A "Matt Brenna" and a "Randy Parker" sent me fake checks saying they were interested in using my music for an "ad campaign". I took these checks to the bank and they said they were fraud. I called Alpine over and over to get ahold of someone and get answers and no one picked up ALL DAY. read more

George is an excellent violin teacher and has been a joy for our daughter to work with. He's patient and encouraging and works at a perfect pace for her. We have been lucky to find him! read more

I'm really enjoying my lessons with Dean Norling. I'm also an adult learner. After trying to teach myself guitar for about a year I decided to give lessons a try. One of the best things I've done for myself in a long time. I've learned so many things in the 2months I've been going. I found Dean's approach perfect for me. We get through a song a week along with many helpful hints. I think the studio is set up fine for adults and children... It's a guitar lesson for Pete sake. Sit in the chair and enjoy the students of all ages until it's your turn to learn. I applaud any parent that gives their child lessons (wish I was one of them). I plan on continuing my lessons for a while and would highly recommend Dean to anyone interested in learning to play guitar. Jennifer Perrigo read more

So I've been playing guitar for about 5 years, pretty much self taught and I would consider myself an intermediate guitar player. I mostly play Rock/Blues and I just wanted to improve my technique, my music theory and learn some more advanced stuff. I emailed Dean and told him my situation, told him what I wanted to learn and said he'd be able to help. My first lesson was on Easter Sunday, so he definitely get bonus points for meeting me on a holiday. So I show up about 15 minutes early and he's not there yet, which is fine. I don't mind waiting but the waiting room made me feel pretty awkward, being a full grown man sitting next a child coloring waiting for a guitar lesson. Anyways he finally shows up, he starts asking me about what I know. And he cover the basics music theory, which is fine but you could tell he doesn't teach many adults just by the way he acts. Like when he played a D Minor chord, he pulled out a box of tissues and said "you need one? It's the saddest chord of all". I could understand how a child would find that hilarious but it just made me feel uncomfortable lol and then he felt uncomfortable. Which is okay, I mean I love jokes but it got pretty weird in that little room. We covered more of the basics, just so he could have an idea of what I knew. The lesson was over and he gave me "homework" to write a list of songs that I want to learn, and the more the better. So I get home, I sit down with my whole music collection. And I write this huge list. Next week I show up with my list and ready for another lesson. Again the children coloring is there, which is fine but it just really makes me feel out of place. Dean shows up I give him my list and he then we covered strumming, remember I've been playing for 5 years. Not claiming I'm the best guitar player but i know how to strum... he gives me more homework to practice "12 bar blues" which I've known for about as long as the kid coloring in the waiting room has been alive for. I show up the next week, again the same kid is coloring. I mean does this kid even have a home? Or is he just a figure of my imagination? We both smile each other, I refuse to turn my back on the child. I've seen the movie The Omen.... Anyways lol, he shows up and he ask me "what do you want to learn today?" I think to myself, gee I don't know I gave that huge list last week but I politely say "whatever you think I'm ready to learn on that list I gave you". That's when he informs me he lost my list. Oh I could have gone for a beer when he said that! So he says lets learn more blues. I already know what he's trying to teach me. But I go along with it because I figure "he's the professional" I'll do whatever he thinks is best. And that's what I did for a few more weeks. Once about a month and half went by and I thought to myself "what did I learn?" and the more I thought about it I realized the answer was absolutely nothing. After about 6 lessons, a total of 150 dollars. The answer was nothing. So I stopped showing up and to Dean's credit he did email me ( copied and pasted from the actual email) "Just checking in to see if you still want to come in for lessons. I had a feeling you weren't super happy the last time I saw you. If that's the case, please let me know if I can make it up to you. I enjoyed having you come in. Thanks, Dean" That being said, Dean is a very nice guy and even though I literally learn nothing from him, I did enjoy hanging out with him. He's a great guitar player but he just wasn't able to help me. Maybe it was just me, maybe I should have stuck with it for a few more weeks. I don't know. Why do I feel like I'm talking about an ex girlfriend? The pro's: The cost, 25 a lesson. Very good place for children. Catered towards beginners. Very child/family friendly waiting room. Whatever instrument you want to learn, they have someone that can take you from beginner to intermediate. Dean would be an absolute perfect teacher for someone that has never picked up a guitar. Cons. Definitely awkward for adults. Very impersonal and lack of customized lessons. I learned nothing, there's that, I guess. Conclusion. If you're a beginner/child go for it. You probably won't find a better place for the money. So if you're little Jimmy's mommy and you got him a guitar for his birthday and looking for a music school. Is this the place for you!! But if you're an intermediate player/adult, you should find somewhere else. Oh and if you find a good place please let me know read more

My family has been going to Alpine studios for over four years. We first tried them because our 8 year old daughter wanted to learn guitar. Having never learned how to play an instrument or read music I also was interested in taking lessons. We met Dean Norling and were immediately impressed by his ability to teach both of us. While he is very good with kids and communicating with them I was very happy with how he teaches adults too. After about a year of seeing him we felt very comfortable recommending him to family and friends. To date we have referred at least 6 other people to him ranging in age from 8 to 18. After going through some basic training the first year I now can play hundreds of songs of my choosing in genre's ranging from blues (Sweet Home Chicago), to country (Johnny Cash, George Straight etc) to my favorite classic rock (from Beatles to ZZ Top!) He has taught us how to read sheet music as well as tab. It has been really fun for me to learn chords, different strumming patterns, finger picking, slides, hammer on's and off's, bends, and harmonics. While we have dealt mostly with Dean we also know a number of friends and families taking lessons from George, Frank and Chris too. We have heard nothing but positive reviews from them as well. read more

Do NOT take lessons here. I made the mistake of letting my child take lessons here and I regret it more than any other decision I've made in quite some time. I will not get into details, but trust me, NOT a good place to leave your kid(s) for 30 minutes. read more

Guitar Instructor, Chris Riche, is amazing! I have taken lessons from him for over 10 years now. He is extraordinarily talented, encouraging and has a great sense of humor. He's a wonderful teacher and has such a positive attitude. I really enjoy practicing and playing guitar with him. Taking lessons with Chris has given me more confidence and I get to learn the songs I want to learn! It's great. I highly recommend him as a teacher. He's terrific! read more

When I started taking drum lessons I thought I would just be there for a few months to get some basics but here it is a year and a half later and I can't imagine stopping now. Frank has made sure that I am learning techniques and skills that I can put into practice playing with the worship band at church. It has been great! read more