Melinda is such a helpful, intuitive, and skilled voice teacher. She is also an amazing vocalist…read moreand is very active in the SF performance scene! She really knows her stuff and always goes the extra mile for her students. I know there are a lot of voice teachers to choose from in SF, but truly, you don't need to look any further than Melinda. She will guide you (or your child) with vocal studies and you'll have fun while you do it, too! She has a knack for understanding what you need as a student and she is warm, friendly, and so knowledgeable... really, I would give her 6 stars if I could!

Melinda is a wonderful voice teacher. She is enthusiastic, and makes the class very efficient. She…read moremakes me practice all kind of vocal exercises. She is very supportive and listen to my music taste. I like the way she makes me approach Baroque music as well as Jazz. I am glad to rediscover and sharpen my solfege skills with her, which is very useful to discover and practice any kind of music.

Anna has been giving me vocal lessons for almost a year. She is very qualified and is an excellent…read moreteacher. She's very patient, which is especially important to me since I am a beginner. She also is able to assess where exactly I am vocally, so that she doesn't push me too hard and get me frustrated and she doesn't leave me bored because the material is not challenging enough. She accesses that sweet spot. Her voice is incredible and it is a joy to get to listen to her sing, which she will do sometimes if I ask. I love also going out to see her in her public performances. She has brought me from not being able to sing at all to being a lot more confident and able to carry a tune. And I even noticed changes in my speaking voice. I'm going to continue with Anna for a long time. I can't wait to see where she can take my voice in the future!

If you are in search of the very best violin or voice teacher, look no further! Cheryl is truly the…read morebest there is! She is patient, caring, and very articulate in her instruction. My son is autistic, and has really thrived with her help. Words cannot express how thankful I am to have found her!

I have been studying voice with Cheryl for two years now, and she is the best! She is a kind,…read morenurturing, and knowledgeable teacher, and I have been able to deepen my understanding of vocal technique under her tutelage and expertise. I highly recommend Merced Manor Music Studio for voice, violin, and music students of any level!

Kate has been my high schooler voice lessons for about a year. It has been one of the highlights of…read moremy daughters school year. We always knew she had vocal talent, but she had no formal training and under Kate's direction she has flourished. Kate is extremely positive and nurturing which has really helped my daughter come out of her shell and take risks to audition, perform solos, etc. Kate is also a dream to deal with from a parent perspective - lessons are at your own home and she's very forgiving with our constantly changing schedule. I would highly recommend Kate for children and adults, regardless of your vocal aspirations.

My husband found Kate on Craiglist as we were looking for a vocals teacher for our middle school…read moreaged daughter, as she was preparing a number for the school talent show. I used to sing when in high school and college and my husband is also very musical, but we were struggling with working with our daughter on her vocals, as she just was not as open to feedback from us (I'm sure other parents can relate!), so we figured a teacher would be better. Our daughter immediately clicked with Kate and just LOVED working with her from the start. Kate has helped her make incredible strides in her vocal ability over the last year, bringing her true voice out! In fact, she just finished her performance as one of the leads in the school musical Once on This Island (see photo posted by Kate), and I'm certain that her work with Kate made a big difference! Kate has also acted as a life coach (my daughter's description, not mine!) as she's helped her work through times when she was lacking confidence or second guessing herself in her song selections. Not only is Kate a fantastic vocals teacher, but she's also a wonderful person that we have all come to adore and consider a friend! I can't recommend her enough.

My son has been studying piano here with various instructors for a little over three years now. I'm…read morevery happy with his progress. In fact, I'm writing this review while he is practicing "Scarborough Fair." He's come a long way since playing early pieces without chords. :) The owner hires excellent instructors. That's one of the advantages of going to a studio instead of trying to find someone on your own. He's had the same main teacher for his whole time here, but every substitute teacher that he's had has been very good with kids. That's another advantage of a studio: weekly lessons whether or not your main instructor can make it. If you want to make progress at an instrument, you need to make a weekly commitment. The system of instruction seems to be well-thought out. I like the main set of piano books that they use, and they also add other types of pieces--jazz, some pop tunes--so that he is learning more than just the classical style. The teachers have also been willing to work with my son's interests. When he expressed an interest in playing Master of Puppets (not my idea ...) and Pinball Wizard, they found suitable music for his level so that he could give the pieces a shot. Everything is really well organized. The shift to online instruction with COVID was handled very well. It's been easy to get online with the music teachers. We also get emails after the lesson detailing what he needs to cover in the following week. I think the class makeup policy is completely fair. It is simply unreasonable to allow students to reschedule classes. For one, there is no space for it in a teacher's schedule, and it is unfair to ask teachers to reserve a couple hours a week for makeup slots that might be filled or might not be filled, effectively denying them compensation for those hours in their week. A teacher should not be robbed of income just because a family can't make a regularly scheduled time slot. And the makeup lessons they do offer are fine--they kept my son on track with his musical development, which is what I really want to see. By the way, this is not just a studio for kids who love to practice and do so without being asked. My son is not always enthusiastic about practicing, but the teachers have done a great job of keeping him motivated and working with him on those days when he hasn't done enough or is feeling a little unmotivated. Also, the studio does a great job of using a rewards system to motivate kids to keep practicing regularly. Getting music lessons can be a tremendous benefit for your child's mind and spirit. If you are thinking about music lessons for your child, but hesitant about the investment, take a look at the research that shows how music benefits cognition, memory, and mood. For a few hundred dollars a month you can potentially help your child get more out of school, as well as open up new worlds of possibility for career and social life. Amabile is a great place to make that happen. Our family is very, very happy with how we have seen our son progress.

