Eric is a solid music teacher and musician. Great balance of fun teaching teaching style and…read morenerdy music theory. He has a real passion for music and it is infectious. if you are starting out and need direction, he can set you up to learn and grow. If you are more advanced and looking for deeper knowledge and know where you want to go, he can get you there. He uses every minute of 30 minute lessons and makes sure there are new opportunities to progress (gotta practice!!!) into the next week. Thanks Eric for a great first 6 months. Looking forward to 2017!

From the owner: GuitarSmart provides music lessons for guitar, bass, piano and more in downtown Elgin, IL.read more

10/10. At first I came across Justin, and thought okay, dude that shreds and wears tank tops,…read moreprobably gonna play some Gojira at me and that's that. No I talked to him on the phone before our appointment for 20 minutes and never felt rushed. He's patient, but more importantly, very pragmatic and articulate. He is a true educator. He could identify issues in my playing literally in seconds, he can explain things in different ways, and demonstrate them. I am that guy who just plays 2 riffs he's comfortable with over and over, and then won't pick up my guitar for a month. Im 2 lessons in, and Justin has given me a path forward. I can see myself improve, I actually want to play. He's got a chill attitude. I think he also has a good sense for pushing your limits, but not so much as to be frustrating or stressful. It's actually FUN. 11/10

Justin is an exceptional guitar teacher. I've been having difficulties finding the right teacher…read moreuntil I came across his page. He is very straightforward with his lessons. My past guitar teachers seemed either impatient or bland with their lessons. I was learning chords from them and simple songs but I was easily bored. With Justin, he educated me on modes and economy picking, which set me off to a great start. I actually looked forward to our lesson even though he was an hour drive away from my house. In addition, he is full of knowledge with the metal world and would educate me on where certain riffs came from or the history of death metal. I think it's important to understand the history of the music you're passionate about and he certainly helped me become more knowledgeable about the music I love. He's incredibly patient and every time we had a lesson, I would feel more comfortable playing in front of him (I have stage fright). He truly loves teaching and I'm happy I found him. You won't be disappointed. Take lessons from him and you'll fall in love with guitar in no time.

This place is awesome. I got my first guitar there about a little over a year ago and have been…read moreback several times for other accessories and set ups. Staff is nice and knowledgeable. You'll get straight up answers without trying to over sell you on anything. Also they don't make you feel like "the new guy", they've been very encouraging of a new player.

Paid $130 for a setup and got lazy, dismissive service…read more From the start he brushed off my bass because it was a little beat up and an unusual shape. I mentioned adding a small weight in the control cavity to balance neck dive, and he dismissed it with, "no, don't do that, that's where the electronics are." The action was high at the nut and overall. After his "setup," it came back basically unchanged -- and now the A and D strings bottomed out at the high frets. I told him the nut needed filing; he insisted nut height doesn't affect action until I proved it. He took it back, filed the low E only, and handed it back. I had to point out again that the A and D were unplayable and send it back a second time. Even then, nothing was really fixed. End result: I lost $130, my bass plays worse than before, and I'll still have to do the setup myself.

It has been such a great experience working with Phil! My daughter has shown significant…read moreimprovement since starting Algebra tutoring and we're so grateful for Phil's patience, attentiveness and communication throughout the process.

We love Phil. He is the BEST. He is patient, supportive, and explains concepts in a way that truly…read morehelps my daughter understand and feel more confident. He is also very communicative with me and always willing to take the extra step to help, whether that means checking in, offering feedback, contacting the teacher or providing additional support when needed. I would highly recommend him to any parent looking for a dedicated and effective math tutor.

Cassandra strings is a wonderful store for stringed instruments. We stumbled upon them via the…read moreelementary school, when it came time to rent an instrument for our son. They were one of 2 choices for cello rental and luck of the draw, we picked them. From what I've read, many of these rental companies are dis-honest. Not so with Cassanda Strings - very reputable, providing great quality and customer service at a fair price. We have been with them for 2.5 years and have no complaints. They are also able to provide info on local string music teachers to those who are interested. Yes, I recommend them. Yes, I return to them.

Great place to go for rental or purchase of string instruments and lessons are great too!!read more

Very happy with all of the care we have received. We have been receiving care for over 3 years and…read morehave always been happy. I could not recommend them more.

I'd give zero stars if I could…read more When we first started looking for a nanny for our kids, 4 years and 5 months old, stability was our top priority. We had a long chat with Linda from Jovie about this, and I honestly thought we were on the same page. We trusted them to find us a nanny who would be with us long term. Here's what happened. Our nanny, who was fantastic and really clicked with our kids, ended up leaving for another job Jovie showed her only after being with us for 11 weeks. Once we found out we spoke with our nanny and she said she loved our family, in fact she told us it was a difficult decision to make and she would love to come back if we needed her for date night,etc. This new position Jovie showed her had a schedule that better fit her needs. What's unprofessional is that Jovie didn't give us a heads up until the day before she was set to leave, though they knew about it four days earlier. That hit us hard because it was unexpected, and it put us in a bind trying to figure out what to do next. Two replacements were offered. One with limited experience, her qualifications showed she had only 1 day of infant training. The other replacement we weren't shown a resume because she had not completed orientation. We were not interested in these two options. We were very clear we wanted long term care and ultimately this internal transfer our nanny made hurt our children's wellbeing. And seeing our 4-year-old so upset and confused about why his nanny just disappeared has been the hardest part. Our family trusted Jovie and they let us down and most importantly let our children down. I'm not one to complain, but I feel I have to be straight with other parents out there. Based on what we went through, if you're looking for dependable, long-term childcare, you might want to think twice about Jovie. It's a tough lesson we learned about the difference between what a company promises and what they actually deliver. Shame on Jovie and Linda for putting our kids and family through this emotional situation.

Craig Elliott has been tuning our piano and working with our kids for years! he's good humored,…read morepatient, super skilled and just a pleasure to have in our home. i would recommend.

We had a very bad experience with Craig Elliott at A&A Music Academy in Hanover Park, IL. After…read moreteaching my child the Ukelele for two months, Mr. Elliott, the music instructor, decided that teaching this instrument to young children was outside of his expertise as a music teacher and thus canceled the rest of our classes for the month, which by the way, had been paid in advance. In addition, there was an incident where he grabbed and yanked my six year old child to try to keep the child from standing up from the child's chair (this we learned later!). The list of incidents goes on. To top things off, during the last class that Craig taught my child, Craig seemed to be be sick and coughing with a cold. As a result. my child contracted RSV after this last lesson with Mr. Ellilott. These are just a few examples of our experience with Craig's lack of professional acumen as a music teacher. First, children should not be grabbed or yanked under any circumstances. Second, it is very unprofessional to not have completed his commitment of teaching after having been paid for the classes in advance. Thirdly, one should not have close contact with anyone while sick! At the very least, Mr. Elliott could have informed us and/or wore a mask to prevent spread of disease. Unfortunately, sharing our story here will not keep you all from experiencing the same at this school with Mr. Elliott. However, if we can save one person from experiencing abuse in the way of poor professionalism that we have experienced, then sharing our bad experience with Mr. Craig Elliott is worthwhile.