Michael knows all the information you would need to excel at voice or guitar. He's professional and honest. If you want a voice teacher that makes you run scales on a piano for an hour and then charge you an arm and leg, then Michael is not for you. The people who left negative reviews are insane. His policies are transparent and ALL OVER his materials and website. He's never canceled on me and has always been accommodating. read more

I found Michael Daniel to not only be a good voice teacher but a great coach. When I first started with Michael I had potential and his no nonsense style coaching of vocal drills led me to knowing exactly what to do at home to keep getting better. While it's true many tools can be found on Youtube, Michael gives you in the moment feedback to ensure you are practicing correctly and developing powerful, useful habits. Using his tools and guidance, I made great progress that led to my first recording for a personalized affirmation song client who paid over $1000 for a song. Our voices are our instruments as a vocalist and after combining what I learned from Michael Daniel with opening my body through yoga and learning to ground myself better...my voice really took off. Applying what I learned from Michael, I've had the confidence to sing in front of over 1000 people at once, sing at house concerts and start a personalized affirmation song service. Michael may not seem like your sunshine and flowers teacher per some of the other reviews BUT if you're serious about practice and advancing yourself, Michael Daniel can get you a long way. Also, if your first session is much spent reviewing an action plan, consider sticking with it. Good things come to those who focus on the principals of success and I found Daniel to do so with what he teaches in lesson. read more

Full disclosure, It has been almost a year since I briefly took lessons from this guy. I was a little reluctant to write this review since my experience was not good, but thought I would share it since I was able to find a truly great teacher after leaving Mr. Daniel. The first thing you should know about music lessons is there is no governing body or regulatory authority. Anyone can say they are a teacher whether they are qualified or not. What qualifies someone to teach? They might be classically trained, have a degree or just be talented in their chosen field. My personal view is, they need to have knowledge and experience and be able to connect with people on a level that helps them learn. I shopped around a little bit before deciding on this guy. I should have shopped a little more. He has a system that might work for you. It didn't fit my needs. His "guitar yoga" hand and wrist exercises are a joke and probably run the risk of promoting injury. His "no nonsense" approach leaves a lot to be desired. He actually said "I'm not here to be your friend. There will be time to get to know each other later." People skills is not his strength. He didn't incorporate any positive reinforcement in the few lessons I took. My advice is, if you are considering this guy go take a lesson and see what you think. Ask a lot of questions. Know what you want before you sign up. Then go talk to other teachers. There are a lot out there. Check out Thumb Tack if you cannot find someone on Yelp, you'll find plenty of options. A lot of teachers will give you a free lesson just to see if you are compatible. read more

For me, Michael Daniel has been a great vocal instructor and also provided production skills for some original songs. I've learned a lot in working with Michael Daniel. He is well organized, understands my problems as an adult learner, encourages me, and continues to support my musical development in many ways as a vocalist and as a singer-songwriter. My vocals have definitely improved as a result of my work with Michael Daniel, and my friends and family have noticed. The feedback from people hearing my recordings has been 99.9% good since I started working with him. In addition, I feel I have blossomed as a song writer. All the scheduling and refund questions were addressed upfront in writing. I've never had an unprofessional experience with Michael Daniel. I've never had a problem with scheduling or re-scheduling lessons. After my intial lesson, I got into a time slot as soon as I could and I've kept that time slot. My understanding that this is common in most states with the best of vocal instructors. One may have a problem scheduling initially, then one holds onto one's time slot as carefully as one can! Other instuctors often have the same policies in regards to pre-payment and I don't think the policies are unusual at all. I am not alone, as I know he has other student testimonials on other websites. read more

I started guitar lessons with Michael Daniel about a year ago. Michael is 100% a professional and amazingly talented guitar player. His methodology may seem strange or tedious, but it is seriously the real deal in order to truly progress accurately. While yes, he may seem full of himself at times, he knows what he is doing and is insanely talented. He may seem cold or dismissive at first, but he warms up to people, and I think he's a really good person and teacher. He probably is just used to people flaking after the first lesson and wants to see dedication, something I can appreciate. Personally, I'm a college student and he has been extremely lenient when I don't have time to practice because of school. He's given me solid and helpful advice and time management skills, which I really appreciate. He helped fix my guitar after my pickups broke twice, as well as my amp. He fixed what guitar center had messed up, improving the sound and quality tremendously. The more you show up and really show that you're in it, the more he opens up. I am so happy that I'm able to be given lessons by someone so talented. He is encouraging and does connect with you after a few lessons. He is extremely organized and efficient, teaching things that I know will only strengthen my guitar skills. I cannot wait to take vocal lessons with him. read more

