Our daughter has been taking private piano lessons at Tacoma Music Academy for over 2 years. She…read morehas learned so much and really enjoys practicing and having lessons. Svitlana is a wonderful patient teacher and we highly recommend her.

I wish that I had the luck of having such a great teacher when I studying piano as a child. One can…read moretell immediately that she has had an excellent preparation not only as a pianist, but also as a pedagogue. Ms. Smaga pays attention not only to whether the notes my son plays are correct, but also to how he is playing, and all the other little details of how he approaches the piano, even from the first lesson. She provides him with useful exercises to develop his technique, and treats him like an equal. She is serious, but also fun. We love her.

I highly recommend Celestial Instruments! A few days ago, the business owner, Rick, helped me…read moreunderstand more about an accessory I needed for my acoustic guitar. He went above and beyond to assist me after regular business hours even though he knew I was not going to buy anything from his business. I truly appreciate Rick's friendliness, the education he provided me, and his willingness to help me understand more as a newbie. When I'm ready for additional or upgraded equipment, I will definitely seek him out!

Wonderful experience using Celestial Instruments to do a setup on an 82 Ibanez M310. Great customer…read moreservice, punctual drop off and pick up and quick turnaround. The guitar had been resting in its stand for many years without the attention it deserved. So sad. I have recently been inspired to play again and found that it was difficult to keep the guitar in tune. I recalled that when it was setup back in the 90's it resulted in an incredible sound and performance. It's back! Now I can strum my acoustic with great joy! Ha ha!

Ok for rentals, but Repairs a racket…read more This store is ok for renting a band instrument and getting the books your student needs. You will thank yourself however, for finding another place to get your instruments repaired. It felt to me like they discourage the purchase of used instruments by inflating the price of repairs. They seem to just check boxes on a generic work order form indicating items that have one high price. For example, if you need one pad changed, it might be a $100 minimum. "Adjust and regulate" is $125 item and don't expect an explanation of what is actually being done for that price. I was further told that some instruments needed to be soldered for an additional $50. Sum total, they quoted $860 for miscellaneous oblique work on two student instruments. Within this quote, they did not include the one specific item I brought the instruments in for. I cannot trust someone to fix my instrument when the clearest issue was not even identified by their technician despite having called it out specifically at drop off. Their wait time was several weeks. There are two other highly reputable instrument repair shops within - 35-45 minute drive of this location. Each of these shops independently quoted me just over $100 total for full repair work on both instruments and explained in detail exactly what would be done. There was no need for soldering. Work was completed in 48 hours. I recommend you do a little research on YouTube, ask your band directors and teachers. If you educate yourself just a little bit before getting a repair quote you are less likely to be taken advantage of. It's not as mysterious as it seems: you got this! ------------------------------------ David, thank you for your response. The problems experienced cannot be chalked up to miscommunication. There were two key issues. First, I requested one specific repair at drop-off. It was the only issue with the instrument and glaringly obvious. However, your shop's assessment of the instrument failed to even identify the issue while recommending multiple generic and unnecessary repairs. When I raised this at pickup, though one of your employees expressed sympathy, they were unable to offer any explanation or insight. Second, the quote relied on high block-priced line items such as "adjust and regulate," without transparency about what this work actually entails, what parts are being adjusted, how much technician time would be spent on the work, or how materials and labor were being calculated. There was also no distinction between what was essential for playability and what might be preventative, cosmetic, or optional. Without that level of clarity, it is very difficult for a customer to evaluate the necessity and value of the proposed work. Many parents come to you with little understanding of how instrument repair works. Instruments seem delicate and complicated, and without being an expert in this field, there is no reference point to compare the time and effort of repair work. Parents are left to trust whatever is quoted. I also believe it would improve transparency if repair technicians spoke directly with customers as a standard part of the process. A brief explanation of recommendations, along with the technician time and materials involved, would help customers better understand the condition of their instruments and make informed decisions. Even my car mechanic takes the time to educate me about how my vehicle works and why certain repairs are needed -- instrument repair should offer the same level of education. Given the problem I identified at drop-off was not assessed, I will be happy to see the $44 returned to my card. I communicated this at pickup already. An additional conversation is not necessary. If you make improvements to the way your repair shop operates, I look forward to hearing about them. In the meantime, I cannot in good conscience recommend you.

