My twin sons love Westwood Music Studios! They started as beginners at the age of 7 on violin and…read morepiano. The music teachers are patient and wonderful. We have thoroughly enjoyed the bi-annual recitals. Vinny(guitar) and Nancy(piano) instructors/owners are kind and very flexible with scheduling needs. Ten years have passed and they are still attending private classes. Their progress has been amazing and they have placed in many music competitions over the years.

I have been taking piano lessons with Nancy - one of the owners - for a few years. She never fails…read moreto discover how to help me improve my playing. I started playing as an adult, for my own enjoyment (a hobby) and have discovered that my life is richer as a result of playing. I would not be where I am as a pianist without having a commitment to continuing regular weekly lessons with Nancy. It would be "easier" sometimes to do other activities, but then I would not have the added pleasure of music in my life!! My only regret is that I did not start sooner!

It's a shame people rate this place low. NYT critics over here. Its a mommy and me class what is…read moretheir expectation? Juilliard for babies? The negative reviews are totally undeserved. Lovely program, giving my daughter an opportunity for experiences she would not otherwise have in Englewood. My daughter loves the class. I'm so grateful for this place and the instructor.

UPDATE: After much effort, I finally reached someone who was…read moreable to help - the director of licensee relations - who is working quickly with the Bergen County to ameliorate the situation of getting the materials before class to help my son. I appreciate the response from both. I generally like Music Together, I certainly like the idea of it. A few things to consider: Don't let them sway you with class choice - I started my 6-month old, and planned to go into a baby class, but when that class was cancelled due to lack of enough registration, we were put into a more mixed age group class. My son was totally overhwlemed by the kids and the high noise level, and wasn't comfortable until the last class. He is a daycare kid, so he's used to group environments, but the music played was LOUD. I wanted to stick with it because I felt that it would be a good learning experience for us together, but I was disappointed that instead of recommending I wait a season, they put us in a class that wasn't good. The experience put a bad taste in my mouth, needless to say. Now I am gamely trying again for Fall, since he's older, and my plan of attack is to have him get familiar with the class CD in advance, so that we have more of a chance of being comfortable off the bat. Unfortunately, that plan is being thwarted by Music Together. The Bergen County organizer told me that she wouldn't get the CDs in until about a week before class starts, so there was "nothing she could do" to get it to me earlier. I called the main office in Princeton, and the woman I spoke with was astounded at my request. She said the CDs are "at the warehouse" and they "don't sell directly to the public." Let it be noted that I have already paid for my class. So my CD is in existence, just unattainable. I asked if they had a spare in the office I could borrow and send back, or if they have the files they can send me online for now. She said she would call me back and I haven't yet gotten a response. I have a hard time believing that this is the first time they've had a child who loves music but needs a little extra handholding with the crowd and the loud noise. I am a parent trying to help my child enjoy and grow with Music Together, instead I fear that we are going to spent another 6 weeks+ just getting him comfortable there, and completely missing the point of the class. Pretty frustrating, to say the least.

I am a huge fan of this store, and always have been. Staff have always been kind, courteous, and…read morehelpful and the store has always had the personal touch that I believe sets it apart from big box stores. I love to shop local and independent, and this store harkens back to a different time where music shops had character. The selection has always included what I was looking for. This Christmas, I was thrilled to open a Stratocaster purchased from this store by my wife. I have never had a guitar that played as good out of the box than this one, and the staff in this store clearly set the guitar up BEAUTIFULLY. Needless to say, they know what they're doing here, and that is hard to find these days. Additionally, my wife raved about how kind, patient, and supportive they were throughout the process, given that she is not a musician. This personal touch is well-worth a few extra bucks because it is independently owned. I can't recommend this store enough.

I brought my guitar in for an adjustment. After the "work", I noticed that though the guitar was…read moreleveled out on the side I requested, it was now uneven on the other side. The owner first tried to tell me that it's natural. After I called him out on that, he then took it back to the guitar tech who leveled out the other side as well. That literally took 5 minutes - why didn't the tech do that the first time? When I brought my guitar in, he initially quoted $20-$25 for the work. When it was time to pay, he stated $35 for the work, with no explanation of the increase. They get 2 stars because they at least fixed my guitar, but they only get 2 stars because of the deceit during the process of fixing my guitar. Why can't people just do business honestly without being pressed to do so? *Tip: record anything when you're dealing with guitar dealers, car dealers, or anyone else, and make sure you have enough knowledge about what you need to get fixed - ignorance is big business for greedy companies.

the instructor lacks patience with young and is dismissive and condescending in his teaching to…read morekids. my girl barely learnt any guitar and lost interest in music. The place is a company aggregator like Uber, where good musicians eventually go solo teaching or get into media. You are better if going to a dedicated musician.

