My grandson is enjoying his cello lessons. His teacher, Mr Elliott is patient, excellent, and…read moremotivating. Highly recommend.

We have now entered the realm of student music... along with (what seemed) the rest of the entire…read morelocal school district(s). Bertrand's Music already did a great job marketing last year to introduce the kids to various instruments, and to provide parents with information about how to secure rental instruments and lessons. The fliers and information were helpful to return to this location. We were fortunate to identify a couple of violins from close friends but they desperately needed restring and repair. We came in Saturday to meet Troy - who was the nicest young man to help us identify the services needed. He provided detailed information about timeline and quote and made the whole experience painless. Mind you~ this is their busiest season at the start of the school year. Even though the building was filled with families, students, crying babies, and various instrument noises.. Troy provided top notch service and executed all needs without a hitch. We submitted instruments on Saturday and received a detailed telephone call by Monday to retrieve the instruments. Even upon return, we had the high fortune of meeting with Troy again. One of his fellow associates (newer in her training) helped us at first. Troy came to the rescue to help clarify the transaction, identified a computer error in billing, and skillfully provided us with the close of transaction needed. He went above and beyond to then offer to tune the instruments using one of their tools behind the counter (and he doesn't even play violin! just knows the ear and use of equipment). The violins sounded lovely. I never met this young gentleman before, but if Troy is the standard of hiring at this type of establishment, he has secured my business and my recommendation to come back to this Bertrand's. He was kind, well informed, and efficient. I was able to have two instruments repaired, tuned and timely prepared for the this wretched band season (I have two very excited musicians and a new box of earplugs.) The prices were reasonable and the service quick. He couldn't have provided better service. Be sure to ask for Troy when you return if you need anything related to music service needs. He made the experience fantastic and we will return and recommend.

I have been in a youth group band led by Ian Harland for 2 years now and I have found him to be an…read moreawesome teacher. I like his teaching method. It enables him to work with different skill sets and different levels of students. His teaching method shows me he knows his music theory and is able to adjust to specific skill sets of different students. For example, when I joined, he was writing charts for the group. I am a classically trained musician and can't read cords. So, when I told him that, he solved the issue by rewriting the music for me. Now, I can read the music better and therefore play better. I appreciate his patience and transposing music for each instrument that I play even though they are in completely different keys. I am glad he is my teacher. -Aaron Pascal (age 14) I recommend Ian Harland as a music teacher because I like the way he has made me a better musician. I have learned from him for two years now and like the way he approaches learning music. I am glad he is my teacher. I have gotten better because of him and his teaching method. He sees where I struggle and shows me a way to improve while being calm and without being patronizing. I look forward to seeing him every week. Levi Michael Pascal Age 12

I met Ian 5 years ago when my son, Derek was 10. Our drum teacher left the studio that Derek was…read moreattending and Ian was his replacement. The two of them instantly aligned. We left the studio and continued to do privates for the next few years. Ian left to wander the world and we were going through teachers like hot cakes. Nobody could replace him. Thankfully Ian came back home to San Diego and lessons resumed!! Derek, our whole family actually, loves this man to pieces. He practices and wants to be ready and better. Ian plays shows all over San Diego, so it is truly wonderful for his students to be able to go watch their teacher. It is important to see where and what their practice can lead to! Ian can play any genre of music. He has a gift, not only with his musical talents but his communication skills with his students. Ian is a true teacher. We hope to have him in our lives forever. Derek: Ian is fun and he makes sense. He is very encouraging and he makes me want to practice more.

Olga is an amazing art teacher who brings both structure and real artistic talent into her…read moreteaching. She is disciplined and sets clear expectations, which creates a focused learning environment where students truly grow. Both of my children, Ivan and Natalia, have made so much progress under her guidance. She doesn't just teach techniques--she helps kids build confidence, creativity, and attention to detail in their work. What stands out most is that she is a true artist herself, and that passion shows in every lesson. We are very grateful for her impact and the way she inspires her students to improve and express themselves

Update in response to the owner's reply: To San Diego Music…read moreAnd Art owner/contact Max: Your response actually reinforces the reason I left this review. Your instructor, Olga, publicly criticized my child in front of other parents and children. My child is neurodivergent. At times, he may have difficulty following directions, transitioning, or completing more complex instructions. That does not give any instructor the right to shame, embarrass, or publicly criticize a child. What is especially unacceptable is that your staff was already aware of my child's needs. Instead of speaking with me privately, giving me a warning, or trying to understand what support he might need, Olga chose to criticize him in front of others. When I brought this concern to you, I expected the owner to at least investigate what happened and listen to both sides. Instead, you immediately defended your instructor and treated my child as if he were simply the problem. You did not appear interested in understanding what actually happened or in finding a constructive solution. Instead, you joined in criticizing my child. Then, rather than addressing my concern about how your instructor handled the situation, you suspended my child's classes for an entire month. Children--especially neurodivergent children--deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. If a child is struggling to follow instructions, the appropriate response is to communicate privately with the parent and work toward a solution, not publicly embarrass the child and then blame him when the parent raises concerns. Parents should know how situations like this may be handled here before deciding whether this is the right environment for their child.

