Mr. Nick is an awesome music teacher! He makes the class very fun and inviting to children! He…read moredeserves 5 stars!

Came here for the group piano lessons. The gentleman was AMAZING! He was very energetic and…read moreplayful. Unfortunately there were more kids than the instructor anticipated.. 12 kids between 2 pianos.. my son was disinterested after.

My daughter has been taking piano and drum for a few months now. Her teacher is so patient and kind…read morewith her. There are so many different instrument classes to choose from. Everyone is so welcoming and the first time she started playing drums her face lit up.

I love this place! I am an adult in her 30's who is learning bass guitar and has ADHD. My teacher…read moreSummer is amazing! Summer makes our lessons fun, interesting and easy to understand. The front desk staff are always so nice and I love how integrated Cal Heights is with the community. My bass guitar skills have improved so much since I started my lessons. If you are on the fence, just give it a try!

I was checking out a couple of music studios in the area for my then 8-year-old daughter to study…read morevoice & piano and came to visit here. Upon arrival for our appointment, there was no one to greet us as the entire place was empty. I thought it very strange that the door was left unlock - anyone could've cleaned out the place. After sitting in the waiting area for 30 mins (I don't know why I even bothered waiting that long), I finally decided to email back the contact I had been corresponding with (as they never left me a phone number to call nor did they ask for mine; I had no idea who I was corresponding with as they never addressed himself/herself). Additionally, I decided to text the number listed on the business' Yelp page as it looked like a mobile number, hoping it will get to the same individual. They eventually texted me back they were running late (50 mins after the appointment time) and to help myself to coffee in the conference room. A gentleman comes in another 10 mins later, apologizing that the manager got sick and sent him to meet me in her place. He escorted us to the conference room to go over the program and the classes they offered. To no fault of his own, I can see he was trying his best to sell the school but at that point, I was already turned off and found the whole establishment unprofessional. Even my daughter said she preferred a different studio than this one. I'm sure they have great instructors/staff but they really need to work on improving the administrative/customer service aspect as that is the first impression of all potential clients/students. He mentioned there was a registration fee, but after the appointment debacle, you would think they would've considered waiving it. Additionally, if the manager was going to be late, the only decent thing to do was to notify me. This is a good example of why you need to scout/visit different places before just settling on one as reviews can often be skewed.

The only reason I'm giving 2 stars is because my kids love their music teacher. She is great and…read morevery knowledgeable, however the person that you have to communicate with in the office is not professional. I contacted them Sunday night, and no one got back to me. I called them finally on Tuesday and she said she got my message and was "getting to it", then they said my child just had to miss her lesson for that week when we have already paid for 16 weeks. Also, if your school has a break or holiday, don't expect to receive all of the lessons you've already paid for, they just skip those and don't give makeups for them. Futhermore, they do not let you communicate with the instructor directly at all. I was trying to text our instructor to let her know what days we're available and the person from the office said No, I do the instructor's schedule you don't need to contact them. I think the price is pretty good for in home lessons though. My issues are not with the instructor at all she is lovely and knows all types of instruments.

As soon as I walked into the store, a staff member greeted me and offered help--even though he…read morelooked busy handling some paperwork. He asked what I needed, and I explained that my acoustic guitar had a broken peg tuner. I already had the replacement part with me, so I handed it over. Instead of jumping straight into recommendations or upselling, he immediately tried to fix it on the spot. Once he confirmed it was repairable, he quickly cut the string, replaced the tuner, and got everything back in place. The whole process took less than 10 minutes! I live in Carson, so driving out to Lakewood and getting it fixed the same day was such a relief. This guitar isn't for professional use--it's for my daughter who's just starting to learn--so having it ready right away saved me a lot of time and hassle. He even tuned it by ear in seconds, which was really impressive. Overall, a smooth and pleasant experience. I really appreciated the quick, no-nonsense service and would definitely come back again for future repairs!

They understood what I wanted and responded right away. Their work is…read moregood.**************************************************************^*************^*^*^*^^^^^^^

I brought my kids here over 20 years ago and now I bring my grandkids here for their weekly music…read morelessons. Their instructors (Paul and Jenn) help them really enjoy learning and loving music and they are making much better progess than in group classes they have in school.

A great music school ranging from kids to adults. The teachers are very nice, accommodating and…read morereally talented. I enrolled my children here: 6 year old for piano and 9 year old for guitar. In a month, my children already know the basics and they have at least 2 masterpieces. I recommend Melissa as piano teacher and Paul as guitar teacher. Most of the teachers are young but they are really experienced and have the passion to music and teaching.

I love this place. Came in to get a sax and flute cleaned and another sax repaired. Their service…read moreis awesome and their prices are great. I'm getting all my instruments needs done here going forward.

