Love Nelli- my child has made more progress in 2 lessons than in multiple lessons at our prior…read morepiano place. She is really good with the kids. Definitely recommend!

My daughter is already playing Silent Night & reading music in just 3 months! (and played HBD,…read moreTwinkle Twinkle, and Brother John in only a 2-3 wks!) We are huge fans of Nelli, the style she teaches, the quick progress she's able to invoke in our 6-yr-old, the note-reading she works into the fun lessons... she's really remarkable & I recommend her to friends often.

One of the nicest and the most knowledgeable piano instructors in Southern California. She is…read moreextremely caring and understanding and doesn't mind explaining something over and over again until you fully learn it. I like it that she starts from the basics and teaches classical songs as well as contemporary and pop songs. It's also great that she offers both online and in person classes. I fully recommend her both to beginners and intermediate students. Her classes are worth every penny

I took piano a while back in college but unfortunately I didn't learn much! a friend of mine…read moreintroduced me to Yass Piano since her kid was learning piano with Yassi and was making a good progress! I'm so happy I took her advice because I thought I will never learn to play piano but now I can call myself a professional! ;) her teaching style is easy, effective, and practical! you will learn how to use your fingers correctly when playing, learn to read notes, and you will be motivated to play over and over until you get her approval! Yassi is patient and helps you to gain confidence in playing! all in all she is a great teacher and I will recommend her piano lessons to everyone!

Miss Catherine is a treasure. I'm an adult student who has no gift of playing piano with correct…read morerhythm. Because of her teaching method (and incredible tolerance and patience) I can now play intermediate piano pieces with confidence and correct rhythm. I'm lucky to have found a teacher that spends time going over challenging measures and doesn't rush. She has a beautiful heart. I wish I could afford to pay her more than her standard billing rate.

I've been taking lessons with Catherine for over two years, and I absolutely love having her as my…read moremusic teacher. Not only is she sweet and patient, but she's obviously in love with music and teaching. At the same time, she's a professional. That is, she's always taken my lessons seriously and given me the respect I've needed to thrive. Moreover, I can tell she has done her best to make me feel comfortable and at home. I highly suggest her to students of all ages and talents. When I first began my lessons with Catherine, my playing was littered with poor techniques I had acquired from previous teachers. This is where I experienced the extent of her patience and understanding. For instance, I was a terrible sight reader. At 17, I could only read as fast as turtles walk. Still, she would sit with me and go through the passages, encouraging me, never insulting me or making any negative comments. To me, this meant a great deal, because I had never imagined that someone as talented as her would be able to tolerate my reading and help me as kindly as she did. I always felt like she wanted me to succeed, like she was my biggest fan. All in all, she inspired me to try and better my reading, even when I was outside of a lesson. I do not believe it is common to find teachers as talented and passionate about music as Catherine is. I love her, because she has taught me not just how to play piano, but how to play piano beautifully! Her genius extends beyond music theory and technique; this is a person with a profound understanding of performance. In the two years she has taught me, through her teachings and constructive criticism, I've been exposed to a study of music I was previously unaware of. Sadly, a lot of teachers fail to teach their students about performance. However, that was never a concern of mine when I was with her. And I hate to be vain, but I do play beautifully. And I can only thank Catherine for teaching me how. I really admire Catherine as a pianist and person in general. But, as a business women, I respect her a great deal. I applaud her business model and work ethic. That is to say, although I am just a kid, she does treat me like a client. She has always taken MY goals into account and done her best to help me accomplish them. She takes me seriously, and she takes our time seriously. She is reliable, skilled, honest, and everything you would expect in a professional. Taking lessons with her has been a treat! I cannot stress enough how wonderful it is to be taught by her:)

I can't find enough wonderful words to describe Musika Studio, its team of musicians, and its…read morewonderful teachers. We frequently visit the Mesa Verde Plaza, and since my son recently turned four, I stopped by the studio to ask about their age requirements and recommendations for starting his music journey. They offer piano, drums, guitar and singing lessons as their selection of services. Ms. Sauson, the owner, patiently explained the curriculum and starting age, then offered a complimentary trial lesson to ensure it would be a good fit and that he was ready to begin. They have cameras in all rooms, so parents can sit and watch and listen to the lesson. As an educator and speech pathologist, I watched closely to observe how she engaged my child, her behavior management, reward system, and overall demeanor with young children. Needless to say, I was very impressed by her competence and approach. My son responded beautifully to her guidance, redirection, and positive reinforcements. He has been attending consistently since that trial lesson and is doing wonderfully. I've also met her other staff members and teachers, and you can truly sense that these people genuinely love music and love teaching. It's a fantastic, well-priced music studio in Costa Mesa. I highly recommend checking out Musika Studio if you're looking for a great place for music lessons. They also engage with the community through various events, which is always a bonus when supporting a small business that gives back so much.

