I have been taking piano lessons with Laura Ponti at Albany Music School for the last 2-3months…read more Lessons are offered to both kids and adults from beginner to intermediate skill levels. If you are looking to take piano lessons, I highly recommend Laura. She is kind, patient, passionate and dedicated to teaching you how to play the piano the right way. This is a nice music school. It's not too big or too small. They have 5 rooms for lessons and they offer a variety of lessons with musical instruments including the piano, violin, drum, voice, and guitar. Both Lina (owner) and Judy (receptionist) run the school quite well and they are organized and professional. The only problem is that this studio doesnt have adequate insulation, which feels even hotter than it is (especially during the heat wave we are going through). I hope the building managers take this seriously and get the problem fixed soon. I recommend dressing light and drinking lots of water to stay hydrated. I highly recommend Albany Music School. Great piano teacher and staff.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!! I finally did it!!!! I finally started…read moreplaying the piano...and you know what...I LOVE IT!!!!!! I've passed this place several times since it's in my neighborhood and I kept saying I have to call, I have to call. Finally I did :) The place is located in an upstairs studio. Very nice place and well lite. There are 3 piano rooms and a nice waiting area :) I take private lessons w/Lina who is such a cutie pie. Since this is my first time taking lessons she is soooooo helpful and very pleasant. She goes over everything with you and reassures you :) I love her!!!!! The monthly fee to attend the school is $240. That includes the private lessons, the materials and they opportunity to come in any time and practice and listen to others. They also have other lessons available. I know for sure when I go, there's this little boy who plays the violin. He's really good too :)

I called to get some information about a drum skin for a homemade drum. I got great advice that…read moresolved the problem!

We were referred to Lark in the morning by another music shop. We had an old autoharp we needed…read moretuned and possibly repaired. Thorn the manager put us in touch with Steve. We brought the autoharp and a guitar in for repair. Steve examined both carefully. He explained what he discovered and what work he would do. He was friendly and very informative. We left the autoharp and guitar with him to repair. The price he quoted us seemed reasonable and fair.

We highly recommend Jingle Jeff's musical camp!! Our 6 year old son just completed the 2 wk…read moreJingle Jeff's musical camp, and it was a HUGE hit!! Not only is our son, hopping and skipping to songs he learned, but the ripple to music addiction hit the whole family!! Our 4 year old daughter is counting down the months until she is old enough to attend. I ended up purchasing a keyboard in attempt to brush up my childhood piano lessons, just so I could join in!! I feel like we are replaying the scene of Sound of Music, as Jingle Jeff has brought the aliveness to music to our home!! We were really impressed with his camp! Our son felt welcomed and accepted. Jeff has flexible afternoon pick up hours, which worked well for those unpredictable work days. He has a big music studio which is very kid friendly, which is attached to an outdoor space. It is a perfect space for a camp. Jingle Jeff taps into the child's natural passion so that they are learning without them even knowing. There was a special bonus of the kids putting on a musical show, which left my son beaming with joy!!

My daughter's favorite thing about her school week is Jingle Jeff's Music Club! She loves the camp…read moreas well, and comes home with all sorts of wonderful stories and crafts. The counselors have been wonderful as well. Jeff is engaging, patient, and per my daughter, "so funny!"

Berkeley Musical Instrument Exchange is truly a Berkeley tradition. 33 years in business, They…read moreprovide local musicians of all kinds a trusted place for repairs. They buy, sell and trade a wide range of new and used instruments including a line of high quality, well priced, guitars that they have manufactured to their specs. This family business is a comfortable, reliable and educational place for musicians of all skill levels and traditions. They deserve your support. www.berkeleymusic.com

The staff is very knowledgeable , and they have a variety quality used instruments at good prices.read more

I have had my tubas repaired and cleaned by Sean and his crew a few times now and I really love his…read morework and completely trust his shop. He modified the my F tuba to reduce the valve throw using a pretty creative solution which worked great. The thing I was most impressed by though is I came in complaining about a sticking valve on a relatively new tuba. This was clearly a manufacturing defect, and I need the value to work well for an upcoming concert. He was there on a weekend when the shop was closed and spent an hour meticulously going over the value to identify the problem and got it working perfectly while I waited for the repair. I highly recommend his shop for brass instrument repairs.

Shawn and his employees are doing an amazing job given the sheer # of music repair places that have…read moreclosed in recent years . Shawn has rescued my custom made flutes on numerous occasions and even done restoration work on one of them. I have tried to be patient given that I have several instruments and there is no sense in asking him to rush anything as his work is impeccable and worth waiting for. On top of that he is a Family man and it is 2026 -so be glad someone with his skills is even there doing all the work he does so well. He is generous with his knowledge and has garnered a lot of respect in the Bay Area from many musicians who are more than willing to pay whatever he charges -given his skills are with sometimes difficult people. That on top of Trumpets -Trombones - Flutes and Saxophones plus Clarinets . I have even seen him working on other exotic woodwinds etc. We are lucky to be able to go to Wind and Brass "For Sure" as Shawn says.

