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 :)

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.

Excelente store!! So many instruments from different parts of the world. A true gem! From a tres…read morecubano - to native flutes and world percussion.

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!"

Jingle Jeff's music camp is the best! My daughter loves Jingle Jeff and looks forward to his camp…read moreeach day. He is so funny and keeps the kids engaged - he really gets down to their level! He always plans fun games and crafts during the camps. For the first camp, he introduced new water games that my daughter loved and was so excited about ("Dive into Music"). Plus, it's so nice to see my daughter loving the music and the songs that Jingle Jeff teaches. She's also taught her younger sister how to play "Hot Cross Buns" on the piano. The next camp, we'll have both kids enrolled. It will be great to hear about their interactions (hoping the older one looks out for the younger), as Jingle Jeff encourages leadership in the older children. Many of the counselors and counselors-in-training are past students of his :). We will continue to enroll the kids in the summer camps as long as Jingle Jeff has them!

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

Love this place! Great personal service. They always do an amazing job efficiently and with very…read morereasonable prices. Bonus, the place has a great vibe but maybe because it's filled with beautiful instruments

Honestly, I can't believe places like this still exist. In this economy...?…read more Knowledgeable, prompt and affordable. A beautifully kept shop space. I brought my silver flute in for a tune up and walked out with it playing better for less money than I imagined. All my blessings to the folks that make this shop what it is.

Brought in my bari sax to be repaired - several tone holes were damaged when my student knocked my…read morehorn over. Shawn and I inspected the horn together and he assured me he could fix it but he sounded a little reticent. I called the next day to make sure he was up to the job - he said he was. We talked about a tool which would make the job easier but the repair was not contingent on that. A week goes by and Shawn calls me to say he can't repair my horn. Apparently he felt he needed this tool after all. Ok, I'm not dinging him for not being able to fix it. I am dinging him for not recognizing his limitations and being honest about what he can and can't do. And it would have saved me an additional trip, gas, bridge fare and my time.

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.

Friendly service and professional - they modified my son's guitar - great local business!read more

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 :)

I had a great experience learning to drive with Druh. From the very beginning, she was calm,…read morepatient, and extremely clear in her explanations, which made a huge difference for my confidence behind the wheel. Each lesson was well structured and focused on real test conditions, safety, and good driving habits, not just passing the exam, but becoming a responsible driver. I really appreciated how Druh corrected mistakes in a constructive and encouraging way and helped me stay calm, even in stressful situations. Thanks to her guidance and support, I passed my driving test and felt truly prepared going into it. I highly recommend Druh to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, professional, and supportive driving instructor.

Signing up for drivers training for my son was one of those experiences that I was putting in the…read moreback of my mind and one of those things that I was anxious about. As soon as I made my first phone, call to schedule driving lessons for my son, I was put at ease. They were very helpful on the phone and set up dates for driving lessons and they even pick him up at school or at the house or at his job if he were working. They made it really easy for parents who work and can't always drive their kids to where they need to be during work hours. My son was able to complete the required driving hours and they even set up the drivers test with the DMV. Kirt was my son's instructor and my son had a good time learning from him. My son passed his drivers test and is on his way to get his license! Thank you Kirt for all your guidance and time with him!!!