I started as a mere novice musician turned happy customer who brought in a used guitar to be…read morerestrung and worked on a bit. However, I called back to ask about vocal/instrument lessons and so am here to rave about the Magical Marzuki, who I would love to believe is a strong representation of the quality of instructors Mountain Music is lucky to host. (The staff have been lovely to work with too.) Specific to my experience, Marzuki G is magical. He is empathetic, personable, and has been wonderfully able to communicate his expertise in both the body as an instrument (vocals) and music making as a whole.

Excellent service and fair pricing. What's not to love about sales folks who give you an honest…read moreopinion.

You know what? I found Raphi through Yelp - thanks Yelp!…read more My daughter has been studying guitar with him since late 2015 and we are extremely happy across the board. His sessions with her are professional and productive, while simultaneously being fun, open and creative. Having experienced multiple types of extra-curricular classes, I recognize that this is a difficult balance for teachers and I appreciate him for being able to juggle it. I'm thankful that he's also game to learn the variety of pieces her dad and I ask him to teach her as well as how open he is to incorporate our goals for her musical education into his weekly lessons. Some highlights for me were: when he dissected and taught her a fairly complicated John Fahey composition, when he spent a month teaching her to be able to do spontaneous jamming, and when he slogs through teaching her to read music even though she's resistant :). He's shepherded her through a variety of music and techniques, many of them challenging for her skill-level and I'm always pleased with both the learning process and the final product. His spring showcases are always fun to attend and I love, love, love seeing the progression of his students, many of whom have been with him for years and years. At this next one, I'm excited to see a duet with my daughter and her dad, who also started taking lessons with Raphi last year. He's got a great teaching space with instruments for students to use, with plenty of parking in a great neighborhood (Laurel) to while away the time during lessons. Highly recommend him - 5 stars!

I started taking drum lessons as an adult and Raphi is the best! I tried a few instructors before I…read morefound him, and he is patient, reliable, and makes learning fun. If you are looking for a fun music instructor, I highly recommend Raphi!

Amazing service! Just bought a new guitar from this place, was helped by Chuck. Super cool guy,…read morefunny as hell. Thanks Chuck for adjusting my new guitar and installing new strings. I will be definitely coming back for an adjustment on my other telecaster.

Genuinely a horrible store to buy anything related to instruments. They tell you something is…read moreavailable over call and tell you when you get there that it was sold out last week . This store is actually pathetic, I genuinely don't understand how this establishment is still here. Waste of time don't come here.

I've been taking lessons from Damon for about a year now and it's one of the best personal…read moredevelopment decisions I've made. Damon's not just here to teach you an instrument (though he's excellent at that), he's here to teach you how to understand music. From the beginning his lessons focus on the theory behind guitar and song structure, and he weaves this knowledge together with the mechanical aspects of playing the instrument in a way that makes both theory and technique more intuitive. As someone with some teaching experience myself I can tell that Damon has put a great deal of thought into the practice of pedagogy, and as a result he is a highly attentive and competent instructor who is able to quickly identify the underlying reasons behind roadblocks in my playing, whether they are technical or mental, and work through them in a supportive manner. Damon's also someone who clearly cares about doing right by his students. He is straightforward, honest, and accommodating. As I am writing this, we are in the middle of the COVID-19 lockdown, which means we cannot have lessons in person. He beat the Bay Area shelter in place order by a week, independently deciding to move to video lessons for the safety of his students and himself despite the fact that this necessitated substantial logistical work on his part in order to get streaming lessons working smoothly. By the time of the actual lockdown the streaming lessons were going off without a hitch and they have definitely been a bright spot during an otherwise difficult time. Overall, I highly recommend Damon to anybody looking to invest in their musical ability.

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.

Music depot is the best store in the east bay!! They got great deals and their guitar selection is…read moremassive!! I been coming here since 2012 and it's amazing to see how far they have come as a store and as a business. You cannot go wrong with visiting this store and browsing without leaving out with something to buy! 5 star customer service. You will not regret it

My son goes to learn guitar lessons here. Matthew is very knowledgeable about instruments and…read morerecommend my son the right instrument.