My 9-year-old son loves School of Rock. He looks forward to his keyboard lessons with Jo every…read moreweek, and the Rock Band experiences with Mike and Angel are always a blast. The school strikes a great balance between following each kid's interests and building real teamwork skills. Everyone belongs at SOR!

Mikee has generally enjoyed her lessons at School of Rock, which is why this experience was so…read moredisappointing. She had a scheduled lesson with her instructor, Darwin, at 5:15 PM. We arrived at 5:05 PM, and I left her there as usual. At 5:37 PM, Mikee texted me asking who was supposed to be teaching her because no one had come to get her. When I went inside to ask what was going on, I found that Darwin was teaching another student while Mikee had been sitting and waiting the entire time. What was most concerning was that no one seemed to notice that a child who had arrived on time had been waiting for over 20 minutes past her scheduled lesson. I understand that scheduling mistakes happen, but the lack of communication and oversight was frustrating. A student should not have to figure out for herself that something has gone wrong with her lesson. I hope the school takes steps to ensure this doesn't happen to other students in the future.

I'm always excited to come here and always manage to find what I need. The staff have been lovely…read moreand very knowledgeable. I got my first electric guitar and classical guitar here. The prices are good and selection is fairly good, especially for accessories. As a local, this place has everything I need for my guitars and it's just down the street.

Great music shop right on San Pablo. Parking on the street out front. My dad needed a screw…read morereplaced on his bass and wanted new strings. The guitar repair person doesn't work on Saturdays but we were able to get it checked in and took a tour around the store. Nice selection of guitars, ukuleles, guitar straps, amps. Everything seemed reasonably priced considering this isn't a mega chain or Amazon. Knowledgable staff.

We have bought a new Yamaha CVP805 from Ela Fox and we are amazed on her efficiency and service…read more She is super good at giving us recommendations for the pianos and trying her best of finding the best piano matching our needs. She has offered us a great price and even one-day shipping for my piano. The aftersales service are fantastic. We had questions about our piano and she replied immediately. We have not expected that she will answer our question even during the weekends. She is so kind that she uses her own time trying to find the answer to my questions. I would highly recommend that you check out this store and the amazing services.

Bought a Yamaha N1X from Ela a year ago. She was super helpful and it was an easy process. Delivery…read morewas quick. Minor issues with the Yamaha and they recommended a Yamaha tech and everything was fine under warranty. Highly recommend. Thinking about them now because I want an upgrade!

I studied flute as a boy and took it up a couple times again as an adult. Encouraged by a concert…read moreflutist friend this year, I took up the instrument again. Buying a better instrument helped a lot, but I soon hit a wall with my amateur technique, and I discovered that Sujatha was teaching nearby in Berkeley. What an extraordinary stroke of luck that was, as Sujatha is by far the best music teacher I've ever had. My flute playing is now growing in leaps and bounds. I am now learning quickly (and unlearning bad habits), and am inspired to practice a half-hour to hour every day. Sujatha's lessons are joyful, enthusiastic, fast-paced, and targeted to just what I need. Despite my amateur abilities, she treats my musical aspirations with deep respect, and challenges me right to the edge of what I'm capable of each week, so that my playing abilities swiftly grow. I'm now able to sight read music--at least on a basic level--and am learning things I never learned from any music teacher before about the phrasing and expression of music (not just the basics of getting the notes and tempo correct). Sujatha herself is an extraordinarily skilled musician, conservatory-trained, who performs regularly in the Bay Area. She studies with her own master teacher, and passes on those insights to her students. I recommend Sujatha highly for anyone who wants to discover the joy of music, and to grow their musical abilities with a joyful, exuberant soul.

I found Sujatha after trying quite a bit to find someone that would teach adult lessons. She was…read morevery kind and warm from the very first conversation to all the lessons I have had over many months now. Most importantly she is very patient and encouraging through the struggles of learning something entirely new at a point in life when learning a new skill is not the easiest thing. In addition to learning from Sujatha I have also been at her performance and she is very skilled and a beautiful flute player herself. After some of my initial hesitations and self doubt of whether I'd be able to learn, whether I would enjoy it or whether I would have the energy to sustain my learning I discovered at the end of three months that I was really enjoying learning and decided to invest in buying a flute and returning my rental flute. She also very graciously helped take me to to a store and shop for my flute at a local store where she is very well known. For anyone looking to learn I can say for sure you are going to enjoy learning from Sujatha if you have the motivation to learn :)