James is hands down the best vocal coach I've ever had. I showed up with vibes, questionable pitch, and dreams and somehow left with actual technique and a noticeably better voice?? Witchcraft! Every lesson was ridiculously fun. One minute we're laughing, the next he's casually fixing things I didn't even know my voice was doing wrong. He explains stuff in a way that actually makes sense, which is rare, and he somehow makes practicing feel less like a chore and more like a main character montage. The improvement was REAL. Better control, more confidence, stronger vocals things I fully did not think were possible for me before working with him. If you want to improve your singing while having a great time and not being emotionally destroyed in the process, James is the guy. If you want to sound better, feel more confident, and leave lessons smiling instead of stressed, James is your guy. 10/10 would sing off key in front of him again. read more

James meets his students where they are at! My daughter has grown so much as an artist from Jame's coaching! I highly recommend him for vocal lessons and career coaching. He is knowledgeable and pushes his students to be their very best at their craft! read more

James Drips is hands-down one of the most passionate vocal and piano teachers out there. Every lesson is high-energy, fun, and somehow makes learning feel effortless (and entertaining). He genuinely cares about your progress and brings the perfect mix of skill, humor, and motivation. If you want to learn, laugh, and actually enjoy your lessons--James is your guy. read more

I take guitar and vocal lessons with James. He is a great teacher! As a singer/songwriter, James is constantly working to improve his own craft which makes him an empathetic, encouraging, and dedicated teacher. He is willing to meet me where I'm at and always pushes me to be better, whether it's a week where I've had a lot of time to practice or a week where I haven't practiced at all. He encourages me to set and meet personal musical goals, and creates a structure for our progress which adds value. James is a great communicator and strikes the right balance between hard truths and positivity. Five stars! read more

James is an excellent teacher. He has helped me improve my vocal range, and is great at explaining why certain exercises are used and why certain songs were chosen, as well as techniques. Highly recommend! read more

We had a very bad experience with James Drips. I took my son to a trial voice lesson at James' home August 22nd, 2024. James told us to bring sheet music for ten songs. We tried hard, and brought the book of Frozen 1 songs, the Cat Came Back, and The Fox Went Out. James glanced at our choices and said he didn't know the Cat or the Fox songs, and that the Frozen songs were in the wrong key. He did not look up the songs or try to adjust the key. Then he asked my son what kind of music he liked. My son said he liked show tunes. James seemed surprised and said he preferred rock and roll, but "okay." He explained that the 30 minute trial voice lesson would cost $60, then spent a lot of time explaining his policies (for $2/minute). He said he only charged by the month and gave no refunds for missed lessons for any reason. He then asked whether my son could play piano. When my son said yes, James asked him to play something, "just for fun" (during a $60 voice lesson). My son said he couldn't remember any of his piano songs. At no time did James demonstrate his own singing voice. After he asked my son to sing five-note scales, James did not demonstrate any teaching skills. He played "I Can Show You the World" from the Aladdin soundtrack, a song my son dislikes, and said it would be his first assignment. When my son said he was thirsty, James did not offer him a drink but told him he should have brought a water bottle. My son and I found James brash, focused on making money, and lacking teaching skills. Even so, we spent a week to fairly consider our decision. On August 29, I told James we would not be taking lessons from him, but he charged my credit card for $240 for the following month anyway and insisted on his no refund policy. During our interactions, James showed no consideration for my son as a student or for me as a customer. read more

I had called this guy about potential lessons and immediately got a hard sell for one hour weekly lessons for $285/mo. When I didn't agree and only agreed to 1/2 hr lessons and a initial trial lesson he said ok on the phone, but a few minutes later texted and said oh sorry, I can't fit you in my schedule. I wasn't surprised as I sensed his entitled, arrogant personality. What a joke, go back under your rock. read more

Pretty mediocre experience with James. I connected with him on the phone to discuss lessons. He's pretty set on having exactly one lesson a week and having you pay upfront for that regardless of travel or needing to cancel for a week. That did not work well for me considering I travel for at least one week a month. When I asked him about accommodating my schedule he was very quick to go into great detail on his "no-show" policies (and how he does not give refunds even if you reschedule well ahead of time). Not great vibes. If you're a more traditional student and you know you'll never need to miss a week or be out of town maybe his inflexible approach will work for you. He was also strangely defensive when I said I was going to chat with a couple other teachers to see who was a good fit. Even went so far as to cancel the appointment we'd set up when he found out. Yikes. He's got a good web presence! Certain he's spent some money getting his website to the top of google searches for "Davis Voice Lessons". Kudos for the good marketing. Unfortunately I did not find that reflective of the quality of my interaction with him. read more

I was a student of a James for a couple of months and nothing ever really jived. After about a month he asked if I could change my class time to accommodate someone else. I had no issues, but when I adjusting my schedule to accommodate this change I missed a session or two and was considered a no-show on my part. Last week, I showed my to my session 7 mins late to find that he has another student. He had double booked during my session. Guess what, I was asked to leave and he will reschedule our session. I had to drive 30 mins to get there and then 30 mins to get home. When I asked for a refund for my remaining sessions, he sent me a picture of the signed contract that no refund will be given. Although my evening was wasted, can't get my time back or a real apology was never given. I was actually accused of the reason why he fucked up. The customer's time and convenience is not considered of value. In addition, during our sessions he was constantly on his phone, training his dog, and would pick up a guitar during my session and play new songs he is learning or creating. He is never really present, which you will be able to tell by his responses to things. Save your money and especially time and find someone else. read more

great experience and i enjoyed ! i can recomend this thing to others and my evaluation is 5 stars

