My two children have been attending Cornerstone Music Studios for close to five years now. As a…read morefamily, we understand the multitude of benefits a musical education awards a child. My husband and I originally began music lessons for my son at age 6 to help him with his fine motor skills and focus as these areas seemed to overwhelm him on an every day basis. Music seemed to be a natural place to help him as he enjoyed music very much. It was also important to us as parents for our children to learn a lifelong skill that was practical yet fulfilling, as well as the character training that goes along with musical discipline. My son chose the guitar and my daughter the piano.
We also know the investment in time, money, and perseverance a musical education takes. When we began searching for a school, there were many other options available and it was overwhelming trying to sift through all the reviews and comparing one to another. For any parent who is at that starting point as we were, I hope this review will save you much unnecessary time, money, and heartache because there is nothing worse than investing in music lessons and an instrument only for your child to lose heart and give up after a few months.
Cornerstone Music Studios is, we believe, the bar in which other schools and teachers would want to aspire to. The school has expanded to two studios and is located in Millstone which is convenient to many surrounding towns like Manalapan, Monroe, Allentown, Hightstown, East Windsor, Jackson, and more. It is run by Laura Whitman, a talented musician in her own right, but most of all, one of those people that you know upon first meeting her as just a really good person who truly has you and your child's best interest at heart. She makes you feel like you're part of a family, and never part of a business. To put it plainly, it doesn't get better than Cornerstone.
In my research, I found the cost at Cornerstone to be comparable to other schools, but the quality goes far beyond. You get so much more for your money. The faculty is a well selected group of musically trained individuals, most of whom are working musicians themselves. Ms. Whitman and her faculty support their students not just in private lessons, but in a rich curriculum of offerings from musical theater, to theory and composition, to summer camps, to Musikgarten for the littles, to Rock Out Loud for children with special needs, to my son's personal favorite class, rock band. There really is a large menu of offerings for all types of children to develop and nurture their own personal musical path.
Another unique and really cool feature about Cornerstone is how they support the musical performance of their students. The school offers mini recital nights in intimate settings for students to get comfortable with performance, as well as Open Mic and Coffee House nights for tweens and teens to get together and perform in a peer setting, all of which nurtures the child's self-esteem and confidence as a performer. Ms. Whitman also offers many opportunities for the students to play in community outreach performances. For my son, the performance aspect made his skill and confidence skyrocket. Not only can he take a rock band class at Cornerstone, but he can rock out with his band in front of a bunch of peers and feel really good doing it. It blows me away every time to see my child up there at a performance and putting together all he's learned in a supportive and encouraging environment. What Ms. Whitman and Cornerstone do with these children is priceless.
