades of experience in teaching and as a performer. Few instructors have the insight and experience to pull from their professional career as a performer and apply that to guitar instructions for her students. I started out as a beginner, although I'm also aware that she has had many accomplished guitarists learning from her skills.

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Duane Adams 2020.02.27

     

Kelly is a fantastic guitar player and an insightful teacher. Whether you are a beginner or a 'seasoned' player, lessons with Kelly will improve and expand your abilities. Highly recommended.

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Lillian Demus 2020.02.27

     

I take online lessons with Kelly and I have improved greatly. Her teaching method really helps to make a strong foundation. I 100% recommend.

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J Ecker 2020.02.27

     

I’ve been taking lessons from Kelly for over a decade and it has been an excellent experience. I started as a newbie who knew nothing but a few chords. She has designed exercises and lessons tailored by my specific needs. Kelly is friendly, helpful, encouraging, insightful — identifying what needs to be worked on next. Learning an instrument can be challenging, and her ability to motivate and inspire has been greatly appreciated has made a difference. Someone I highly recommend.

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Carol O'Brien 2020.02.25

     

Kelly is a generous and thorough guitar teacher. I took lessons from her more than 30 years ago! She taught me everything I needed to know to learn my way around the fretboard and to develop my style. She also provided patient encouragement during my learning process and is still a valued member of my musical community.

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john vicory 2020.02.25

     

Absolutely fantastic teacher!! Very patient and caring! i recommend Kelly 100%!!

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AM Jansen 2020.02.25

     

Kelly is an excellent teacher and has a way of breaking down the guitar in manageable learning blocks. She is patient and has experience that any level beginner thru expert can benefit from. This is an opportunity to learn from one of the best guitarists period. Don't wait...you won't be sorry!

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