I have been using Ben Hyman music for the past 5 years and it has been a terrific experience for me…read moreand my 15 year old son. Ben arranges a time each week that is convenient for me and arrives on time. He has instilled confidence in my son and has brought him to a new level of guitar playing. The annual concert he coordinates is hard work but the results are beyond the imagination-- to see your child on stage performing in front of an audience of hundreds rocking it out among his fellow band members.

I've been playing drums for a long time and never had a lesson. Until I met Dan Britt the writer…read morefor Drumopedia and started taking lessons a few years ago. I must say I kick myself in the butt for not taking lessons before because the lessons have paid off big time. The book is a great starter book for beginners and and even a great refresher course for advanced drummers to get get back to basics and beyond. Dan is great teacher and explains things how you could understand. I look foward to taking more lessons and the next book and hopefully more after that. The main thing I got from the book and the lessons are what I call the three p's of drumming, patience,practice and perfection..

YIKES! Mr. Chip Dee replied to my review using even MORE stigmatizing and offensive language…read more Clearly uninformed and has made no good faith effort to educate himself on the population he claims a speciality in working with. ----------------------------------------------------- This review details my firsthand customer experience while attempting to schedule lessons with the Chip Dee Academy of Music. I was interested in and looking into music schools and music education facilities to get a grasp of what is available for the population that is near and dear to my heart and found this school as advertising their work with a "special needs" population. Unfortunately while Chip Dee Academy of music prides itself on serving a "special needs population" their website is rather offensive. It refers to older adults and NORCS as "geriatric centers" This term is beyond offensive and illustrates that Chip Dee Music is merely perfomative in their declaration of working with individuals with different abilities. Geriatric as a term is not being used appropriately here, neither do I believe they work with geriatricians, but if they have been performing for older adults, they've been simaltaneously refering to group they are supposed to be educating with offensive, outdated language. They have the audacity to advertise themselves on their website as "having worked with all disabilities on the spectrum." And yet exhibit strong ageism in their website. Chip Dee Academy of Music, please educate yourself and do better if you intend to work with older adults, you should be educating yourself on this population. At the very basic level, that starts with knowing what language they use to refer to themselves, and not using offensive or dehumanizing language. I wrote to Mr. Chip Dee via email and received no response, so i wrote this Yelp review, the owners response to it was further demonstrative of his stigma towards older adults. DESTIGMATIZE AGING!

My kids have been going to Chip Dee's school for sevetal years and in addition to gaining priceless…read moremusical skills via the patient and passionate efforts of the teachers, they have also cultivated an appreciation and passion for music. This a jewel of Wood Ridge!

I love that the camp allows kids to have so much fun while learning a musical instrument. My kids…read moreloved all of their teachers and never wanted it to end. We felt safe sending our kids to a camp that actually uses certified teachers.

My kids love this camp! Great mix of music and play, with an added bonus of swimming. Mr. J is…read moreawesome, he is the camp superstar! The performance on the last day was fantastic, I was amazed at how much my kids learned. Looking forward to going back again this year.

Ira was an excellent teacher. I worked with him for about a half a year and in that time he was…read moreable to teach me so much. He is a very easy going instructor and made the process very easy for me by teaching me songs I was very familiar with and interested in. He went out of his way to make himself familiar with songs that he might normally not play himself, but knew I would like. Each week he was always on time and came prepared with new material and techniques to keep things always changing. He is a very good instructor that you will learn a lot from and also share a lot of laughs making the overall experience a real good time.

I have taken four classes with Ira so far and it has been a great experience! I live in the…read moreAlexandria, VA area and had no prior guitar experience. From my experience Ira is very flexible with scheduling, personable and funny (which makes things way more comfortable), and a talented musician who obviously enjoys playing and teaching guitar. He comes to the first class with a instructional book that is very easy to practice with. All in all, I would highly recommend Ira if you are an adult (or if you have a child) who is interested in learning to play guitar!