I was looking for a Piano tutor for my 9 year old when I came across the Music Education Center…read more(MECA) in South Elgin. It is conveniently located for me, and the website is very informative. When I called, the staff was kind and helpful. The price for tutoring is VERY reasonable, and my son LOVES his piano teacher. He is excited to go to lessons every week, which is more than I can say about his previous piano tutor. I would highly recommend this place for anyone looking at learning an instrument.

From the owner: At Music Education Center (MECA), we offer the best in private music lessons, group classes, band…read moreand orchestra rentals and sales, print music and accessories, musical gifts, scholarship opportunities, and consignment re-sales. With so much to offer, it's easy to choose MECA for all of your musical needs. With a focus on education, we strive to provide a studio where anyone, regardless of age or experience, can learn to make music in both a comfortable and affordable environment. Our goal is to provide the highest quality of musical instruction, while simultaneously offering the services and products to support how each student learns best. We're excited you're here and can't wait to become part of your musical journey!

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.

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.

Awesome staff in this place! You get great personal…read moreattention for all of your needs. Not some kids working there because it's a "cool" job. The staff are actual musicians who gig like the rest of us. Pat and the crew are honest and as nice as could be. I won't go anywhere else.

Aso a Great Music School for Adults!…read more I started taking voice lessons from Jennifer about two years ago. Although I had some music background, I really didn't know anything about singing and she patiently brought me from not knowing chest voice and head voice to being able to confidently sing throughout my entire range. There were times I really struggled with understanding singing and Jennifer was always patient and encouraging. And I get to spend some time each lesson working on singing any song I'd like to work on. That's fun! I play keyboards and guitar in some local bands, and sing backup, and I've gotten a lot of feedback about how much my singing has improved since I started taking lessons from Jennifer. I feel like my lessons with her are my secret weapon for getting really good at singing! I thought that music schools were mainly geared towards children, but the quality of instruction was way more than adequate for learning voice as an adult and helping me with the singing I currently do professionally. I definitely recommend the Schaumburg School of Music in general, and Jennifer in particular, to anyone who wants to learn an instrument or learn or develop their singing voice. Even people who already sing professionally!

Horrible place.Purchased a gift certificate for 4 lessons and was only able to schedule 3 out of…read morethe 4 because apparently they have a policy of one lesson a week that they don't inform you about from the beginning. Called and talked to Marjorie and she had the audacity to ask me if I'm looking for a free class? No I'm looking for a class I already paid for. Seems like in this place the rules change based on who you're talking to and could be different from one person to another. Just a horrible experience all together. We we looking to purchase more classes for our daughter but based on how Marjorie handled this situation we will take our business somewhere else.

This is such a unique music store, and I love the vintage Chinese dragon drums and gongs. What's…read morebest is their outstanding service: I had a garage-tossed beginner drum set of decent quality with numerous missing smaller parts. At Offbeat, Jim searched his place for matching used parts, reset the entangled foot pedals, and got the whole set back in working order for minimal cost.

Just got a new guitar and needed a string and some adjustments to get it set up. I called Offbeat…read moreto ask if they were still doing repairs due to the covid19 pandemic lockdown, and Jim and Nick we able to accommodate me with everything I needed! They are super friendly and helpful, the service was excellent and quick, and the store itself is really cool! Definitely returning for any and all of my musical needs!

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

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.

I cannot say enough great things about Cambridge Lakes Studios. My daughter has been taking piano…read morelessons here for over a year now. She has taken lessons with Val and Yukiko, who are both outstanding! They're very patient with her, but also demand her to do her best which I truly appreciate. They are talented musicians whose passion is to teach, and it shows. Lessons are structured so that they're not too overwhelming, but just challenging enough. Thank you for all that you do for our kids!

From the owner: Suzuki Violin Lessonsread more