Great customer service. They were able to make adjustments to my sons saxophone on a Saturday, just…read more2 hours before closing. Highly recommend! They were very busy while I was there with several families picking up instruments and chatting with employees.

Love this studio!! Woman owned!…read more My daughter is now 7 and has been taking lessons here since she was 4. I took piano lessons from age eight until age 16 and wanted a place that could start my daughter sooner. Raffia Music Studio was the only one that would start my kid at 4, plus it offers so many other types of musical instruments, voice and performance training. I am a serious researcher. I have always made exhaustive lists weighing the pros and cons of any endeavor. After researching several studios, I decided this was the one! Consistency is key in becoming good. We've had the same teacher since we began 3 years ago. Srimal is not only a teacher, but performs regularly with a band around town. I appreciate when a teacher also honors their craft by doing it. Srimal is very patient. Works to get the best out of his students. Pushes them, but also meets them where they are. Every winter, there is a recital where you get to enjoy seeing all the students performing their pieces. I highly recommend Raffia Music Studio!

Miss Emily is such a great piano/voice teacher. She connected well with my daughter and I have seen…read moresuch great improvement in the few months my daughter has been taking lessons. Miss Emily also has done wonders boosting my daughters confidence. She usually has great anxiety, but overcame her anxiety and performed so well at the music recital! Raffia has also been a joy to work with. The whole process has beeen flawless and I have never had any issues getting any questions I have answered immediately. I highly recommend Raffia Music Studio.

My son and daughter have been taking piano lessons here for nearly a year. The setup at this studio…read moreis that parents wait outside in the waiting room while the children go in with the teacher. There are cameras in the lesson rooms, but parents do not have access to them, only the business owner does. Occasionally, I would sit in with my children, but later I was asked to remain in the waiting room as the teacher felt the kids distracted each other. Recently, a very concerning incident occurred. My son told me that during his lesson, his teacher showed him an image to demonstrate "good posture." When he first described it to me, I wasn't sure what kind of picture it was, and I initially gave the teacher the benefit of the doubt. However, when I later asked Miss Lee (the owner) and the teacher to show me the same image, I was shocked to see what it was. The picture had no real connection to piano playing or posture and, in my opinion, was completely inappropriate in the given context, especially considering it was shown to my son alone in a room with his male teacher. To be clear, the photo itself was not offensive on its own. What made this troubling was the context and lack of relevance to piano instruction. I felt it crossed a boundary of professionalism. I brought this issue directly to both the owner and the teacher on Friday, August 29th, and was told that it would be reviewed with their board. I am sharing this so that other parents are fully informed about the environment and practices here. Every parent has the right to decide what they are comfortable with for their child's lessons, and for me, this situation raised serious concerns.

I have had both my young sons attend for lessons here for almost two years now. I've had nothing…read morebut wonder experiences with all staff there. Nick was my son's piano instructor and he was absolutely brilliant and patient. My son has learned so much going once a week with Nick. I saw nothing but professionalism with my son. I recommend this place to all colleagues and friends with children. You can see how talented the instructors are and how well the children learn and grow from watching the performances every year. My son grew so confident thanks to Nick who encouraged him so much. As parents, you could most definitely sit-in on with your child during lessons. It's a choice you make as a parent to wait in the lobby is sit with your child. There are cameras in every classroom. It feels safe and comfortable environment. That has been my own personal experience here.