Today is 01/02/25, Thursday, the day after New Year's Day. It's 11:15am that I'm writing this…read morereview. I've been waiting for 15 mins for the store to open even though the hours say they open at 11:00 am. Their voicemail is full but the recording also says 11:00 am opening. Their website says open at 11:00 am. I'm not quite sure if everything says the store should be open but they aren't open. I purposefully came here to get my guitar strung with fresh strings. I wanted to support local stores specifically. The worker came in around 11:18 am. We all have hard days. I only dinged one star because truthfully it was only one worker for the whole store he was very very apologetic... He cleaned, oiled, and strung my guitar. He took his time and carefully did everything while also having to man the whole store by himself! He apologized profusely when he had to step away to help customers. I could be upset set, but it's the beginning of the year and we're all human. $12 for full restring (all 6 strings) you pay for the cost of the strings you want put on. I chose Elixir for my acoustic electric and those run around $20-ish bucks

It took some convincing (most of last school year), but my 5th grader "decided" to play an…read moreinstrument this year--the violin! Yay! Our school provided a list of required items, based on the instrument selected. They also listed local places where parents can go to rent or buy an instrument. Disappointingly, both of the recommended places are owned by the same big company that has been absorbing local shops the last few years. So I busted out Yelp on my phone and Music Central came up as an option. I gave this shop a call and Charlie was kind enough to answer all of my questions over the phone. He left a great first impression from the different shops I reached out to that morning. I decided to take the afternoon off from work and pick up my daughter early during her minimum day so we could see Charlie while he was working--glad I did! Charlie answered more of my questions and measured my daughter for her first violin (insert proud parent tears of joy here). We discussed rental terms and Charlie answered another round of questions to help make me very comfortable signing a contract. I like how standard repairs (like string replacement) and maintenance (like tuning) are included with my rental. And I LOVE how I can "trade in" my rental for the next size up instrument (in similar condition) without breaking my contract! During our first visit we picked up a few of the required accessories listed for the violin and Charlie gave his recommendations on what is really needed to help save me some money up front. As a dad on a budget, this was much appreciated. This shop has a large collection of acoustic and electric guitars in the back. There are also lots and lots of music sheets in stock too. Much to my surprise, Music Central also has a large collection of ukuleles from different manufacturers. My eldest daughter has been interested in ukuleles for years (we have owned a few inexpensive ones to foster her exploration of this instrument) so this may be the focus a future visit. I mentioned this to Charlie and he shared that he teaches ukulele for the shop. How cool is that?! Thanks for an awesome first visit Charlie! Looking forward to a long relationship with Music Central to help my daughters make beautiful music.

My son and Myself have been taking Guitar Lessons for longer than a year and we have been able to…read moreadvance greatly in technique and capability. Matteo is amazingly savvy about electric guitar. Whatever your level is he is able to take you up to your next level.

Matteo fu**in rocks. Super nice and a great guitar teacher. I knew nothing and now I shred.read more

Excellent lessons, great teacher. I was really struggling with basics 6 months into guitar and…read moreGabriel helped me tremendously improve my timing, playing, and overall basics. If you need someone to help you really crack onto learning music HIGHLY recommend lessons from him. He makes it worth your while and gets you to be even more passionate about music as a whole.

I just started taking drum lessons with Baruch and I'm already so glad I signed up! I started with…read moreliterally zero drum knowledge, and he makes everything easy to understand and really fun to learn. The studio space is super cool too and just adds to the whole experience. It's 100% worth every dollar and every minute getting to learn from a professional drummer.

I've brought two Guitars and one Bass for Willie and his repair team to fix, I highly recommend…read morethem super knowledgeable, the turnaround is surprisingly quick I won't go anywhere else to get my instruments repaired, plus they are super nice in the front desk there and very welcoming.

My high school Junior waited until school started to tell me she needed her clarinet fixed (gotta…read morelove teenagers!). I did a quick search and found Davis. One quick phone call later and we dropped the clarinet off the next day. He unbent one piece, replaced some cork, and cleaned it up to the point where it looks brand new. All of this was done super fast and for a very decent price. Highly recommend Davis' services and am happy to support a young musician's repair business.

Davis was great. He repaired my old Yamaha clarinet. Works great now for my son. Highly recommend…read moreand he is fast too. Thank again bud!