In my fairly long experience, there are only two types of music stores…read more Type A, you walk in and you're looked at like you're a perp. If you look like you might even start thinking about taking an instrument down from the walls, you'll get a lecture about not touching the merchandise and a series of inquiries about whether you're a serious buyer or not. The staff may be knowledgeable, but they'll talk to you as if you're a mentally-challenged space alien who has never heard of a major chord or a scale and is need of being spoken to like a slow-witted dog. The prices are fixed, as if Moses had passed them down on an extra set of tablets from the mountain top, and any discussion of same is an apostasy that will quickly get you invited to get serious or get out. Type B, you walk in and the staff are already playing something. They check to see if you need help but will leave you alone to look if you say you're just looking. If you have a passing question about something, instead of answering it they'll pull down an instrument, give you a demonstration, and ask you to try it out. They'll talk to you frankly about the best place to buy X, Y, or Z and may point out the good features of what they have but are trying to match you up to whatever it is you need or are at the right stage for. They love music, maybe just a bit too much, but they love musicians even more, and they really love aspiring musicians. Hermie's is firmly in the Type B camp, and are going to be Cool about just about everything you can imagine. They know the scene, the area, the schools, the teachers, the bands, and they know their stuff. Prices are going to vary quite a bit, like they do at any instrument-oriented store, but as a working musician's place this is incredibly friendly towards the amateur and the student. The staff took time today to show my young musician a bunch of things he hadn't seen before on the guitar and lit a fire on inspiration in him. Honestly, I can't tell you whether you will get a good deal on X or Y here, relative to all the good deals in the universe. It's a small store, and they have more at the Albany location. It's a bit out of the way on the Jay walk in downtown Schenectady. But I've seen so many ***ho*es in the music business over the year I know by now how to tell what's what with the stores. Hermie's is good people.

I called Hermies with a single outrageous question "Would you be able to fit me in for a single…read moremusic lesson today?" I travel full time. I had one day in Schenectady. My boyfriend had taken his bass guitar on the road when he learned I had played cello as a kid. "It's really similar" he said. But I found myself unable to remember anything from playing music. 3 years of cello, a few months of trombone & piano, and 12 years of choir...but my brain seemed as good as having never done anything musical. Larry answered the phone and was both welcoming and confident that he could give me enough info to get me started. "Stop by anytime before 8pm". Around 2pm, I entered the shop and Larry greeted me just as warmly as on the phone. He checked out my travel bass & tuned it for me. I watched as his fingers whirled around the strings moving from fret to fret. I heard a little voice say "there's no way you're going to be able to do this again". I felt lost. Larry handed me the bass & walked me through a set of scales. I fumbled and hit the wrong string, or both strings at once, but I made it through. I went forward and then backward through the scales. It was awkward, but I did it. We'd chat a moment, he'd teach me something else about the bass, and like a good instructor "show me your scales again" and I would run through them forward & backward again. For fun, he taught me the bass line for Louie Louie. How can you not get tickled playing Louie Louie? That lesson was what I needed to get started and believe maybe I "can" learn this instrument. The previous review raved about Hermies. I'm a fan too. This is a must stop if you are thinking of picking up any instrument. Violin, Guitar, Cello, Bass, Flute or Sax. This is the place to go!

Cathy is amazing! She is able to work with me on what I want to learn on my own schedule. She is…read moreflexible and is willing to help me with whatever I need. Highly recommended. five stars!

I have been working with Cathy for over a year now and have enjoyed each and every class. Even…read moreduring Covid we have been able to continue our lessons online via Zoom without missing a beat!! Cathy can easily see and hear what she needs to in order to effectively teach the lesson. I'm grateful that in these times I haven't had to give up my lessons that I look forward to each week. Thank you Cathy for being a very patient guitar teacher, I'm lucky to have found you online!

I had my daughter's violin service by Frank. He was professional, timely, experienced, and helpful…read more I would most certainly utilize this violin shop again.

Very professional and helpful. Frank is experienced and a real craftsman. He repaired our old…read morefamily violin to our satisfaction.

Just bought a digital piano (Roland F107) from Hilton Music store in Colonie Center and could not…read morebe more pleased! As a total piano novice and with limited space in my house, I wanted something compact but with full functionality - 88 key weighted keyboard, etc., and this fit the bill perfectly. Owner Bob Hilton worked with me and was terrific - pleasant, knowledgeable, and not pushy. We asked about delivery and turns out he lives not far from us so he delivered it himself on his way home that very same evening! Also very impressed with the sturdiness of the "console" that comes with the keyboard. I have it free-standing in a room (not enough wall space) and was concerned that my rambunctious cats would jump on it and knock it over - no worries after putting it together with the cover closed over the keyboard.

Occasionally we buy things here…read more There was a set of drum sticks. Some sheet music. We even bought a ukulele once. But mostly, we come here to browse. My son is really into music, but even more into music shops. And the staff at Hilton has been marvelous about encouraging his interest. Perhaps his favorite thing to do is sit down at the electric guitar pedal board and experiment with different pedals and settings. Should he ever want to pursue lessons, I might send him here for that too. It's certainly convenient. I'll also be bringing my own guitar there for new strings soon. Speaking of which, I found out that on Tuesday, August 11, Hilton is having "Restring Day" starting at 6pm. That means free strings. It's unlikely I'll be able to make it. But it's just another cool thing about the small mall music shop that could.

I considered buying a new guitar, but the Guitar Center did a great job renewing and restringing my…read moreacoustic Yamaha guitar.

I highly recommend avoiding the Guitar Center for lessons. Their system is designed make it…read moredifficult to get all the lessons you pay for. I wanted to take the summer off but still have make up lessons I was owed. They use automatic deduction for payment and refuse to refund any money claiming that they can't once the money has been taken from your account. So I was charged for four more lessons than I wanted but here's the thing - once you are no longer allowing automatic deductions they remove you from the schedule. Pretty difficult to get the make up lessons you may be owed if you're not on the schedule. I spoke to the manager about this and he personally scheduled a make up lesson for me for yesterday. I showed on time only to be told the teacher wasn't there and I wasn't on the schedule. Then he tried to blame the lessons manager. Another interesting thing that happened was that once I was no longer doing automatic deductions the teacher canceled twice. She had not canceled once since I started in September. Avoid this place for lessons.