My kids love this place! Jolin is so easy to work with and is accommodating to busy schedules. My…read morekids started on piano and guitar and have transitioned over to drums. Corbin is the BEST teacher, he's young, engaging, encouraging and the kids love going to his classes. We will definitely be staying here for a long time, as we tried other music lessons with other companies. They didn't compare and were so strict with makeups and scheduling. We love this place!!!

From the owner: Music lessons: piano, guitar, drums, violin and celloread more

I have been taking both guitar and vocal lessons with Half Note Music School for just over a year…read morenow and I would happily recommend anyone else interested in music lessons do the same. I've played the guitar on and off for over a decade. Jack - my guitar instructor - quickly learned where my past musical experience placed me and tailored our lessons to my skill level. I have no formal singing experience, and Amy has been wonderful helping me learn how to better use my voice. She has given me several different techniques that are easy to practice in my spare time. I have come a long way with both my instruments and I'm very satisfied with these lessons. As is common these days, my lessons were all over Skype and Zoom, but I hear the studio is open now for those that can attend in person.

I've been taking guitar lessons from Half Note Music School for about six months now and I highly…read morerecommend them! First, some background: I considered myself an "adult beginner", though I've played around with a guitar since high school. I knew the basic open chords and a few songs from the various "Teach Yourself Guitar" books I'd gone through. I'd often thought about taking lessons, but never quite got around to it. As it turns out, one of my friends had been taking guitar lessons at Half Note Studio for about two years. When I asked her about it, she said she'd learned a lot and recommended I give Jack a call. I arranged a free initial lesson with Jack. I was nervous going into the studio, but Jack was quite friendly and quickly made me feel at ease. We went over what I knew and talked about what I wanted to get out of lessons. In my case, I was looking to learn more music theory and get some "proper" guitar instruction. Six months later, I still look forward to my regular guitar class! I'm developing a better understanding of music theory, improving my ear training, getting better at sight reading and generally developing a deeper appreciation for what I can do with the guitar. Jack's a great instructor and very flexible in terms of tailoring his lessons to the needs of the particular student. If you've ever thought about taking music lessons as an adult, I say give Jack and Half Note Music Studio a try!

As a music teacher, I really appreciate how Music & Arts gives a 30% discount to music educators…read more It shows how much they value the work we do! The people working there were so nice and helpful. I was looking and browsing for some teaching books and they had most of the books I was looking for. It's just fun to spend half hour there going through and getting inspired by different books you might come across. They seem to have a much larger inventory for piano pedagogy books, but their string section is still decent sized. In terms of musical supplies like violin shoulder rests, strings, dampits, etc, they have a small selection. I would probably just buy most of those things online, but if you're looking for convenience and basic brands, they will likely have them.

I really wanted to like this place and rented from them for years, but my last (and now final)…read moreexperience with them was horrible. Just beware that their "rent to own" program is not flexible. If your student grows in the years that you're renting from them - which will happen with every young student - they'll tack on an additional $500 to the purchase price of the instrument. And that's if you just go up by a single size! Not to mention that the person I dealt with was quite rude from the get-go, hence the low rating.

My eight year son has been studying with Oclef the past few months and truly enjoys it. The method…read moreis so innovative and modern compared to our old traditional methods. He happily plays every day versus before he hated it. I am so happy that Oclef is in our life.

Before my older son joined Oclef 10 months ago, he had already spent four years on learning piano…read moreand was about to quit. :( All piano teachers he had before used a similar approach. They mainly focused on correcting notes, rhythms and dynamics during private lessons, and assigning pieces for my son to practice at home. Over time, my son lost his interest in piano and started refusing to practice. Thankfully, one of my friends introduced Oclef and Mr. Julian to us. In our very first interview, Mr. Julian immediately pointed out that my boy's piano learning was at a bottleneck as his sight reading and piano theory were way behind his playing level. Mr. Julian has a great vision on how a child should learn piano. Just after several lessons, we quickly noticed my son changed his attitude toward piano and had regained his interest! Oclef is totally different from any other piano teachers or school we know. They offer Kaizen classes so my son can practice piano under the teachers' guide everyday. All the teachers there are professional and wonderful. They also offer theory classes and organize performance seminars. Now my son can perform every piece he learns. More valuable, their performance seminars provide kids the opportunity of not only performing but also sharing critiques together. I will for sure send my younger boy to Oclef to learn piano once he is ready. This is my first time giving a review on yelp. Oclef is definitely a five star piano school. I hope our experience could help you and your kids.

Went for introductory lesson for my kid. We were very upbeat but soon it faded away, as we were…read moreplanning long term enrollment. The instructor was rude and impolite dealing with a kid. She was visibly irritated with how my kid was playing the instrument (who is a beginner) was she expecting the child to play the instrument fluently? The instructor did very little to boost confidence and made the child realize that the notes were not being played correctly and was wrong is so many ways. Thanks for that behaviour I was saved from taking a longer commitment.

If I could give a lower or negative rating, I would! The owner, Robert, is one of the worst. Their…read morepolicies are not consistent and the owner makes it as complicated as possible to reschedule or cancel. He removed lessons from our prepaid session giving a rather ridiculous reason to justify his unethical actions. I wish I had seen some of these reviews before enrolling! I don't understand why the instructors continue to work here, they seem to be good (ours was).

