Bill Apold watches Rob Osmonson, left, during his lesson Tuesday morning at Apold Music. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

A young Bill Apold started learning to play the drums when he was 13. For two years, he took lessons from a teacher in Austin. When his teacher moved away, however, he found himself at a loss.

“There were no other teachers around here at the time,” Apold said.

Few would have blamed Apold for dropping the instrument and letting his instruction go by the wayside. Instead, he stepped up to the challenge and filled the void, becoming a drum teacher at 15. The lifelong Austin resident now plays in numerous bands and owns Apold Music on Oakland Avenue, but he never let go of his focus on teaching.

“I got so involved in it I knew I might want to have my own store,” Apold said.

Apold bought Ray Stolzenberg Enterprises, a music store at 1106 W Oakland Ave., in 1979. It was the beginning a 33-year history of the music lessons and retail shop in Austin. Around the time it first opened, there were about 25 students taking lessons on two instruments.

Rob Osmonson works on a kit behind Apold Music as Bill Apold watches during a lesson Tuesday morning. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

“It started out being guitars and drums only,” Apold said.

Customers began to ask whether they offered lessons for piano or other instruments, and Apold found he had to recommend other teachers in the area who had no connection to the store.

Four years after opening, the shop moved to the site of the current Austin Public Library. It remained there until Apold decided to again relocate as plans for the library took shape in the mid- to late 90s. It then came to its present spot on West Oakland Avenue.

Today, the shop has about 110 students. Six teachers cover the more popular instruments students wish to learn, while less common ones, such as saxophone and clarinet, are typically handled through in-home lessons.

Six separate practice rooms are available on site, each equipped to dampen sound and allow several students to have lessons at the same time without deafening one another. It helps that the drum kits use practice pads, too.

“You take the pads off, you’ll know what’s going on,” Apold laughs.

While most of the students at the store are young, people of all ages take lessons. Plant workers will come in before their shift or during breaks, and retirees take up lessons at the age of 65 or 75 to pursue the hobby they always wanted.

Bill Apold, owner of Apold Music, has made a living out of music, not only with his store on Oakland Avenue, but giving lessons as well.

“They never had time before,” Apold said. “They do now.”

He recalls a number of years back when a 94-year-old man came in to learn the organ. Over the course of regular lessons, the man’s arthritis loosened up and allowed his hands to move more freely.

Of course, there are plenty of young students as well, and Apold said they start as early as 7 or 8 years old. Piano tends to be the most popular instrument, followed by guitar. There are fewer drum students, Apold said, because often students expect it to be a less complex instrument than it is.

“It’s four-way coordination,” he said.

All students try to fit in one lesson per week, Apold said, thought sometimes school events or other obligations get in the way. Once or twice a year, the store holds a recital. Forty-one students performed at the most recent one on Feb. 10.

Apold has always kept the focus of the store on lessons, and said the most satisfying part to him is seeing results when students grow as musicians. He also keeps the retail section of the store going, and works with Austin High School to make sure the band and orchestra programs have the instrument accessories they need.

His youngest son, Chad, received a degree in stringed instrument repair at Southeast Technical College in Red Wing, and now helps out around the shop fixing up guitars and other stringed instruments.

“He’s got the natural ability and the teaching,” he said. “He does a great job of it.”

In the future, Apold hopes to put together a drum circle, where students can combine varying rhythms from different percussion instruments to learn and perform as a group. Otherwise, his plans are to keep the store going as it has been.

Several students who took lessons at Apold Music have gone on to gain quite a bit of recognition, including Martin Zellar and Charlie Parr.

“[Parr] more or less grew up in the music store right here in Austin,” Apold said.

Other old students who have since moved out of town make a point of returning to the store when they pay visits to their parents in Austin. In this way, Apold keeps in touch with many of his old students, and keeps his store a community center of sorts for local musicians.

“It’s a music hub,” Apold said. “It has been for a long time.”