My 8-year-old daughter has been with Jasmine for about a year for piano lessons and we are very…read morehappy! Jasmine is a very pleasant and helpful teacher. Our daughter has a different style of learning and it can sometimes be frustrating teaching her something new, but Jasmine is incredibly patient with her. Lessons are taught in her home and the lesson times are convenient for us. The cost is very minimal compared to other piano lessons we looked at. I would definitely recommend Jasmine!

I've known Jasmine for many years and think she's amazing. My daughter has been learning piano with…read moreher for almost 4 years now and has learned so much. Jasmine is very patient and encouraging, not to mention extremely talented in music! I am always amazed at the wonderful talent shown by her students at each annual music recital!

Surya is amazing in so many different ways. Not only is a great musician but his patience as a…read moreteacher is beyond my comprehension. Our 7 year old son started by learning drums 1.5 years ago and fell in love. After about 8 months, Surya suggested adding piano and it has been a grand success. He has made learning rhythm, reading music and playing both instruments so much fun. Now my very shy 5 year old who has started singing lessons with Surya and it has been so delightful to see her blossom both in her ability to understand pitch and notes but more importantly in her willingness to take risk and her confidence in herself. Surya has just made her so comfortable, even in virtual classes during SIP, that she looks forward to her lesson and giggles and jumps up and down with excitement as her lesson starts. She's excited to sing to him and with him and we never imagined they would have such lovely a relationship. We feel so lucky to have found Surya and are so grateful to how much he cares about our kids. He has instilled in them a love for music that is priceless.

Surya is a great teacher! I'm in my mid-thirties, and learning drumming for the first time. Surya…read moreis very patient with me. He is able to meet me exactly where I'm at, and then help me take one step further. He always finds just the right rhythm and pace for me to feel challenged but not frustrated. After every session, I feel empowered and excited about learning more. I go home with a few simple things to practice that feel manageable. Surya also includes some deeper aspects of drumming. I'm a yoga teacher and somatic therapist. I appreciate the way Surya invites me to feel the rhythm in my body: feeling the bass in my legs and trunk, the mid-tones in my torso, the higher tones in my upper chest and head, for example. I'm learning to sing and drum at the same time, and he always has great activities to break it down and make it feel possible. Overall, I highly recommend Surya for drum lessons of all types!

Violin/Viola Lessons- East Oakland Stephanie Railsback is an…read moreexcellent viola and violin teacher in Oakland. My daughter has been taking from Stephanie for 6 years and she has enjoyed every minute. Stephanie is patient, nurturing and very encouraging. She uses the Suzuki method, but is happy to add other styles to suit your child ( my daughter wanted to play fiddle and Lindsey Stirling tunes). Stephanie wants your child to be engaged so she is always open to discovering what interests and excites each musician. She has helped my shy child become more comfortable with performing and has coached her through several years of the ASTACAP certificate program which helped give my daughter a goal work towards. The yearly recitals feel like family, and I enjoy seeing all the musicians progress. My daughter will be going onto college next year, but she plans to continuing playing in that setting, and we owe all of this to Stephanie.

The best guitar bass teacher ever Bassam taught me all I…read moreknow about guitar in a way that was fun while I learned pentatonic scales and where the notes were on the guitar He is fun smart and knows how to teach based on your ability and your style of music Check him out! Caroline

Just finished up my bucket list of taking singing lessons for the last year. Sarah was very patient…read morewith me, since it was definitely outside my comfort zone. She really likes working with folks at all levels and I never felt bad about my lack of skills when singing with her. Will definitely go back to her when I have more personal time to practice and now feel more confident that I could do a round of karaoke without completely embarrassing myself.

Over the past few years, I've taken voice lessons on and off for fun (I have no background in…read moresinging). I've had great teachers before, but Sarah has been the best. She has a unique way of explaining concepts and teaching that I haven't experienced with any of my past teachers, and because of this I've been able to make improvements and progress more quickly. She always comes to class with a very positive attitude and truly cares about her students. You can tell that she's really passionate because there have been occasions where we've both lost track of time. :) Another thing that was helpful was that as a busy professional, I sometimes needed to reschedule. Unlike voice "schools" that don't allow you to make changes, Sarah is flexible. Thanks for all you've taught me, Sarah!

Karen has been teaching our teenage son guitar for a couple of years. He is thoroughly enjoying…read moreexploring various styles of music and he looks forward to his weekly lessons. Karen has met him where he is at in terms of his learning style and has been so supportive of him finding his own musical nature. It's been an invaluable addition to our son's life having a kind and knowledgable guitar teacher who has gently pushed him out of his comfort zone (ie performing solo at a recital gathering). We couldn't be happier having a skilled & talented teacher like Karen in our son's life.

My son started guitar lessons with Karen over a year ago and is very excited to be constantly…read morelearning a range of pieces she has introduced to him, from classical to jazz, as well as how to read music and improve his technique. Karen has been so attentive, encouraging, and instructive in helping him grow as a musician - he looks forward to his lessons with her every week!

I got married a little over a week ago in San Jose and asking Nicole to be our belly dancer was a…read moregreat decision! She's gorgeous, very kind, sweet, and was very communicative throughout the whole process. It was very easy to get ahold of her, she'd always get back to me quickly if I had a question and she was great about taking special song requests . During our wedding reception, she did an amazing performance, looked beautiful in her costume that she coordinated with our wedding color and got our guests to start dancing with her. Everyone was raving about how good she was! It was a great decision to hire her and would highly recommend her if you're looking for a belly dancer for your event. Thank you, Nicole!

Tasteful and entertaining Nicole brings to life dance, fun and entertainment. She's very inclusive…read moreof the audience and knows how to read the room. Extremely entertaining. We are hiring her again for our next event.

We had a pretty terrible experience at Bandworks but I didn't want to trash the program because…read morethere are some great people associated with it. That said, my kid just told me that their instructor once said to them - in front of all the kids - "I'm certain you have a learning plan." My kid denied it (they, in fact, did not) and the instructor continued to insist that they did. Who the hell talks this way to a child in this day and age, in front of their peers?! It was humiliating for my kid and extremely insensitive of the instructor. I could follow up with a list of messed up things this instructor said or did along the way, but this one put me over the edge and really just sums up why we now steer clear.

My son first attended a BandWorks summer program in 2007 (age 8). He was in the Intro class and got…read moreto play drums, guitar, sing, and generally get the full band experience. He liked it so much we signed up for the next year and he really focused in on drumming. Loved drumming so much he got a private instructor and took drumming for quite some time after that. Then life got in the way for a few years and now we've returned....and it's the daughter who's doing the workshop sessions now! Came in for the September 2012 session and was put in a band with 3 boys and had to learn how to negotiate want she wanted. Great experience in self-empowerment for a 7th grade girl. She, too, loves drumming. She played one song on drums, and the other songs on keyboards and vocals. She had kicked and screamed about not wanting to do vocals before joining (just got out of 6 years of chorus and literally did not want to open her mouth again) but the instructor convinced her to give it a try and the boys were supportive and she actually loved it. To hear my daughter sing a Red Hot Chili Peppers song and love doing it, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven LOL. Anyway, she's back for this session....decided to bring in her girlfriends.....and now is giggin' in an all-girl band as the drummer. What I've always loved about BandWorks is their ability to work with whatever your nutty schedule may be, and whatever level you are as a musician, and whatever your musical taste is, to create the right experience for you in your band.