My experience with Michael Daniel is very positive. I have run three successful business' and I know a professional when I see one and this man is indeed a professional. Some of the reviews are so harsh that I thought I would take a moment and throw my two cents in for thought. The scheduling was fine. He called when there was an opening and I took the time slot. Given I have ZERO musical education and NO musical training whatsoever I was happy to get anything at all (take note some instructors will not work with you if you have no training). I am not the easiest person to teach but this man has done so and quite well. My voice is getting WAY stronger and I am hitting notes I didn't know I could. He is not the kind of guy that is going to "baby" you along nor it he there to be your best friend. He is a teacher and does a wonderful job at a REALLY great price. Go check the other instructor's fees and you will see what I mean. If you are looking for solid musical instruction this is the right place to go. read more

I would first like to say, his picture does not reflect what he presently looks like. Picture is about 10 or more years old. Secondly, he's looking for students who can commitment to two years worth of weekly lessons after just one orientation class. Lastly, he will spend the bulk of your first lesson (about 90% of the 60 minutes) reading you his two year plan. The breathing lessons were cool but are easily found on youtube. read more

Arrogant and Unprofessional - This review concerns Michael Daniel Voice Instruction and Guitar Lessons in Phoenix, Arizona, also goes by the name Point Studios Voice Lessons. The three main problems I had with Michael Daniel guitar instruction are: 1. His failure to disclose to us that it takes 3-12 months for a regular time slot for a lesson. He will basically fit you in whenever he has time, which was once in a 6 week time span, in my case. 2. His failure to notify us of his "no-refund no matter what" policy before we made the purchase. 3. His lack of professionalism My husband bought me a 4-pack of lessons from Michael Daniel for my birthday in November, 2009. Michael relayed that he had a pretty busy schedule, but that he'd find time to get me in. After just one lesson over about a 6-week period, and no calls from M.D. for over 3 weeks after the lesson, I figured that I wouldn't get much out of this haphazard schedule and requested partial reimbursement for the three lessons I hadn't yet taken. I offered to pay a cancellation fee and over-pay for the first lesson just for processing a reimbursement. Michael still refused and took grave offense - "...I am not some vagabond, miscreant musician. I am a highly trained, experienced and dedicated professional. Very few people have ever asked for a refund. I think you are the fifth person in 18 years that has done so. I don't think you want to know what the other four were like as people." He did not state to my husband or me that there were no refunds until after we paid for the package. During our email exchanges about this, he said that 3-12 months was the normal wait time for a regular, weekly time slot. He had neither stated this up front - if he had, my husband would not have purchased this package. Another excerpt from Michael Daniel's last email - unedited, we didn't emphasize the YOUs -- "...I have laid out the rules and YOU want me to bend my most ironclad rules for YOU. I know what I need to do to make a living and run my business. YOU are the one acting like a total pain so that you get your way. YOU are the one who totally ruined the teacher/student relationship." I thought I was talking to a professional, but his emails were full of personal attacks like this. In all of his responses, he never did argue with the fact that he did not mention the no-refund policy before the purchase, nor did he argue about not telling us he had a 3-12 months to get a weekly time-slot. He has decided to keep over $100 of ours, because he believes he is the best and we must be insane for not wanting to work with him. In his last email, unedited - "If YOU really cared about learning guitar you would at least make somewhat of an effort, and would find your experiences to be one of the best in your life. That is the normal reaction that I get from normal people." As I see it, our biggest issue with M.D. was the fact that he overbooked himself far too much to accommodate any new students, yet, he still takes on new students and doesn't disclose his schedule upfront. As a professional, which he vehemently claims to be, he must know that he must only take on clients as he can accommodate them, not just take their money upfront with no guarantee of service. Frankly, we felt cheated by Michael Daniel. The saga continues: a few weeks later, I filed a complaint with the BBB. Mr. Daniel's response includes: "I was stunned to see her because she was very pregnant. I have nothing against pregnant women, but you can't even hold a guitar when you are that pregnant." I have since been taking lessons elsewhere and my pregnancy has had no affect on the way I play or hold the guitar. read more

