Student Spotlight: Lila

September 3, 2026

Meet Lila, an 18-year-old singer-songwriter-in-the-making, fresh off graduation and headed to Miami this fall. She’s been a Music Royale student for five years, and in that time, guitar has become so much more than a hobby. It’s her therapy, her confidence builder, and the thing she says she’ll never stop doing. Watch her full interview video here!

How It All Started

Lila picked up guitar because, well, there was already one sitting at home, so why not? She tried teaching herself first, but staying consistent on her own was tough. That’s when she decided to give lessons a real shot, starting back in eighth grade with her teacher, Sara.

“Going into lessons just felt like the right thing to do,” Lila says. Five years later, she’s still going and still counts her weekly hour with Sara as one of the best parts of her week.

Finding Her Sound

Classic rock runs deep in Lila’s musical taste. She’s a huge Led Zeppelin fan and an even bigger David Bowie fan, so much so that the first song she ever performed was The Man Who Sold the World. It’s still her favorite, made even more special when Sara gifted her the vinyl as a graduation present, and the two performed it together.

These days, she’s got Johnny B. Goode on repeat while she learns it, and she’s also working on Soccer Practice by Lizzy McAlpine for a little acoustic fun.

Looking back at her earliest days, Lila remembers I See the Light from Tangled being the song that nearly broke her. “Disney songs are always very hard,” she laughs, but it was her first finger-picking song, and once she got through it, everything else clicked. That song, along with Blackbird, will always hold a special place for her.

Stepping Into the Spotlight

If you ask Lila what she’s most proud of, it’s not a song at all, it’s putting herself out there. Open mics used to terrify her, and she’d always tell Sara no. But once she worked up the nerve to play her first one, there was no turning back.

From there, she jumped into Rock School, where she got to perform Purple Rain with a full band, a moment made even cooler by the fact that Stranger Things’ newest season had just brought the song back into the spotlight. “I’m usually nervous before each time,” she admits, “but it’s so easy to shake off once you start playing, especially around people.”

That performance experience has rippled into the rest of her life in ways she didn’t expect. She recently did her first-ever runway walk at the NFL Fashion Show, something she was sure would terrify her. “But once I got on, I was not nervous at all. If I hadn’t done all these performances, it would have been completely different.”

More Than Lessons

Beyond her weekly sessions, Lila has become a true fixture at Music Royale, she even completed an internship there through her Young Professionals class, restringing guitars and helping run sound at open mic nights. She’s brought her brother, his friend, and her boyfriend’s sister all in as Sara’s students too. “It’s more about community,” she says. “Everybody is super nice. I’ve made so many friends.”

Her mom used to joke, that driving Lila to lessons was like taking her to therapy because no matter how she walked in, she always walked out happier. “It’s so corny,” Lila says, “but I do think music is therapy.”

Looking Ahead

Lila’s next big goal is learning to write her own music, something her brother, who’s into music production, has inspired her to explore. And while college in Miami is right around the corner, she’s not planning to leave guitar (or Music Royale) behind. She’s bringing it with her, texting Sara along the way, and already planning to come back for lessons every summer.

Her advice to anyone thinking about starting? Just do it. “You don’t have to be good at an instrument. You just have to try.” And to her younger self, walking into that very first lesson nervous and unsure? “There’s nothing to be nervous about. She made me feel so comfortable. We had so much fun.”

As for the future, Lila’s vision is simple: “I want to be an 80-year-old woman still ripping it on guitar.”

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Ready to start your own musical journey? Explore lessons at Music Royale, check out our upcoming open mic nights, or learn more about Rock School today.

Follow Lila on Instagram @Lilaanderson!