My daughter has been a piano student and we have been very happy with the teachers and the overall…read moreservice. We had some disagreements with the school about scheduling and they hung in with us and we worked it out. It's nice that there's a person (in our case, Cheri) at the other end of every email who is quick to respond to our concerns, flexible and has partnered well with us on solving problems.

She's so helpful and kind and enjoyable to work with! I love the helpful tips, interesting ways she…read moredescribes things and scales and everything.

I'm a working SAG-AFTRA film and television actor; and, I booked a part in a major studio feature…read morefilm. My character plays guitar and sings. Playing guitar is in my zone, but I am not a trained singer; hence, I started searching for singing coaches on the Internet. I found HEATHERVOX. She had a lot of positive reviews; hence, I scheduled a session with her; and, I am so happy I did. - She has a beautiful singing voice; and, she immediately assessed my singing competency baseline. - She immediately started me on vocal techniques that quickly controlled the movement of my neck, mouth, and vocal cords. Most importantly, she taught me the importance of relaxing the vocal cords throughout the octaves. - After 40 minutes of teaching proper singing techniques and using the techniques she taught me going up and down scales, it was time to apply the techniques to a song. - I sang, Here Comes The Sun, by the Beatles; and, I was amazed -- I immediately noticed the improvement in my singing -- now, don't get me wrong, it wasn't just "add boiling water and instant noodles" kind-of- thing, but it was a drastic and noticeable improvement in my singing voice. I still have a lot of work and practice to do. Now, I have more controlled volume, my voice is more robust, colorful, and dimensional, AND I am able to hit higher notes easier without strain. I was also amazed with the added tone quality Heather gave me through her singing techniques. Heather recorded my session; hence, I have a starting baseline of my singing voice. I can track my progress. I also have recordings of the techniques she taught me; so, I can replicate them while doing my homework. I have 6 months from today, 23-January-2025, to get my singing skills on-point; hence, I am 100% certain, working with Heather, will get me to my goal. I scheduled additional appointments with her, and she gave me homework and exercises to work on before my next session. I really enjoy the straw exercise -- extremely helpful. Finally, I like that Heather has good business ethics. She assessed my progress and gave me a class schedule that matched her forecast of my progress within the 6 months -- she didn't try to sell me more lessons than I needed. I'm very happy working with Heather to get me to my singing goals for this feature film. Check 6! /s/ Alfonso Faustino

Hallie is a wonderful cello teacher! My 11 year old daughter has had several lessons with her and…read morehas improved her playing exponentially. Hallie is patient and always upbeat and I commend her for being able to tolerate all the screechy sounds and calmly instruct my daughter on what she's doing wrong so that on her next try she plays the same piece beautifully. I highly recommend her.

I began cello lessons w/ Hallie about 1/2 year ago and have nothing but wonderful things to say…read moreabout her. I'm no kid and I don't read music so I felt pretty daunted by the challenge. But Hallie was so encouraging and supportive that I immediately felt it might actually be possible to learn! Hallie is incredibly talented (see her bio for starters), sensitive, patient, always positive (regardless of how squeaky and squawky I might sound). She really breaks things down in such a way that you can really understand what she's getting at. One of my favorite things about her is that she's created a kind of tailor-made lesson plan for me. (We started out with me learning 'by ear'.) When we met she asked me 'what particular cello music do you love?', and 'what would be your dream piece to play?'. So instead of starting out w/ Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star we moved right into the Prelude to the First Cello Suite by Bach! I can't express how gratifying it is to be playing something I really love, albeit slowly and imperfectly. But Hallie is so incredibly generous and positive that it really keeps me going. She is very reasonably priced, reliable, and has the best demeanor a teacher could have. It's been a dream of mine for decades to learn cello and I can most sincerely credit Hallie Pridham for my finally doing it and sticking with it. If you're thinking of taking lessons I heartily recommend Hallie. You will be so pleased!

I have two daughters, 7 and 9 ys/o, who've been taught piano by Suzanne Karpinski, weekly since…read more2015. Before Suzanne, we had been through two different teachers, also great, both left the city. Suzanne is the first to have a clear and strong vision as to where to take the girls with their music, and a brilliant understanding of how to teach them. Initially I had ideas about how/what I wanted them to learn, but quickly realised that Suzanne knew exactly what she was doing. The girls have a wonderfully rich, broad and balanced understanding of music, the piano, Music Theory, Sight Reading and different styles/periods of music. It's really important the foundations she has taught them and the good habits she's installed in them. Now, with my oldest, I am starting to see the magic take flight. But perhaps I've felt that after every year with Suzanne. Each year I see huge accomplishments, not just with my kids but at the recitals she hosts, bi-yearly, I've seen her other students equally improve, it's been a pleasure to witness and to be a part of that wider community she's created. In my point of view Suzanne is a serious music teacher who wants to teach children how to be true musicians, teaching them a real skill, skill for life. This means she expects committed students who practice daily and are willing to learn. Suzanne is the loveliest person I've the pleasure to get to know over these years, she is also a brilliant and committed teacher. I highly recommend her ... so long as you don't take my girls time slot.

My daughter has been taking weekly piano lessons with Suzanne for the last three years since she…read morewas 5 years old. Suzzane is very organized and punctual instructor where she customize a track for every student depending on their levels. She makes sure that students do their practice and homework for every class and she pushes them to do better !! We are very happy with her and her teaching methods and homework levels. I highly recommend her !Kamron