My husband is a luthier and speaks very highly of Jeff Yang as a musician and businessman, but I…read morehadn't been in his shop myself until tonight. My daughter broke a cello string when warming up an hour and a half before her orchestra concert (she has a solo! Ack!!). My husband wasn't here to manage things but told me to take the cello to Chicago Strings. We called ahead. They had our brand of strings! Win! They were open for 22 more minutes! Win! We got there and Kinichi hooked us up with strings and actually putting the string on! Win! In 10 minutes, literally as the clock struck 5 (closing time), he was done putting the string on and showing my daughter how to do it for future reference. He was professional, efficient, and witty to boot! Thank you!!

I have been very impressed with the customer service of Chicago strings. Our five children, ranging…read morefrom 8-12 yrs old, all play the violin and we have rented from this company for the past year and a half. We are in the store occasionally with broken bows, loose strings, and even the need to upsize, and their staff is always competent, helpful, and gracious. We highly recommend this company.

Absolutely amazing service. Very knowledgeable and willing to help. I just needed help restringing…read moremy violin since I'd never done it before properly, and they were more than willing to teach me how to do it on a moment's notice. I will definitely be returning.

I would give zero stars to this establishment if I could. I am a Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra…read morealumnae ('05) who used to rehearse in the same historic Fine Arts Bldg (where this shop is located) every Sunday. As a high school student, I used to perform in violin competitions in the Midwest but was about to graduate from medical school and start residency in California. In need of money to repay loans, I placed my Carl Becker violin and Fetique bow on consignment in April 2019 with Bein & Fushi. The pandemic hit tail-end of 2019/early 2020 and the shop closed for at least one year. The original consignment contract I signed was for 6 months. Communication (even remotely) with the owner of Bein and Fushi (Gabriel) and his staff was nonexistent throughout the pandemic. I constantly called and left e-mails and voicemails in the hopes of getting an update. The violin was finally sold in October 2021, but the payment took several months to come through. Even as a busy physician (just having completed residency in 2022 and having returned to Chicago from California), I physically visited the shop on Michigan Avenue in April '24 in the hopes of forcing an update regarding the status of my bow, which has remained on consignment since April 2019 (mind you, 5+ years later). The front desk (Trista) promised to send a hard copy of a new 6-month contract signed by Gabriel (owner), which never materialized. She mentioned nonchalantly that there's a "surplus of inventory in the area after the Pandemic," which still failed to address the incommunicado issue. After I called several times 3 months later asking what happened to the agreement, an electronic copy was sent to me containing the wrong mailing address. Trista condescendingly told me, "Everyone is busy," when I picked up her phone call at 5 PM while I was in between seeing patients at the hospital and mentioned I was preoccupied. She subsequently hung up on me when I asked why USPS tracking was not done for an official document, after saying, "Why don't you ask the post office?" I have never been disrespected or ignored to this degree by an organization that would be profiting from the sale of an instrument I placed in their possession. They have proven to be lackadaisical, disrespectful, woefully unprofessional, and arrogant, needless to say, incompetent. The overarching attitude from this organization has been one of condescension - "my time is more important than yours," "customers come to us, we don't need to advertise," "the name speaks for itself," etc. Only after I was finally done with them - after the psychological stress they had caused spanning 5+ years - and decided to pick up my bow and take it elsewhere did I receive a half-genuine apology, "We don't like to lose anyone's business." I highly advise taking your business (whether consignment or purchasing a stringed instrument) elsewhere. In the same building, there are at least two other premium fine stringed instrument shops: William Harris and Lee on the 5th floor and Carl Becker & Son on the 4th floor. They will respond to your e-mails and phone calls. William Harris & Lee also have a shop in Wilmette if you live in the NW suburbs. I am currently looking for a lower-range violin as I've decided to pick it up again as a hobby. Bein and Fushi will never be getting my business again, even for a bow rehair or purchase of accessories (rosin, strings, etc.) If you have millions of dollars in the bank to spare or are "VIP" in some shape or form (a Rockefeller, Kennedy, Hilary Hahn, Itzhak Perlman, etc.) you may get an iota of respect and common courtesy from Bein and Fushi, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Never again.

Noteworthy Piano Studio is a beautiful place to learn with one of the most creative teachers I have…read moreever heard of. My attention was captivated as I earned trophies at competitions, performed in recitals, and participated in duets. I achieved many awards through small achievements frequently which kept me engaged. From memorizing pages, learning songs, and completing technique drills all my efforts were recognized. The two Steinway Grand pianos at her studio are truly gorgeous instruments and feel fantastic to play. I highly recommend Patti Nyien as a teacher and her Noteworthy Piano Studio to students of all ages.