I have been studying drumming with "Lenny Gee" Giachello at Drumville Studios for exactly one year,…read morenow, and his lessons are truly the highlight of my week. Before meeting Lenny, I had no formal training on the drums. I tried (and quit) in middle school, but it wasn't until my late 30s that I could buy my first drum set. I practiced a couple of times a month, playing along to my favorite songs on headphones. I was able to keep a steady beat and play some basic patterns, but I realized that my skills had hit a wall; my speed was limited, my accuracy was poor, I couldn't play a decent fill consistently, and I couldn't decipher the more complex drum parts I was hearing. I just didn't have a good understanding of what I was doing, on a basic level. So, at the age of 45, I was finally ready to admit that I could benefit from formal training. I also knew that I would fizzle out quickly doing self-study from books and online courses. I needed guidance and feedback from a real, live, in-person, human teacher. I found the website of Drumville Studios, submitted my contact info, and got a call back from Lenny the next day. He shared his background and his approach to teaching the drums, and asked about my experience level and what I was looking to accomplish. I asked him to treat me like I had no prior knowledge of the drums, and start from scratch. That's exactly how we started when I showed up for my first lesson the following week. It was a revelation from minute one, when I learned I had been holding my sticks incorrectly this whole time! Then we began going over note durations and the division of notes--the very foundations of learning to read and interpret drum notation--with Lenny conveying the importance of reading notation, something I had willfully ignored. One year in, I've gone from being mystified by drum notation, to playing along while sight-reading simple to intermediate rock songs. What I've come to learn about Lenny over the past year is that this dude LIVES and BREATHES drumming. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the history, techniques, and personalities involved in drumming, and he's enthusiastic about sharing that knowledge with his students. We'll often spend the first few minutes of a lesson just talking about a cool drum part one of us heard in a song recently, or an interesting practice technique he gleaned from an old tutorial video he just re-watched. He's passionate about my individual progress as a drummer; he cheers me on when I finally nail a technique that has challenged me for weeks, and he reminds me to be patient with myself--and, quite literally, SLOW DOWN--when I get frustrated with a song and keep making the same mistakes over and over. I'm also amazed by how observant and perceptive Lenny is. There are so many sounds and movements occurring simultaneously when you're rockin' on the drums, but he's always able to give me useful feedback: "You're lifting your foot too high off of the kick pedal." "Your right pinky keeps peeling away from the stick." "That hi-hat splash came in a sixteenth too late." It never feels like criticism; it feels like I'm in good hands with someone who knows their craft and cares enough to help me elevate my technique. The value of the lessons I get at Drumville is simply unmatched by anything I'd find at a music store or music lesson academy. If there isn't a student coming in right after me, Lenny will often let my lesson go long. Sometimes he's just excited at the progress I'm making, and sees an opportunity to get me started on the next rudiment, or the next song, that will push my skills even further. He's unbelievably generous with his time. You will not get that benefit at a music school that operates in 30-minute increments. Lastly, I'll comment on the learning environment. Drumville Studios is in Lenny's home, which is clean, organized, and smoke-free. Lenny's sweet wife, Sue, is often home and greets me when I come in. There's a cozy living room "waiting area" in front. You'll breeze through the kitchen to get to Drumville--the den where Lenny has a full drum kit and multiple practice pads and stools set up. This practice room is spacious, with natural light coming in through the windows, and fresh air coming in through the screen door. A gentle, old dog named Elvin is often snoozing on a rug while we practice. In other words, I've found this to be a safe, welcoming, comfortable place to take private music lessons. Plenty of on-street parking, too! As I said before, I really look forward to attending my lesson with Lenny at Drumville Studios every week. To me, learning the drums is a fun challenge, a relaxing reprieve from the world and all its problems, and surprisingly good physical exercise. Whether you're a beginner playing drums on your pillows at home, or a self-taught musician wanting to improve your skills, Drumville Studios gets my heartfelt recommendation as one of the best places to learn drumming in and around Long Beach.

Lenny is a great drumming instructor! My son has been attending his classes for 3-4 years now so I…read morecan confidently leave this review. Lenny's patience and passion for teaching percussion is evident during and after every lesson. My son and I always leave Drumville energized! At home my son never feels pressured to practice for a set amount of time due to Lenny's pragmatic philosophy of practicing in chunks when time is available. Totally fits in with my child's hectic schedule. I have seen my son at age 6, go from a shy uncertain child, to a confident, positive, more social child. The confidence he gained from learning drumming and Lenny's constant wisdom when things get challenging has helped my son grow as a musician and also as a leader at school! My son's concentration and focus has also increased, which shows in his school work and teacher reviews. I attribute it all to Lenny@Drumville! Climbing the proverbial drum ladder has taught my son that hard work pays off. Lenny@Drumville constantly reiterates this concept with positivity and kindness and patience. Which is much appreciated from a parenting standpoint. If you want to increase your child's focus/concentration, improve their behavior / performance at home and school, and overall confidence, I truly believe that spending time with Lenny@Drumville can help your child learn a multi-dimensional instrument while learning lifelong social / behavioral skills to be successful in life! Also, Lenny's song library that he puts in front of my kids spans the full range of rock which I appreciate. Lenny exposes my kids to Rock history (which most kids these days lack) like the Beatles, Stones, thru Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, and Green Day...and everything else in-between! Give Drumville a chance! There's no upsell and no filler here! Lenny is always completely transparent on if he thinks drumming would work for you or your kids and that's why we love Drumville! Rock On!

I realized I hadn't given this spot a review, even though I swing by every few months just to see…read morewhat they've got. I recommend More Music to everyone I know in the area who needs a set up or a routine repair that they can't do on their own. I also want to add that, so far as I can tell, they do a full set up on all the guitars for sale -- that puts them well above big box stores and many online retailers. I hope this spot is able to stick around for many years!

Great little neighborhood music store. I stopped by for bass strings and they had exactly what I…read moreneeded in stock. I didn't have to drive to the big G store in Cerritos. Excellent customer service with a friendly attitude.