MMS is amazing! We adore the teachers, staff, the program, studio environment, and the special…read moreevents that they host, to build community with their students. My husband is a professional musician so we were very thorough when selecting a music school for our daughter. We feel so lucky to have found MMS! Our 10 year old daughter has been taking lessons with the magical Lizzie for 5 years. Lizzie has been an incredible and inspirational guide! Our daughter is thrilled with every lesson, always wants it to last longer, and loves the musical selections she is assigned. It is a joy to see how our daughter has grown musically and truly loves playing piano.

Covid Update: I wanted to drop in to give a updated review…read moreof life at MMS during Covid. My daughter has been taking piano lessons at MMS for 4 years, and continues to relish her weekly lessons. MMS didn't miss a beat in pivoting to online lessons when shelter-in-place began - this has been a much appreciated normalcy for my daughter in an otherwise chaotic time, and I also appreciate that we can continue to support the working artists/MMS faculty in this time. We do lessons via Skype, set up the phone with a view of the piano, and my daughter continues to deepen her love and understanding of piano. The teachers strike a perfect balance of patience and challenge, and present music theory in a systematic way while also inviting students to play songs of interest; my daughter has requested songs from John Denver to Queen to Sinead 0'Connor to Les Mis, all arranged by Lizzie to be at her level. MMS combines talented musicians who are patient and kind teachers with adaptability and professionalism across the board. Highly recommend! See my daughter's review below. My daughter's review: I am a 10 year old student and I have been going to MMS for four years ( after begging my parents for a year to get piano lessons!). MMS is AMAZING and so are the teachers! The teachers are very patient but also work to challenge you and interest you. I've had so much fun learning songs that I enjoy! Since Covid the teachers have been providing virtual lessons that, even though online, have kept me engaged and I continue to learn! MMS has taught me so much in the past four years and I am sure they will continue to - even with this crisis going on around us! I would recommend MMS to anyone who would like to learn how to sing or play piano!

I'm a professional musician myself--I have been performing for 25 years, and teaching for 15. I…read morecan be a rather harsh critic of music instruction. So I don't say this lightly: David and Audinga Jacobson are providing San Franciscans with violin instruction at a level that's difficult to find anywhere in the world. My son is 9yo, and he has been studying violin with the Jacobsons since he was 6. He started with 30 min. lessons, and after a year progressed to hour lessons. The lessons are rigorous, with emphasis on technique and fundamentals. Honestly, I was concerned whether my son would be able to handle instruction this serious, but I found the Jacobsons are not only great players, they are also tremendous teachers, with years of experience relating to children starting as early as age 4. My son often leaves his lessons feeling exhausted--an hour under the tutelage of David or Audinga Jacobson is HARD WORK! But the Jacobsons are experts at developing rapport with kids, and my son consistently rises to the high standards they set for him. Many music teachers focus so much on trying to make music fun that kids end up learning very little. Others drive their students so hard they grow discouraged and burn out. The Jacobsons strike a near ideal balance where kids feel consistently inspired and challenged by their teachers. I can tell you from personal teaching experience this is VERY difficult to pull off, and I feel lucky to have found such outstanding instructors for my son. There is extensive information about their methods on their website and in other reviews, so I won't bother repeating. The quick summary is David and Audinga are master-level performers who have studied under the world's top players and instructors at conservatories in both America and Europe. They incorporate elements of classic Russian method violin, along with extensive personal study of piano, voice, and other arts. And it's obvious from only a few minutes of conversation with either of them that the Jacobsons have devoted their careers to studying not only how great players play, but also how great players practice and learn. The Jacobsons have taught my son bowing technique, vibrato, double stops and harmonics. They have exposed him to music theory and challenged him with pattern recognition and memorization. But I think the most important things he has gotten out of these lessons actually have nothing to do with violin or even music. Through violin study with the Jacobsons, my son has learned how to work hard. He has learned how to concentrate, to focus, to apply himself to a difficult task and learn through repetition and refinement. I believe the lessons he has learned in violin make him a better student, a better athlete, and in general just a more thoughtful kid. The Jacobsons hold biannual recitals, as well as monthly workshops (free of charge for regular students). Many of their students attend every workshop, and it's a wonderful community of parents and kids--the kids make new friends, learn by watching each other, and aspire to play like the older kids in the group. Every month or two, a new 5 or 6 year old shows up at a workshop, ready to play his/her first recital. It's not always the same piece, but it's always something with a dozen notes or fewer, all open strings, often with David helping the kid get the bow on the proper string. Everyone claps to be supportive, but the sound produced is mostly scratches and scrapes. Then, a few years later, that same kid is playing a concerto. To an outsider, it really looks like magic. But anyone who has watched the Jacobsons in action knows the truth: it's not magic, it's just great teaching.