I took piano lessons at Noteworthy Piano Studio for 14 years (stopping after I graduated high…read moreschool). Patti (who is the sole instructor at the studio) was always very encouraging of my hard work, gently vindictive of the times I fell short, and knowledgeable on the material I worked on. In my 14 years there, I went from chopsticks to Chopin and everything in between. Patti uses multiple teaching techniques to advance her students. While the regular instruction at the piano was certainly her main tool, she also had computer programs that would help with rhythm, understanding music theory, and even playing pieces. Once a year, I went out for AIM testing, where I would perform for a different teacher and they would provide me some instruction. They would test me on my sight reading ability and how well I performed a song (or several). There were some real advantages of doing this testing. It set a specific goal for where I would need to be, and I had to work towards that goal so I could pass the test and reach a new "level" of piano (AIM in particular was a pass/fail course and had specific criteria for numerous levels of the program - in the end I got to Level 11 iirc). One of the main things that sets her studio apart is how many opportunities she makes for students to perform their material. She hosts group piano classes about once a season where students can perform in front of a small group of other students. I really enjoyed these growing up, and they were a great motivator for working on my repertoire. Additionally, she hosted much larger recitals twice a year that allowed me to pick a piece or two and perform it in a piano hall in front of other piano students and their parents. The other students and I were also offered opportunities to perform at various functions throughout the year (such as her recent Glorious Grands concert last year), and were given options to compete in several competitions. My instruction at Noteworthy Piano Studio allowed me to be able to play piano on my own as an adult. I regularly go to pick up new sheet music for a song I want to learn, and I still play on a nearly daily basis on my own time. I no longer have a teacher that I report to each week, but I strongly feel that Patti's instruction is what enabled me to reach this point.

Kenneth Stein Violins is how every business should be run. Expertise, professionalism, kindness,…read morerapid response. Cannot say enough good things about this place. We bought our son's cello, bow, and case there several years ago, and wouldn't even think of any other store for sales/service.

This place was a string dream. We went there to try out cellos. The location is upstairs off York…read moreRoad. Older inside. But we had the best buying experience. We were giving a room to play in for 2 hours. NO pressure. The sale person Paul came and went. Answered ever question, he did not stand in the room. Our daughter was able to play to us and not feel odd or judged. That is huge. They had our price range out and ready to play, plus they said try our this one at 40,000 dollars to se the top end. We had a experience that we end up with a cello, bow and case for a very reasonable price. Ken is passionate about this and it shows in him and his interest. That is a find to be a business man selling his talents in instruments. A women was there with a viola bow broken in two spots. It was fixable but he said it was to costly to based on the bow its self being a few hundred dollars new. He gave her a loaner and booked a time for her to come back to buy a new one. It is a very gentle-mans hand shake demeanor of trust. We will be back and spread the word!!

He is the best luthier for sound adjustments I've ever been to! I highly recommend him!read more

Had a great experience with Matt. Was struggling massive with the F chord. Matt diagnosed my…read moreproblem during our first lesson, and I'm now 100x better with that chord. A huge relief. My son is now taking lessons with Matt and having a great time.

I've known Matt since '92. We met as co-workers at Dominick's. His 1st conversation to me was,…read more"Hey, do you play guitar?" I said, "Yes!" And ever since then, every time we hung out, there was a guitar involved! Whether it was electric, acoustic, or even bass. Unfortunately, I didn't stick with playing, but it was always fun to watch him play and expand his horizons. I've watched him excel from playing Nirvana and Metallica in our teen years, to playing classical on a 12 string, metal on a 7 string, a bango, a ukelele and even writing his own material for his concept albums! It's been amazing to see how talented he's become over all these years. He definitely has the talent, the motivation and the discipline to play, learn and teach. I can honestly say, watching him has motivated me to pick up the guitar again. I made my purchase a few months ago. And certainly didn't give it too much thought on who would teach me. I knew right away that Matt would be my best choice!

This place is amazing. They are so good with kids and really help build self esteem and their…read moreknowledge in building a child's talent is superior to most others I've experienced!

I give this school and it's teachers 5 out of 5 's. My son…read moretook keyboarding here a few years ago and since then has been playing the cello (lessons they don't currently offer) but regardless of the instrument he has decided to play he was welcomed back with open arms to play his cello with and for his old teacher . The piano and the cello sound beautiful together and this experience tonight was perfect Thank you. The support they show all musicians is unmatched. The lessons and experiences my son has had here will do just that, stay with him for life. Such a positive place for young musicians to go and grow their love for music

Great people to work with. The owner is friendly and knowledgeable. I've taken lessons there as…read morewell as had work done on my guitar. Mike really went the extra mile with the setup/repair. Also been happy with to lessons - learning solid theory but as I'm learning songs I enjoy playing