We decided to stop by Ted Brown the other day because my daughter is considering changing…read moreinstruments going into middle school. She's currently playing the flute and wanted to check out the oboe and saxophone. This place is so fun! I was a little nervous going in and asking to try instruments out, but the guy that works in the "instrument check out" area was very friendly, knowledgeable, and let her go into a small room to practice. They have beautiful instruments, classes, and all kinds of fun things to check out. I really enjoyed it! We even left with a kazoo.

Tacoma is so lucky to have such renowned talented luthiers locally! I have so much respect for what…read morethey do. The shop feels special from the moment you enter the space - its located in down town Tacoma. The building feels cozy/historical and you are immediately greeted with great energy from the staff, and see a beautiful selection of high end instruments from the moment you walk in. Having experts in the shop makes shopping fun and easy. Everyone that works here is so passionate about what they do. I find myself learning something new every time I visit and I absolutely love that. I've interacted with Ricardo the most and so happy he's worked on my cello. I'm set on coming here for all my cello needs. Cannot recommend this shop enough.

Repairs, components, replacement parts? YES! This is our go-to place for all things violin. Staff…read moreare either musicians or luthiers. They are very patient and knowledgeable. It's a beautiful shop.

This place is wonderful if you haven't been there try it. They're beautiful instruments and it is a…read moregreat place to go. The employees are very helpful. Put music in your life. You'll find joy try this place. You're gonna love it. You'll thank me later.

I had two lessons left on a monthly plan when I got hit with a barrage of work and life tasks (I am…read morefinishing writing a book and recovering from liver failure). I needed to pull back on all extra commitments for a while. I asked to pause my ongoing lessons and ...guess what? Because I can't take the lessons right now, I LOSE THEM, per company policy. $200 down the drain on these folks. This is terrible customer service and very bad business practice (if not illegal). Trust Pilot and BBB are my next stops.

Tim Bertsch is extremely experienced in both teaching and performance offering his students a multi…read morefaceted perspective. He is kind, professional and adaptive in accommodating various skill levels. This Sound Academy of Music's location is extra cool! The parking is safe and the location convenient and central. As an instructor, Tim is present, engaged and patient throughout the duration of your lesson so you receive the most effective return on your investment of time.

From the owner: Sound Academy of Music offers instruction on Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Mandolin and…read moreUkulele

This business appears to be permanently closed with no new or forwarding address. Owner Robert…read moreaccepted my gear for consignment sale and it appears I am now without recourse, other than thru legal action. I give this business a zero rating

This is the least professional business I have ever dealt with. I tried to consign some equipment…read morewith them and everything was shady at best: 1. I was never asked what I wanted to sell things for, only told that they would sell for x amount. 2. I was never notified when things sold unless I drove to the store (no one answers the phone, and I have multiple phone records to prove this) and physically waited for someone to show up. 3. I was never shown any receipts of what things were sold for just a "i think it sold for this much" 4. Their "business hours" are literally just numbers on a door, the doors never open on time. 5. There are 0 price tags on any of the items. This means they can sell things for what they want and turn around and tell folks that have equipment consigned they it sold for considerably less. They pocket the rest. 6. There is a wall of filled out consignment slips behind the cash register which means nothing consigned is getting sold! 7. One piece of equipment that I consigned that I noticed was no longer on the sales floor, the owner told me the sales guy was "borrowing" for a gig. He "does that from time to time with some of the equipment". 8. The consignment "paperwork" was initially done on the back of a business card. That should have been a warning sign for me, but I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. While I have to give the owner credit for being the shrewdest businessman I've ever dealt with (he undercut me by $150 when i needed to sell everything to them due to me moving) the whole experience cost me more in gas money and wasted time than what I was able to make from the equipment I tried to sell. It's very unfortunate that I have to write this, and also given the previous bad review on here, it makes complete sense. For anyone that wants to consign equipment, make the extra trip elsewhere. If you're looking to buy, I would definitely bring someone that can negotiate well. I genuinely think these people mean well, they just run a business that is all based on their "word".

I came in to look at electronic drum kits as a newer drummer. Steven L was so patient and showed me…read moreseveral models while also multitasking effortlessly with other customer needs, yet always returning to pick up right where we left off. We're still gathering info on drum sets, but highly recommend the attentive service and quality of products on display to try out.

They were awesome. The gal helping me was super helpful even though the store was pretty busy. I…read morelove guitar center in general. So many amazing guitars that you can just grab and play. I would actuality love to have free run of the place for 30-60 minutes so no one could hear me playing. That would be better than Disneyland.