I have contacted this institute a few weeks ago through submitting the form online. I got reached…read moreout by David and we had a conversation regarding adult violin lessons. He asked the type of work I do and I felt weird why it was necessary as it has nothing to do with learning violin. He then shared how much it would cost for the lessons and I told him I'll think about it and reach out if I decide to move forward (which he agreed on and offered 10-20 mins trial lesson). After few days I emailed him and expressed my interest, but I did not get a response. And then from that moment I tried phone call he gave me, the institute phone number and still got no response. I do not mind if he responds and not taking me as student, but just leaving someone hanging there for weeks is definitely not professional as a business.

Our son is lucky to have been taught by Mandy for the last 6 years. The reason why Mandy is such a…read morefantastic teacher is because she has been a performer for most of her life, who happens to enjoy teaching. She doesn't just teach how to play piano, she teaches how to *perform* which is very different from most other piano teachers. I learned from a piano teacher when I was a child, so I can play the piano. But every time I listened to her lessons to our son, I always learned something new because I never learned any aspect related to performance, which is an art in and of itself. She taught him how to decipher the music and try to understand what the music and musician were saying, not just playing the notes like I learned. Performance aspects like scratching at the keys to give it a light touch, or even simpler things like playing repeated notes with multiple fingers instead of the same finger to make it sound more even and to preserve finger endurance. His understanding and love of music evolved the more he learned from Mandy and to the point where he listens to classical music on his way to and from school because he genuinely loves it. He even spent some parts of his lessons listening to and learning from Mandy about his favorites like Moonlight Sonata Movement 3. We are truly grateful for Mandy and everything she has taught our son about music that we could never do ourselves.

Mandy is both a skilled musician and adept teacher. My daughter has been taking piano lessons with…read moreher for 4+ years now, and the experience has been a total delight. Mandy's steady approach has helped my daughter build competence and confidence, appreciation and understanding. Mandy is so encouraging and patient, and she really finds a way to bring out the best in each individual.

Music class is always the highlight of our week! My daughter and I absolutely love going and…read morewatching Teacher Adam and Corey work their magic. The classes are always super fun and interactive! We have loved it so much that we signed up for auto renewal and are looking forward to our next semester with the crew. Thanks so much for all you guys do -Ashley and Isabella

I've been incredibly happy with our experience at Music Together! The classes aren't the boring…read moremusic classes that I'd normally dread but crafted with children's development in mind - our teacher once noted how 'clapping in rhythm' or doing a 'call and response' should be considered just as important milestones as the first step or first word. All the teachers are fantastic and I was impressed by how they even made the occasional Zoom-class entertaining and fun for the kids. My kid LOVES the classes and it's such a delight to overhear the humming and singing of songs and really starting to get the rhythm - definitely due to nurture, not nature, on that one! Their website is a little more complicated to navigate than necessary but the customer service team has always been quick and pleasant to help schedule make-up classes. Overall, I plan to send my kid there for as long as possible and given how they structure the program, it will be for many years to come.

Miss Jessica is a wonderful teacher of piano. It's amazing how a room of young children pick up how…read moreto play and read music so quickly with her. My daughter has been loving her lessons with Miss Jessica and asks for additional music to play or tries to figure out notes to some of her favorite songs. Ms. Jessica also arranges a recital at the end of each series of classes which was a great experience for my daughter.

We are so pleased with Miss Jessica and her piano classes! My son absolutely loves her classes…read more It's impressive the way she manages multiple kids in one class. My son has learned so much from her. And best of all, he really has learned an appreciation of music. Miss Jessica communicates clearly and effectively with parents. She somehow manages to have high expectations for her students yet teach them in a friendly way that the kids really respond to. Her recitals are also a wonderful way for the kids to display what they have learned. Low key yet tremendously special at the same time. I highly recommend!

