My 4 1/2 year old son (Mason) has been taking weekly lessons from Dylan for a few months now. Dylan…read moreis incredibly patient, treats Mason with respect and humor, and has been super thoughtful about coming up with creative ways to teach such a young kid. Mason has committed about 20 chords to memory and has even started to play along (poorly, mind you ) while we sing kids' songs together. It has been a lot of fun to watch Dylan and Mason working together; I would definitely recommend him for anybody looking for a thoughtful and extremely talented guitar teacher. Mason's review: "Dylan is a GREAT guitar teacher - I learned chords! And he has bunnies that look cool and are black."

Updating to say that now both my 10.5YO son and I each take lessons with Dylan twice/week, and I…read morestill have only the best things to say about him. He's very patient, and adapts to the individual student while still emphasizing music theory and technique. My son focuses on electric guitar and bass, while I'm obsessed with acoustic.

DO NOT pay a deposit to place an order to Mike. If you see a…read morecompleted instrument for sale in his workshop, buy it if it is good. But no deposit. This is what happened to me.... I used to trust him, and put down $1800 in October 2016 for a custom Tenor uke. It's January 30, 2018 today, 1 year and 3 months later. No uke, no news, nothing. I called, emailed, messaged...... I wish there was a ukulele forum that I could warn others about Mike's scam. I have a feeling I am not the only one out there.... Now I see through his antics like giving free lesson, educational chats, etc. It's all to make you part with the deposit. Even if his instruments are suppose to be good, it feels really bad owning an instrument from such an unscrupulous person. And how can students go to learn from such a dishonest person, who is only interested in your money? If you give him a deposit, you are just giving away charity money.

Mike is a fantastic teacher! Took the beginner class tonight and I learned a ton of techniques that…read moreI wouldn't have learned from youtube videos. He focuses a lot on building a good foundation and good habits so you can have a better practice as you learn and start playing songs. The class flow was fun and I barely felt the 2 hours pass. I would definitely recommend attending a few classes. There's so much to learn and absorb from the simplest techniques.

So glad to see Jim active as he is the best news in progressive jazz modes…read more.. It is so simply put with no charades and judgmental posturing I have encountered before. I passed on my experiences to others who were mystified by some of the rhetoric and needed help with ear training... I was relieved to see how much could be cleared up. His courses helped me communicate better to other soloists in my band.

Jim Grantham writes the books the musicians play. He is "The Source" for Jazz Theory and Practice…read moreand presents clearly, concisely and with precision. He spans a 40+ year career as a player and teacher, and plays with the best. If you are serious about music and love Jazz, study w/ Jim. He's the best!

Conor at Acorn Music is a wonderful teacher! It's no exaggeration to say that he reignited my…read morepassion for music. I took music lessons on and off as a kid, but never stuck with it long enough to get good at any one instrument. I had no patience for music theory and practice always made me frustrated. I'm glad that I gave it another shot with Conor. What I like most about his approach is how fun and effortless it feels to learn under his guidance--his enthusiasm for playing and teaching are infectious. I'm excited for my lesson each week. I found Conor through a friend who knew I was looking to get back into guitar, and I've been taking weekly lessons with him for a year now. My original goal was to learn a few campfire songs, so he tailored his approach to this, but rather than simply showing me some chords, he makes sure that I understand the "why" behind what I'm doing. I actually started to get more interested in music theory as a result--Conor explains it all in context, making it easy to understand and apply. And he has a knack for identifying what's giving me trouble in a particular song or section, not just telling me what to do but showing me how to do it (it also helps that he's super patient). I've got a few songs under my belt now, but I'm definitely sticking with my lessons for the foreseeable future, and getting psyched about setting more ambitious goals for myself.

I've been taking guitar lessons with Conor at Acorn Music for 2 years. I can proudly say that I'd…read morenow actually consider myself a guitarist! I started out trying to teach myself, but like many people that go that road, I keep hitting roadblocks. When I began lessons, I could barely even play a few simple chords. Now I can write my own songs, jam with friends, improvise over many different chord progressions, read lead sheets and chord charts, and read music... it's pretty incredible what I've been able to accomplish in 2 years with Conor. He is a super talented musician and a great teacher - his approach clear, enjoyable and very effective. He's got a real knack for how to isolate my individual needs as a student and zero in on exactly what i need to practice to meet my goals. Most importantly, he provides me with skills that I can use to begin to "teach myself". Thanks to his guidance, I now get more out of a 30 minute practice than I used to get out of 2 hours. Not only have the lessons been super awesome, but the entire experience has been very "together". They provide in-home lessons and have really put a lot of work into the over all experience . All aspects of Acorn Music are well very professional - from the email communications to the website, scheduling, policies, billing, and invoicing. I can't recommend this business enough!