I had a truly excellent experience with Classic Pianos and recommend them without reservation. I…read morecame in search of a rehearsal piano with very specific requirements: something suitable for a rental situation, capable of silent practice with headphones, yet--above all--an instrument with genuinely good action. As a pianist returning to conservatory-level study after years of gigging, proper action is not a luxury for me; it is the foundation upon which all serious work is built. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hybrid pianos offered at Classic Pianos. The hammer action is responsive, musical, and deeply satisfying--impressively close to an acoustic experience. While nothing replaces a grand, this instrument is an outstanding solution for a renter needing rigorous daily practice and keeping one's technique in shape. Hui was a pleasure to work with throughout the process: knowledgeable, patient, and genuinely attentive. She made everything easy and stress-free from start to finish. Since the piano arrived, I've been playing far more than I intended--which may be the clearest sign that the right choice was made. Classic Pianos did such a good job that my neighbors may soon need to leave them a review as well.

I recently worked with James at Classic Pianos on buying a grand piano for my living room. Classic…read morePianos has a great showroom with a lot of great pianos, and has provided top notch customer service. I visited all of the piano stores in the Seattle area and tried a lot of pianos looking for just the right instrument, so I encountered a lot of different situations. At Classic Pianos, James made me feel welcome to spend as much time as I needed playing the pianos. He checked in from time to time to answer questions or tell me about the models, but mostly kept out of my way. He has a background as a piano technician, and was able to speak really clearly to the technical differences between the instruments I was considering. His sales style was very gentle and not pushy, which I really appreciated. I've been really happy with the piano I selected, but I did find a small mechanical defect with the bench a week or two after delivery. Classic Pianos resolved this promptly by replacing the bench. James himself made time to come pick it up at my house and bring the replacement. I have been nothing but impressed, and would highly recommend it.

I will say that your experience is dependent upon the teacher you have. We wanted our son, 6, to…read morebegin piano lessons. We tried two teachers at the school and both were just...not it. They seemed to lack understanding of how to teach young children--the patience and scaffolding required. We are stopping lessons today after the teacher asked my son essentially why he can't read music and if he's day dreaming. Mind you, several of his lessons were canceled because of teacher absence so today should have been a gentle reintroduction to material. But again, this is where having an understanding of teaching children is important. I would look elsewhere for younger kids.

4/4 School of music has some of the most kindest and patient teachers I have ever encountered in my…read morelife. I joined the school to rehabilitate my voice for a few years since I had some throat issues and it was really sensitive. I took up opera classes to learn voice control and to push myself a little bit more. And every time I got sick, they were really accommodating by allowing me to transfer the lessons to my kids. When I attended the lessons with my on-going condition and could not sing, the teachers still taught me breathing lessons to help rehabilitate my lungs and try to open it back up from the tightness. For someone with my medical problems, the teachers have gotten me to the point where I can sing opera songs. It is truly a feat! And I am really grateful for everything they have done. And I highly HIGHLY recommend anyone to join if you are looking for a great school to give your kids an extra boost in their musical talents or better your musical talents. All of the teachers and the staff are just amazing!

When my 14 brother came home sounding like a proper musician, I knew that His teacher Eric Snyder…read morehad the ability to help adjust my novice player tendencies and make me a much more well rounded guitarist. After only a few lessons I understood that Eric was one of the most capable,accomplished, and accommodating guitar teachers in the area! His skills are up there and he has the patience to adapt between beginners level to very advanced-- Extremely accommodating with setting up scheduling for practice times as well. Amazing once in a lifetime teacher --

I'm really impressed by the people at the School of Rock. My son just had his fifth birthday and…read morehe's been banging on toy bins (emptied of their toys, of course) with Tinkertoy sticks or whatever else he can find for the past three years. With no sign of the "drumming" abating, I went to the SoR to see about real drum lessons for Felix. We had an honest and friendly conversation about how most five-year olds are not mature enough to learn much from drum instruction yet... they come in, bang on the drums, have a fantastic time, and maybe they will remember the names of the drums and cymbals. He said that with that info, if we want to enroll Felix, he's sure the drum instructor would be glad to have him and would do his best to help Felix have fun AND learn something... but don't have high expectations. He suggested an awesome alternative that they offer just for preschoolers... their eight-week Little Wing program (awesome name, btw). Skilled preschool teachers walk the kids through an intro to music, an intro to guitars, an intro to the bass, making their own guitar, intro to the drum kit, making their own drum kit, intro to the keyboard, making their own keyboard, intro to voice, recording their voices, sound detectives (headphones), and band rehearsal. They have small class sizes and at $160 for 8 one-hour sessions, it's a real bargain. I was so glad that they suggested this more age-appropriate program... he could have sold me a month of lessons for more $, and we would be less happy in the long run. Once Felix is old enough for proper drum lessons (age 7 - 8), if he's still interested, we'll be back at the School of Rock.

They are the true drum pros! Very customer oriented and extremely knowledgeable. Great selection…read morethat is constantly changing. Alex has bent over backwards to answer my myriad questions! They have absolutely earned my business!

Stopped in to check it out. Dudes were really nice, place is clean and good selection. They ordered…read morea stand I'm interested in to trying out. I am more than happy to recommend them and give them my business. Beautiful kits and even a decent selection of edrums

Mr. Ormsby is the most patient and supportive mentor I have ever had. While I have had the…read moreprivilege of his tutelage for quite some time, it never ceases to amaze me at how proficient he is, as well as how humble and 'in my corner' he is. His personality never changes. I honestly believe he will never have a bad day. He is always 100% positive. An absolute gem.

Conrad is a very experienced teacher who has been teaching & performing drums in Puget Sound metro…read morearea for many years. He can teach a variety of styles; jazz, rock, swing, New Orleans, blues, & Latin. I don't know why he got in to New Orleans style. But it's funky. He accepts students of school kids and adults. If you live in Eastside I highly recommend him.