This review is for SAOUSAN JARJOUR, who is the studio owner/teacher (who was my daughter's Treble…read moreChoir teacher). Beware of her fake smiles and fake nice voice. Judge her for her actions. Most troubling was Saousan was my daughter's Treble Choir teacher, but she showed zero regards and zero respect for her own student! I am deeply disappointed and upset with the way you handled yesterday's situations, which I lost all trust and respect for you. You did not honor your offers for the trial lessons, and you made it our fault when your teacher did not have the correct sized violin for my daughter. YOU WASTED ALL OF OUR TIMES. It was clear my son's trial classes for drums and guitar were not communicated to Andrew, as Andrew told us he was only scheduled for only one instrument for 30-minutes. While he enjoyed his time with Andrew, my son was sad that he felt rushed for the time having to do 2 instruments in the 30-minute slot, while knowing that his sister received a full 30-minute trial piano lesson, and was also scheduled for another full 30-minutes for trial violin lesson. Only when I asked you about this that you said that we had to pay if we wanted the trial lessons to be longer, which you never communicated in all of our emails exchanges prior. It was clear you made many excuses and you changed the rules whenever it suited you when you could've just taken responsibility for your mistakes. For my daughter's violin trial lesson, Erin told me that she didn't have the correct violin size for my daughter's trial lesson. Then you made it be our fault when you told me that we needed to bring own violin to trial class. Through all of our communication exchanges in writing/emails over 2 weeks, not once did you mention that we were required to bring a violin for her trial class. If you had told us, we would have gladly gotten it for her for her trial. It is beyond absurd for you to even expect any families to bring instruments their child has never played to a trial class, especially not letting them know they had to ahead of time. So my daughter was sad as well as the trial class she had been looking forward to was cancelled. Even through all of this, I still thought of giving you another chance when I told you that I'd like to reschedule the violin trial lesson, but that thought was short lived when you did not to let us leave your studio. You acknowledged that I was upset (because how else was I supposed to feel being treated this way? Certainly not with smiles and gratitude) and I told you I'd call you so my daughter did not have to endure this mess. The mess that you created by not honoring your words for the trial lessons, and for not taking responsibility for not having the correct sized violin. What was most egregious and made us decide never to come back, is when I told you about these issues in passing, and that I would call you at a later time, but you refused to listen, chased us outside your studio leaving your own student, who had private piano lesson WITH YOU at the time (on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 4:30pm) in your piano room alone. I would hate to be that child's parent who paid you for their child's private lesson with you because he did not receive the full time for his lesson because you felt entitled to continue to lie to us. You made all of this about yourself and with your long list of excuses. I was clear in that I did not want to discuss things with my daughter next to me, but you refused to have any consideration for her, or listen to my request as the parent/client. Then you further disrespected us with by patronizing us as if money was an issue regarding the violin. It was never about money, it was about wasting my son's time, my daughter time, and our whole family's time. These sequence of events were truly appalling. Learn to listen to your clients. Honor your words. Know that some conversations should be had between adults, without your students around. You owe ALL of the families to whom you serve and their children - YOUR STUDENTS - their time and respect. By your actions of entitlement, you also did a disservice to your own team of teachers, with whom my children would have loved to work with but we refuse to support you and your business. In the parking lot, you begged us for a second chance, but there is absolutely no way that we could trust you to be around and teach our children ever again. Your begging for another chance showed us that you only cared about the money you suddenly realized that you lost. You should've done the math before you offer trial lessons that you won't honor. You should do better, as a person and a professional.

