My son has been taking piano lessons at Mel Booker Music for almost a year now with Javier. Javier…read moreis amazing, he is a passionate teacher who has nurtured my sons love of music. If you are looking to take lessons or start your child on a music instrument I highly recommend Mel Booker Music. Everyone here is great!

I had been a student with the Mel Booker establishment for over a year and a half and was taught by…read moreJeff, who is absolutely amazing and this review does not reflect the wonderful lessons by Jeff. My issue with Mel Booker Music is the lack of customer service. Ever since the front staff had changed from Megan and Debbie, to the new staff today, my experiences with the front desk went downhill. I am a school teacher and my schedule can change frequently due to impromptu/emergency meetings which can interfere with my lessons scheduled. My lesson was on a Monday and they're closed Sunday which kept me from being able to notify 24 hours before. I would call days before at times and be told by the new front staff that I would be called back, but never would receive anything even if I wanted to reschedule a week in advance. I would be told that an opening would open that same week, but again, I would not receive a call back. Megan and Debbie who used to work at the front desk were AMAZING and always willing to work with me on a reschedule and would always surely call me back if they said they would. My final straw here was a reschedule I had requested 3 hours before my lesson began due to an emergency meeting and the new front desk staff said they would not reschedule and my lesson would be wasted and that same day cancellations will not be rescheduled. This was new to me and when this would occur, Megan or Debbie would always find a way to make it work on a later date. With these occurrence, I since have requested to resign from Mel Booker and never received a call back or anything to see how this could be rectified which shows lack of appreciation to loyalty by patrons. The instructors here are excellent, but again my qualms are with the handling of scheduling and services by the front desk staff.

My friend and I painted here and had a great time! The instructor was informative and also lovely…read moreto chat with. Had the good vibes flowing!

Really love this place. One kid started taking classes there and it soon became three. My wife will…read morestart taking classes soon. Any age. If you got little ones, for or five, try the Little Rockers class. They work with charter schools. A must for all Gorman students. A real treasure. Also, located in a great place. Lot of good stuff around and SB adjacent if that helps.

We really wanted to love this music school, as our daughter was so excited to start her first drum…read morelessons 8 months ago. Right from the beginning, the instructor was incredibly encouraging, praising our daughter's natural rhythm, focus, and skill. She kept improving month after month. We were thrilled to see her progress and passion for drumming grow. However, after a traumatic event occurred at home (just at the end of February, only 2 months ago) our daughter understandably struggled to maintain her attention during lessons. We communicated this to the instructor, and made sure we were present in class with our daughter to help her focus. We also took about 3 weeks off when we were working, and couldn't be with her. Despite this, we continued to pay our monthly tuition in full without fail. We spoke with our daughter often, checking in on how she felt about the class, and she was clear that she did not want to quit despite struggling with life at the moment - something we admired greatly. Unfortunately, the experience took a disappointing turn when the owner of the music school approached me right *after* class and said my daughter would be better suited for a different class (in front of her). This was handled very poorly - the instructor who had been working closely with our daughter was not even part of this conversation. We felt blindsided, as the instructor had previously been so complimentary of our daughter's abilities. To make matters worse, the owner then turned and spoke directly to our daughter with leading questions, overstepping appropriate boundaries. I felt they waited until they billed us for the new billing cycle before approaching us with this. We have always been easily accessible via phone and even text with the instructor. We would've been more than happy to discuss this over the phone, or to come in (without our daughter) and discuss it in person at any other time. We were then charged for the final lesson where our daughter was getting excited about continuing her drumming, and while the instructor spoke with her about her next class and being on stage (recitals at some point, and etc). They were aware I would be confronted with this conversation afterwards, and continued with the class anyway - waiting until the class completed to speak with me. When we requested a full refund, we were only offered a partial one (we had to pay for the lesson in which they knew they were doing to build my daughter up - only to tell me in front her that she was no longer a good fit for that class) which left an even more sour taste. As parents, we want the best for our child and were willing to be flexible and supportive. However, the way this situation was managed by the music school left us feeling deeply dissatisfied. We had hoped for a more thoughtful, communicative, and empathetic approach, especially given the personal challenges our family was facing. Sadly, this experience has made us hesitant to recommend this music school to others, and we will be seeking a more supportive environment for our daughter's musical education going forward. ***Update to the reply from Amped***: Thank you for your reply, but that is not an accurate representation of how our conversation went. I was not asked for my feedback on how the lessons were progressing from our perspective. Instead, I was told by you to understand that the instructor "was a professional" - even though it was your business that made the pairing in the first place. Additionally, you had initially told us that my daughter was too young for voice lessons when we first came to you. However, you then asked us to try those lessons instead. You then told us she could continue the lessons, even after making it clear that the instructor no longer wanted to teach her. I'm not sure what other parent would choose to keep their child in a class with an unwilling instructor, but I knew that was not the right decision for my daughter. While I appreciate your reply, it seems more like an attempt to shape the narrative of what occurred, rather than actually addressing the specific issues and concerns I raised. Thank you for your time. I wish your business the best, but I hope you will take this feedback to heart and make improvements to better serve your students and their families.