I am a pretty good guitarist. I am wanting to be able to sing and play guitar at the same time. I suck at singing. I was concerned that there are no recent reviews for James within the last 6-7 years. I went ahead and gave him a chance. We set up our first lesson. Our first lesson, he was 15 minutes late. He said he was OK because he didn't have anyone scheduled after me. My schedule didn't matter. Our 30 minute lesson--half of it was his pressure to be paid. Mistake on my part. After agreeing to his sales pitch, I went on-line and tried to find reviews or his expertise. It doesn't exist. After reflecting on our lesson and seeing some YouTube videos of him 'performing,' I notified him I was not interested in taking any more lessons with him. He still charged me for two lesson, the first one he was late for and the 2nd one I never had, claiming he 'arranged his schedule to include me and that he has a strict no refund policy." That is a load of shite. Dude has no other clients. His strict refund policy is because he doesn't know what the fuc* he is doing! I asked him for certifications or whatever he has to give music lessons. Nothing. Nada. Only thing he offered was to pay him another $10 to watch him play at a hole in the wall music venue a couple of weeks later. Seriously, I don't care about the $35 he owes me. Don't let this be you. Find someone, anyone, else. read more

I started learning about my voice and learning about performing a few years ago with James Drips. James was so supportive and taught me so much about my singing voice. He is always encouraging and helped me to come out of my shell! Now I love to perform! I recommend his technique and non- stressful approach to coaching. As he said "anyone can learn to sing". read more

James real my helped me strengthen my voice with very quick results. As I'm a complete beginner, we started off with two songs he thought were suited for my voice. Then we graduated to songs that were very difficult to sing, but that expanded my range rapidly. That, along with the weekly practices that he puts great emphasis on, helped me improve greatly. He's very patient and encouraging. read more

I've been taking lessons with James for over four years now. I started off with one thirty minute session once a week and then moved to one sixty minute session a week. Together we have gone over vocals, piano, guitar, music theory and rhythm, and even some songwriting. I've truly grown as a student over time. I've worked with other music teachers before and taken music classes at community college. What sets James apart from other instructors is that he is willing to work with you on songs to the genre of your liking. There are many instructors out there who will want you to do Broadway songs or only their preferred genres. I will say James will match your energy and effort -- as any teacher should. If you don't come prepared to the lesson (ie. lyrics ready to go, recording device, pen/pencil) or practice at all you won't grow much. Music teachers can always tell when you don't practice! However, James is really understanding and I try to be honest about how my practicing went for the week. He knows that many of us have lives, careers, kids, and other things going on! You will get out of these lessons what you put into it. No one becomes a star over night! There are weeks where we just have more relaxed sessions and there are weeks we are really serious. He will be honest with you and tell you your weaknesses and strengths and will work with you on your goals. He will also always ask "what do you think?" after sharing his insight. If you have a hard time listening to feedback then music lessons could be tough for you, but listening to feedback helps you listen for these issues yourself. I've never had an issue with pricing, scheduling or any other things. We keep in contact with each other if we are running late, emergencies, etc and everything works out fine! read more

I recommend going here. James is a great teacher that can teach you a months worth of information in just a couple of hours.

I came to James in 2014 (when I was in my early 50s) having had no vocal or musical training in my life at any time beforehand. I had an idea about performing a show of old-time comedy and songs for WW2 veterans at Veterans Homes. But I needed to see whether I could learn how to sing in that old-fashioned, pre-1950s style in order to pull it off. James had never heard of the music and songs that I wanted to sing, but he encouraged me and we started weekly lessons. Within a few months I could hear that my voice was changing and I continued on. James periodically introduced me to new and more challenging vocal exercises as I went along, all seemingly at just the right times. In 2015 I started performing my show at Veterans Homes. Then I added the local Vacaville Christmas festival, then a few retirement communities in Arizona. In 2017 I performed several concerts of "old-time American pop" songs as they called it, back home in Croatia, the "Old Country", over in Europe. I repeated these Summer Mediterranean seaside concerts in Europe in 2018 and again in 2022. To date I have performed in California, Arizona, Texas and in Europe. Do I even need to say that this "dream of a lifetime" would never had happened without James' vocal lessons, which I took every week for 9 years? James is a swell guy, and the best vocal teacher you could ever ask for. He took this seemingly "over-the-hill" newbie with zero music/singing experience and allowed me to achieve my own "impossible dream" - wildly beyond anything that I could have imagined when I first looked him up online and made that appointment for a first lesson. Thank you James - and may you continue to help make many more students' dreams come true for many decades to come! I salute you, my friend. read more

My daughter and I both took lessons from James for about 2 years. In that time, we both learned so much, not just about controlling our voices, but how to have the stage presence an audience is looking for. His lessons are fun and informative! I've recommended him to a couple of friends and I know they've also really enjoyed working with him. With my daughter's commitment to dance and, now middle school, we're taking a break for a bit BUT wouldn't consider taking lessons from anyone other than James! read more

James is a wonderful vocal coach! He's not only encouraging, but he challenges me to do my very best every single week! If you're looking for an instructor who is professional and devoted to helping you improve, I would say give him a try! :-) read more

I came to James Drips Studios with no background in singing at all, but with an idea about putting on a nostalgia show of comedy and songs for Veterans of our military. After a year of studying with James, I debuted my show for an audience of WW2 and Korea Veterans in Yountville, and haven't looked back since. I have now done shows at various public festivals, Veterans Homes and Hospitals, and last Summer gave two concerts of 1920s-40s era popular music in Europe. I have been studying with James for three years now, and under his tutelage I am STILL learning new techniques and improving! He is simply THE BEST voice teacher anyone could ever have. I'd give him 6 stars if it was possible! read more