I discovered McCormick a year ago when I found a beginner's open jam session on Meetup. At that…read moretime I had been learning bass for about 5 years on my own through YouTube tutorials and tabs. It used to take me several weeks just to learn one whole song at tempo. Improvisation skills were at zero. Plus, I didn't know anyone else who played an instrument, so I wasn't making much progress. The two times I had previously attempted joining a random open jam, I was completely lost and frustrated. But then I attended that first McCormick jam session... What I love about the open jams is that it's run by an instructor, so they'll often suggest easier songs and run through the chords on a whiteboard before starting. The people that attend are welcoming and friendly for all skill levels, and it's nice to see the same faces come back each month. Beginner/intermediate players get a chance to play along to easier songs, but there's also a chance for more advanced players to improvise and solo. I wound up having so much fun that first time, that I signed up for private lessons the week after, and have been going to the monthly jam sessions ever since. If you take private lessons, you can also sign up to join a student band that practices once a week to perform at concerts 4x a year. For beginners/intermediate who think they're not good enough to join a band, or if none of your friends are musically inclined, this is PERFECT. No matter who much you practice by yourself and can play along to a recording at home, it doesn't beat playing live in a group. Private lessons + band practice + monthly jams have seriously leveled up my skills in the past year. Now, I can learn a song well enough to survive a jam session with only a couple run throughs beforehand if I've never heard it before. I can survive a 12 bar blues jam without any prep. Plus I've also connected with a couple people during the jam sessions, and am now learning 3-4 new songs each week! Also, shout out to Jules who's helped me learn songs much faster by simplifying basslines that I thought were too hard to play, and getting me to work more on listening and improvisation instead of relying 100% on tabs. He's an excellent and encouraging teacher, and I've picked up tons of tips and advice in the past year. Really happy I found McCormick! I've always loved playing an instrument, but it's 100x more fun if you get to play with other people.

Amazing teacher, amazing students , amazing learning environment to really grow and harness…read moremusical skills. I would give it 10,000 stars if I could.

My daughter has been taking piano lessons at WePlay Music since she was 6 years old--we have been…read morewith the school for 8 years now and absolutely love it! They do a fantastic job supporting their students through wonderful teachers, regular recitals, and the structured RCM program. For the last two years, she has been studying with Mr. Felix, and he is incredible. He truly brings out the best in his students. Because of his guidance, my daughter's love for playing the piano has grown so much more. We highly recommend WePlay Music and Mr. Felix!

I've restarted piano classes with Mr. Felix after having not had classes for nearly 37 years. I was…read morenervous that I wouldn't be able to play at the level that I used to, but his patience, kindness and encouragement had my fingers moving again. I appreciate the personal take on how to approach my specific situation and potential to maybe finish the last two years of the RCM curriculum one day, that I began over 40 years ago. I recommend Mr. Felix to anyone who wants to learn to play for the love of music. I am so glad I have reunited with this art form and reminded myself how good music is for the soul!

Best place for children's music education by far. All the teachers are professional,…read morecompassionate, knowledgeable, supportive, attentive and highly qualified. My kids have had a few teachers and they're all amazing. The staff and director are equally great and they have my complete respect and trust. We also appreciate how they provide opportunities for solo and ensemble performances as well as competitions. Their curriculum and programs are designed to train children to obtain adequate skills to become professional musicians.

My daughter has been receiving piano education at Yamaha in Irvine since she was 6 years old. She…read morehas been studying piano at Yamaha for more than 3 years now. Through systematic and detailed study here, the teacher led my daughter to participate in many piano performances and taught her how to calmly express her elegance in public. She can demonstrated her understanding and love for art. My family and I are so proud of her. There is a great learning atmosphere, a humble teaching style, and tuition fees that are below the market. We like Yamaha, as well as the teaching teachers and front desk teachers here. If you want your children to get cost-effective music and art learning, I recommend Irvine Yamaha to you guys.

**Highly Recommend Mr. Joseph!** Mr. Joseph is an incredible…read moredrum coach! He has been teaching my son for more than 3 years now, and the progress has been amazing. My son absolutely looks up to him as the "GOAT" and has started taking his drumming so much more seriously because of his mentorship. What makes Mr. Joseph truly stand out is how exceptionally well he prepares students for the big stages. Whether it's practicing for individual recitals or keeping up with the intense precision needed for drumline, his teaching style is spot-on. He knows exactly how to motivate kids, build their confidence, and teach excellent technique. We are so grateful for his dedication over the years!

Mr. Felix truly cares about his students and creates a positive, supportive environment where they…read morecan thrive. My child always looks forward to his lessons, and we couldn't be happier with the experience. I highly recommend Mr. Felix to any family looking for a dedicated, talented, and inspiring piano teacher.