I really love music and was shy about learning drums so late in life (I'll be 40 this year) because…read morethe image of a potential drum teacher in my head was some cocky dude that was more into flexing his own musician ego in front of students than really teaching me. What a relief to find Dawn! Although she has TONS of reason to walk around with a chip on her shoulder (she was a 4 Non-Blonde, she tours with the likes of Tracy Chapman, she has mega awards), she is one of the kindest, down-to-Earth, cool-ass people I know in life and she even carries one of my favorite personality traits - a dash of nerdiness. Kids & Adults alike: If you want to learn to play drums (the right way) or better your playing, you couldn't be in better hands. I'm much older, but from attending student recitals, I've seen how amazingly patient and caring Dawn is with kids. I kinda want to have kids just so I can take them to Dawn and make them young rock stars! I've seen her rock hard alongside an adolescent boy yearning to bang out some Nirvana then gracefully switch over to helping a sensitive 7-year-old girl perfect the rhythms of a Taylor Swift song. Personally, I gravitate toward a mashup of classic rock and funk/hip hop. Dawn knows 'em all and can accommodate your tastes and interests. She's a master of percussion - having studied percussion formally since childhood. To get access to a master like her as a beginner almost seems wrong, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. How long till you're drumming: I thought learning the drum kit would be really daunting and take a long long time. Dawn had me up and drumming in just a few weeks. Ever since then, I've just been getting better and better and having a ton of fun. I'm a drummer all of a sudden! It's so much fun. What a lesson is like: My lesson with Dawn is my favorite part of my week. She's awesome to talk to. She'll coach you through all the proper sticking techniques. She has you play along to your favorite songs in her studio. She gives you homework to work on the things she sees you need help with. It's so much fun to play real drums at real volume in her studio. Oh and she's actually published her own drum books and they're great. I've ordered a bunch of other drum books and always find myself coming back to hers. She's really thought them through. Anyway, at lessons, she sets you up on the "guest" drum set and watches your technique. At some point she gets on her drum set in the same room and you both drum. She coaches you from her set and you both play along. Did I mention this is so much fun? My only criticism is that I often just want her to break out in an awesome drum solo while I just watch a master perform. But alas she's too dang modest and brings us back to a focus on me. . . so I just have to go watch her perform when she's gigging.

Highly recommended! My almost 9 year old has been under Dawn's instruction for about two years now…read moreand I can't be more satisfied with how his drumming has progressed. I was wary of finding a new instructor since he was with his original instructor for almost 4 years before we decided to make the switch due to her moving to a new location which was too out of the way for us. The transition between instructors was almost seamless. Dawn keeps it exciting for my son by allowing him to incorporate his own new musical findings into their lessons. I am very happy with how she's been able to insert formal music lessons while still allowing him to be creative and rock out after the more serious stuff.

My boys have been taking lessons from Saideh (violin) and Jillian (piano) for a few years and I…read morestrongly recommend the school, and both teachers. They foster a love of playing music by focusing specifically on what the kid needs, with flexibility and creativity to keep the kids interested. My kids have chosen some more "popular" songs, which they've really enjoyed learning, and I appreciate this approach to keep them going. And they freestyle too, which is really enjoyable. And both teachers have been helpful and organized as we balance other activities to ensure they're getting their lessons.

My daughter has been with Nurture Music for two years, learning piano, and she has had wonderful…read moreexperiences with the piano teachers she has had! Teacher Andrew is just the right balance of firm but friendly and I am so pleased with how much progress my daughter has made and in the confidence she has built. Saideh organizes wonderful recitals which are encouraging and warm, and really gives the students an opportunity to showcase their hard work in a safe environment. I am so grateful that we found Nurture Music and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a strong music program.

Erik is awesome!  I've been taking lessons for 3 years and…read morestill continuing. The music journey includes composition / improvisation / music theory / classical / Jazz...and so much more! Erik introduces me to a different perspective in understanding and playing music. He always tries to find a very personalized way to enhance my music knowledge and skills based on my style and interest. This is very unique and amazing! His class is super fun! He is very passionate about music and teaching. Erik is also a great musician! His compositions and performances are impressive!

I took lessons from Erik from '91 to '99 and in that time i went from zero to Debussy's Claire de…read moreLune. The trip included music theory, improv, jazz, blues, classical, composition, and organ technique ( sort of ... no foot pedals ). He guided my development and enriched my understanding and appreciation of music. Although I am a vocalist these days it was my work with Erik that provides the foundation for my ongoing musicality.