My kids (6,9) have both Piano and Violin classes. We have tried other classes locally, but this…read moreplace is legit music lessons. They all really understand and know music theory and how to teach it. They are very conservative but great role models for younger kids. They are kind and have lots of patience with their students. The school is located in a building behind the main house and each room has a camera recording the session and there is sitting area for parents and kids to wait. My kids always look forward to their class and have learned more here in the last few months than they have years at other places. Could not recommend enough.

Please do not waist your money. The owner and instructors have such bad attitude. No reliable…read moreinstructors. It's a dirty place.

This is the seventh time we've had them do framing for us and everyone is beautifully unique. Dawn…read moreis awesome when it come to taking what we've imagined and interpreting it into an awesome piece of art. Thank you guys once again

I used this place for very first time and it was great experience. It came up better then I was…read morethinking and it worth every money. The look and design was just perfect. I am recommending this place for your art work to be framed and design your art work look.

I waited a few months before writing this review because I was unsure of what I wanted to share …read more My daughter's experience on the SE23 and SE23 competition team was horrible . Lauren the owner only pays attention to the kids whose families have been with her for years . Those are the kids that she develops and works with . She allows bullying at the studio and on the team and never addresses it directly unless it starts to impact her bottom line . She humiliates the kids on the team if they miss a step in front of peers and makes it seem they were disrespectful when they respond . You pay a large amount of money for your kids to be on her competition team for your child not to be developed or trained properly. I know this now because we have moved to another competitive team and now I see what real development is . Beware of this studio !

This is the best studio i've ever been to. The students are so kind and the faculty is amazing!…read moreWould 100% recommend coming to this studio!

The environment is very welcoming was greeted by nice staff the girl with the long curly hair…read morehelped with a machine and around the arcade she was very sweet will definitely be coming again with more people!

Fun way to spend some money that you don't need. We introduced 2 new adults and 2 kids to the…read moreexperience..... so I think combine all 6 of us spent $160 total. The value is gonna be what you assign the value to. It's a cute shop! Bright and inviting. Service was helpful. They will shuffle the plushies or exchange when you ask. Some machines were a bit in the low side, but we just stayed away from the low ones or asked for a reshuffle. My Spam plushie was exchanged for 15 others, but we kept all the Hello Kitties

So I bought a bomber-style jacket and took it to Debbie along with some art for her to turn into…read moreembroidered designs. Yesterday I approved her design layout and today the jacket was finished. Just in time for drag racing at Willow Springs tomorrow! Looks great, Deb. Thank you!

Terrible!!! Needed 3 retirement jackets embroidered. 3…read moremonths later nothing was done!! Stay away!!! One star is too much