Trevor Justice is a competent songwriter, singer, pianist who can 'fill' a room with energy and…read morehave those listening want to participate. He filled in for me one Sunday morning at a Center for Spiritual Living and was and is "at home" in that genre. Trevor gets it done.

Matthew is, hands down, the best music instructor I've ever had, on any topic…read more My musical background - both in theory and technique - is pretty scattered. After college, I decided I wanted to learn the cello, so I searched Craigslist to find a teacher. I recognized Matthew's name from Ifshin's and he had a good review from the Berkeley Parents Network, so I decided to schlep up to El Cerrito (from South Berkeley, without a car, with a large instrument) to attend a lesson. Matthew was able to quickly, accurately, fluidly gauge what topics I understood and which I needed help on, and immediately cobbled together a lesson in which I felt not a single minute was wasted. I came away from that lesson feeling like I'd learned more from him in an hour that I'd learned from other teachers in six months. I was hooked. Since I already had a basic background in music theory, Matthew jumped pretty quickly into teaching me straight from repertoire. Matthew himself is quite an excellent musician - very artistic and expressive - and gives similarly excellent instruction on musicianship. He has the unusual ability of being extremely precise about what he wants you, the student, to do to achieve a given effect. (And is very good at being precise from several different approaches until you have that 'a-ha!' moment.) He's been very patient with me on the days that my head just hasn't been in the game and very persistent in making sure I get something out of those lessons, anyhow. Because of his high degree of achievement in cello and his patience, innovation, and keen intellect, Matthew would probably be a wonderful teacher from everyone from complete novices to seasoned professionals. (He does, in fact, teach both these levels, but I can only speak from my own experience. :P ) I have moved towns twice since I started taking lessons with him and, six years later, he is still absolutely worth the transbay drive.

I am very lucky to have found Matthew as a cello teacher. I started to learn to play the cello as a…read morebeginner since almost a year and can strongly recommend him as a teacher. It has been an amazing experience for me to play the cello ever since I started my lessons with Matthew. He is amazing, extremely patient and explains musical concepts and the cello as an instrument to an adult with great precision. In addition, he has a great ability to communicate and can provide explanations to you that suits perfectly well to the way you can understand, which is essential for learning. He always has an analogy to an everyday movement when you learn a new technique that is a great help. Matthew is a remarkable person and has a great personality. He can combine his understanding of humans with his teaching extremely well. Although sometimes your own performance might not be the best (e.g. because you could not practice enough for the lesson) at each lesson you learn a lot and have a smile on your face after you leave the lesson. What I like the most about Matthew's teaching is that he has an exceptional sense of creativity and tries to unmask this ability in his students.

I've been taking lessons with Damon for a little while now and it has been a great experience. His…read moreteaching style does not seem to revolve around a routine or lesson plan, but each lesson adds just the right new element to help me progress to another level I did not think I'd be able to understand or do. As new elements or techniques are added, he focuses on ways to learn them without being overwhelmed and to make it manageable. If I need to miss a lesson for any reason, Damon offers the chance to switch to an upload lesson, where I am able to make a video of what I am working on, and he responds with a video. These video responses are gems where he might go deeper into how I can work to improve my technique or understanding of the thing I am working on. Overall, I highly recommend Damon and Axes of E'ville.

Damon is a fantastic teacher - he puts so much thought into finding the perfect balance between…read moreteaching songs I'm interested in and the theory behind them, so I actually improve with each new song we work on. I've been taking lessons with Damon for a year and half, and it's had a huge impact on my playing. I've gone from fumbling through tabs in my living room to feeling totally comfortable playing in a band, and he's tailored our lessons to fit my abilities and interests. Beyond the music, Damon has also taught me a ton about guitars, pedals, and amps, and is an incredible font of knowledge in the quest for tone. He helped me select and test drive my new amp, and even taught me how to work on my guitar - including meeting in-person to teach me how to replace pickups, install copper shielding, and generally spiff up my guitar. Can't recommend lessons with Damon highly enough!

I have been taking piano lessons with Ernie for a few years now and I'd highly recommend him as a…read moreteacher, especially if you are beginning to learn an instrument in adulthood as I have. He's very knowledgable, insightful, and most importantly, a very supportive and friendly instructor. He's also full of stories from a life lived in music and has a helpful anecdote for every occasion. Ernie is always reliable and punctual about lesson dates and times but always understanding if I need to reschedule, given the proper notice in accordance with his posted policies. I look forward to continuing my lessons with Ernie and I'm grateful for his instruction.

I have known Ernie for about 5 years. His passion is music and he is very talented! When I hear…read moreErnie play, I get goose bumps. He knows how to hit the notes that create emotion. I like his music a lot. Ernie shares his talent with people of all ages. He teaches piano, guitar, flute and clarinet. He also helps people learn composition and arranging. It is never to late to learn a musical instrument! And with Ernie as a teacher, you will have a lot of fun too!