Michael Daniel is everything you'd ever want in a voice coach. If you're a beginner, he accepts you where you are without judgment and builds from there, giving you confidence every step of the way. He breaks down songs into elements you didn't even know existed, and teaches you how to sing effectively in a well-thought-out, methodical way that's also a lot of fun. It's amazing how fast you can start to see progress if you follow his instructions. I've been taking lessons from Michael for about seven months now. I appreciate his patience, his talent, his willingness to answer my questions, his sense of humor, and his total dedication to my musical education. I look forward to my lessons every single week! read more

The good news is Michael Daniel is the exception, not the rule. If you don't want to read the entire review, please consider the following before going to any instructor. 1.) Do not prepay for any lessons without a firm date and time set in place. 2.) Always audition the instructor. If he claims to be a vocal instructor, check out his/her website, or ask them to sing something or play something if they play an instrument. If you don't like what you hear, you just saved yourself some money, time, and freedom from further aggravation. 3.) Be wary, skeptical, and cautious of any outrageous claims that seem too good to be true. If the teacher makes a claim to be a rock god vocalist/guitarist, ask him about his education and where he studied, who taught him if he studied privately. Oh, and let me qualify that with musical instruction, not business college, not cosmetology. A solid instructor will be the one continually improving his own skills, not just claiming they're the best in the state, country, planet, or universe. Listen to any sound files on their websites. I found out a little too late about the ones on Michael Daniel's site. 4.) Ask the nearest musical instrument retailer for recommended teachers in your area or use websites that prescreen their instructors where you can pay weekly or month to month and have the option of a refund or some other recourse should the first instructor not work out. I went to Michael Daniel at the beginning of 2007 in the hopes that he was an actual voice instructor. Michael markets himself quite well and talks a good game in the beginning. It's very easy in fact to get the first lesson scheduled; however, should you be so bold and go to Michael beyond the first lesson, make sure that you do not prepay him until he has you in a regular time slot. I counted 8 voice messages all within a month's time from Michael that were to reschedule me after the first lesson. I also made the mistake of prepaying him for the 4 lesson package. Most instructors would not even accept prepayment unless they could schedule someone on a regular basis. No self-aggrandizing, sensationalistic statements about overbooking being commensurate with the quality of the instructor make any sense. You're all too wise for that, and can learn from my mistakes. After the first two lessons, it was clear that the package deal was not going to be worth it. I went to a different instructor after canceling and forfeiting the money for the last two lessons with Michael, and it was a night and day difference. I studied with the same teacher for 2 years after Michael Daniel, and never had a bad lesson. Regardless of Michael's claims that he's the best, the 2nd teacher I went to was superior in every possible way. He has a voice and range that are incredible as well. I would go back to him and would recommend the other teacher over Michael any day! A funny thing happened. The 2nd instructor had 3 other guys who had also taken lessons from Michael, and their stories were very similar to mine. I actually went to a few other instructors as well, and every single one of them treated me with respect and encouragement and always were able to schedule me in no matter how busy they were. I am far happier with actual progress I have made over the years from qualified instructors, and Michael ain't even close. After reading another review on this site about the personal attacks from Michael, I can vouch for that also. I was upset to read about someone else having to go through the same experience as it seems many of us have, and wish this site would have been available before I took my first lesson from Michael Daniel. If that had been the case, he never would have gotten a penny out of me. read more

One of my childhood fantasies was to be able to play guitar like a rock star. A few years ago, I decided to give that a try. From the very beginning, I knew that I could never learn how to play guitar using those self-taught methods taught through books or videos. Michael Daniel was the first and the only guitar instructor I worked with. After our first meeting, I knew he was the right guy and there was no need for me to seek another. Michael is an extremely talented musician with a sincere interest in teaching. His lessons offer a cohesive and measurable program of study tailored to address the student's weaknesses within the framework of their personal interests and objectives. In the six years I've been studying with Michael, I have never disappointed. I was a newbie when I first met him and didn't even know how to hold a guitar correctly. In just few months, I was able to play one of the songs I brought to him. Along the way he had taught me everything from basic chords, to lead soloing techniques, to music theory that I can use to write my own music. Today, I have developed solid skills in both lead and rhythm playing, and is able to play different guitar parts from an incredible variety of song collections from those of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Bon Jovi, Bob Dylan to Zeppelin and many others. As far as I can tell, Michael is incredibly knowledgeable in virtually all aspects of the instrument, from technique to theory to song composition, and he knows how to teach to keep you engaged and excited about what you're doing. He also has unbelievable ear hearing and can transcribe any song into a guitar tab for you to play with your favorite guitarists. Bottom line -- if you think you need guitar lessons, come to visit Michael. He has helped to make my music dream come true. He can do the same to you too! read more