​My girls take voice lessons from Sage and she is fabulous. Sage is the kind of person that lights…read moreup the room when she walks in. My girls love her. Everyone at Notes Academy has been nothing short of polite and professional. If the business owner happens to be around, he takes the time to introduce himself, what a gentleman. Music = Joy and that's what Notes is bringing our community. In my opinion, their success is our success. ​​ I'm so happy to have this business in my neighborhood.

Really wonderful experience so far. My 6 year old is learning so much. Loves her teacher.read more

My daughter is learning so much and enjoying the piano. We appreciate how the class is tailored to…read morethis age and gives them instant success.

What a wonderful little school with such big love for what they do! As a music teacher myself I've…read morehad the chance to visit both the Moraga location here as well as the SF location, and both are more than up to snuff when it comes to what they bring to their students, teachers, and community. The location is beautiful and the space is just lovely, and I was told it'd be opening up even more room to teach more students in just a month or so! The vibe is serene (and there's lots of good parking!), and the teachers are all clearly as excited as their students to bring their love of music and education to the table ever since this place opened in January. I believe in such an attitude, and feel it's one of the paramount traits to have to help spur both children and adults alike into finding their own love of music and learning within themselves. Having been a music teacher myself for the past 15+/- years, it put a huge smile on my face to also learn that this is currently the only music school in Moraga; to think, they're bringing more of this joy that I share to more places out there that could definitely benefit from it! Absolutely wonderful. There is such variety in what one could learn here (from classical to rock) and I see all of the best reasons to give them a go, especially that the teachers and staff are so ready to make their place here in the Moraga area. Music schools like Amabile give me great hope that the love of music and learning will persevere through and through for ages to come :)

I have known this guy my entire life and was fortunate enough to play in a band with him for…read moreseveral years. I have seen him go from guitar enthusiast to the absolute professional. He is currently in several professional bands and bleeds guitar. I have recommended several of my students (I'm a Social Studies teacher) his way over the past few years and the feedback they gave me was that he was beyond dedicated to making them better, extremely patient, fun, fair, relatable, and the perfect combination of flexible and stern. It doesn't get much better than this.

Alex is a patient, easy going, knowledgeable teacher. This guys got dedication and talent for all…read morethings guitar -all while balancing live shows and teaching with a great positive attitude. Alex is always working with you to teach and learn playing skills at the pace you need while building and connecting previous lessons with new content. Bring in your favorite tunes, he's likely heard of it and if not, all too willing to dig in and break it down for easier comprehension. Beginner or long-time player, Alex will something for you to learn.

Great place to rent or buy musical instruments! My oldest decided to learn violin at her school in…read morefirst grade and we came over to inquire about their different instruments and whether it's better to buy or rent. Jayson helped us out and provided us all the answers to the many questions we had. We decided to rent since she was starting out on the smallest size and their rental instruments are perfect. We just wrapped up year 2 of violin and will be coming back in the fall when school starts.

The only reason why I give this place a 5-stars is because of the teacher. I worked under Tony for…read more3 years and it was a stellar experience. He was super encouraging and I really enjoyed taking lessons under him... too bad I'm graduating this year and had to discontinue. I think the repairs on this place are nice but a bit slow. Jason does great work and makes sure that everything is in working order but it takes a long time. My only negative experience with this place: I took my clarinet in for repair. They gave me an estimated date of a week. I called them around the 5-day mark to ask if it was ready and they told me an extra 2-days (as expected). I ended up being busy at that time so I couldn't check-in on the one week mark. When I went in to visit though, they said that it would need another week. Overall though, I really like this place! It's local and the people inside are friendly. They do charge a premium on reeds though.... ordering online is better.

My teenage son took lessons with Nish for three years and it has been a phenomenal learning…read moreexperience for him. He learned not just the mechanics of playing, but music theory, song writing, blending his style with other instruments and endless advice about guitar, music, and performing. Nish was able to guide my son through so many aspects of guitar and music, I'm truly impressed. We're moving, otherwise the lessons would continue.

So far so good! My son is in our trial month for piano lessons. His teacher is Akiko, and she's…read morebeen great so far! She's been fun and engaging, and very patient. The stickers help. :) To start, I had a phone consultation with Jamie, who was very sweet and we had a good conversation about our goals. She recommended Akiko and I think she was spot on. We're excited to continue!