Welcome to Merry Knell DIY Music Academy!

Do-It-Yourself Music Lessons for Everyone &

Music Business Education for the DIY Musician

Over the next year or so, Merry Knell DIY Music Academy will be creating and publishing the new music classes and music business courses that make up our curriculum and will be introducing them in a phased rollout. We have officially launched Phase 1 and are now offering individual online music lessons and music business lessons. You can find out more about them HERE.

We are also offering free 30-minute music business consultations in conjunction with Cyberpunk Web Marketing & Virtual Assistant Services. 

When everything has been rolled out, the end goal of the curriculum is for someone with no music background to be able to learn theory, basic piano, and other music skills like ear training and be able to read music. Then they can learn how to use those skills to take the songs they hear in their head, figure out chords to go with the melody, create a piece of music, and write a lead sheet. Then they can take the song they created and also learn how to arrange it, record it, market it, and sell it to fans as a  Do-It-Yourself (DIY) musician.

Merry Knell DIY Music Academy gets its name from founder Mary Lemanski, whose middle name is Nell. She just changed the spelling to Merry Knell to make it more happy &  musical to fit the vibe of this online academy for all ages.

The Merry Knell DIY Music Academy music curriculum is based on how Mary Lemanski learned music as a child prodigy, combined with technique, expression, and performance practices from a long line of musical masters, and customization for each student's needs & music goals. The music business curriculum is based on Mary's experiences both working in the music industry and as a DIY musician and is also customized to fit the needs & music goals of the student.

About Our Founder

Vocalist/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Mary Lemanski was a child music prodigy, who was taught pipe organ at age 10 because she was such an amazing pianist. Her first gig came at age 11 when she filled in for the organist at her Catholic school’s church for a funeral. She was pulled out of class, aced the service, got paid $40, and became the substitute organist for the entire diocese until she went to college.

Nearly 30 years later, Mary Lemanski still retains the record at her high school for most awards in music. After high school, she earned a Music/Business Administration degree with a concentration in music composition from Millikin University. She also earned a certification in audio engineering from the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences and an MBA in e-Business from the University of Phoenix. Mary is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), as well as The Recording Academy.

While at Millikin University, Mary took piano lessons from Aldo Mancinelli (and his wife and former student, Judith Mancinelli), who took lessons from Claudio Arrau, who took lessons from Martin Krause, who took lessons from Franz Liszt, who took lessons from Carl Czerny, who took lessons from Ludwig van Beethoven, who took lessons from Joseph Haydn. Haydn was friends with and had a huge influence on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Ludwig van Beethoven also studied with Christian Neefe, who studied with Johann Hiller, who studied with Gottfried Homilius, who studied with Johann Sebastian Bach.

Mary combines the technique, expression, and performance practices from this line of musical masters with more modern teaching methods to give her students a well-rounded music education. She caters each lesson to the individual needs and interests of the student, while giving them a strong technical foundation and fostering their love of music.

These days, Mary is also a fully-developed Pop/Rock/Alternative artist in her own right, excels at keyboards, vocals, drum programming, guitar, and bass, and writes songs that have been compared to Blondie, Tori Amos, and Carly Simon, among others. She’s been releasing original music online as a DIY musician since 1999 and shows no sign of stopping.

In addition to being an artist, Mary has worked extensively in the music industry, including stints at Epitaph Records, BMG Entertainment, Clear Channel Radio (iHeart Radio), Razormaid.com, Songsalive!, Warrior Girl Music, and Rhino Staging.

Online individual lessons are now available! - CLICK HERE

Other classes & courses will be available soon!

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Have you always wanted to learn how to read music? Do you know how to read music, but would like to learn how to write songs? Do you write songs, but don't know what to do next to get them into the ears of your potential millions of fans?

Merry Knell DIY Music Academy is for YOU! 

Imagine being able to pick up a piece of music and being able to read the notes and teach it to yourself.

All those great songs you come up with in your head? You can make them a reality.

Those 500 songs you spent the last 10 years in your basement recording. You can share them with the world and possibly even make money from them!

Merry Knell DIY Music Academy can help you learn the knowledge & skills necessary to achieve your personal music goals!