I was referred here by a family friend for guitar and vocals for my daughter and my son. I went in…read moreto check out the school a few weeks ago the two teachers I was referred to are no longer teaching there. I met who I am guessing is the manager his name was Adam or Alex? He tried to talk me into guitar with one of the other teachers but I was extremely surprised that the teachers are all kids. I was really excited that they opened up and are so close to my house however they want $300 a month to have a 22 year old teach your child. I also was not very excited by the fact that for $300 a month my children would not be learning any theory only music for the show that they would be putting on. When I asked if they could also throw theory and some structured learning in I was told if there is time after they work on the assigned songs that they would be allowed to do so. The man I was speaking with could sense my disdain and got very pushy and when he found out that my children have been in music lessons since they were 3 years old he became very adamant about me joining and talking about the show team and other performance programs my kids could be in, Normally I would be a proud mama bear to hear someone wanting my kids to be part of something so badly, but truthfully I do not want to pay for my children to be in a band I want to pay for my children to have lessons from an accomplished adult so they can learn to play better, not be put on a "show team" to play songs and never learn anything new. I felt as though I was at a used car lot the way the man was talking to me. I also just got a strange vibe off of him. He seemed burned out or like he may have been on something. Definitely not someone I would feel comfortable leaving my child with. I was super disappointed because I had heard such wonderful things about the vocal instructor and the guitar instructor, I was upset to find out that they had left the school, especially when they did not have sufficient teachers to fill their spots. All they could offer as replacement was early 20 somethings to replace them. Basically I got a very bad vibe off of the place. When I visited the only people who were there were the burnt out manager, the guitar teacher who is in his early 20's and the vocal instructor (who I had already been told was not sufficient and that you don't want her, you want to make sure you get the vocal keys teacher).. So all in all I would say skip school of rock glen ellyn and go to school of rock naperville. Thats what I ended up doing. The teachers there are of adult age and have resumes as opposed to the glen ellyn school where the teacher are in college and just working a job. If you go to their website do not be fooled in the staff section the guitar teacher who I was going there to try and sign up with is still on there as the music director which I feel is sneaky and misleading, he is not there anymore they just keep him on there to make them look like they have someone on staff that can actually teach music.

Last Spring we checked out school of rock for my son who was interested in playing drums. We…read moreweren't ready to commit to buying a drum set so we checked out the Rookies program. He had a blast and took to the drums like a fish out of water. Fast forward we enrolled him in Absolute Beginners camp in the summer - with a show on the Friday of the camp. We were amazed at how all the kids learned and preformed several songs after 1 week. Fall we enrolled in lessons and Performance Program. All the kids learn at an incredible rate with weekly one on one's as well as weekly 3 hour rehearsal with his group. I feel it would have taken years at a lower cost lesson only program for him to get to the level he's at in 5 months. In addition all of the staff and other kids are awesome. School of Rock will quickly become a second family for anyone who attends.

The word 'frustration' is not even enough to express our experience with Musical Expressions…read more Our 10 year old son was going to attend a piano recital organized by the company. We paid for it a month ahead of the time, cleared our schedules, even had extended family informed. It was supposed to be at 9:45 this morning at a church. We had grandparents from out of town drive 2.5 hours so that they can be a part of it. We bought our son a new suit and dress shoes, as we were emailed by the teacher about the dress code, no gym shoes. We bought flowers to give to our son afterwards to congratulate him. Not even mentioning hours of practice he did for the event and the excitement he had. ALL to get a call 10 minutes prior the event, when we were already in the church parking lot, informing us that the event got cancelled. THE REASON: they could not get into the church. There was ONE, SINGLE, point of contact they had with the church, who failed to show up to let them in. I went to the office as I believe I needed more of an explanation. The staff and owners did not even accept responsibility for this: 'Church person did not show up!'. When I said the place you pick is your responsibility, all they can say was we can happily refund you for the recital money. How are you going to refund the disappointment, frustration and waste of time? Also couple months ago, our teacher was not available for two weeks. Their scheduling is so NOT flexible that they could not schedule make up classes for us at all. We ended up specifically demanding a refund for those classes as they tried to schedule something for weeks but were unable to do so. Our son has been taking classes here for two years now. We love our teacher. But this level of ineptitude displayed by the staff and the owners is just beyond comprehension.

I came to Musical Expressions to re-learn the guitar. since I hadn't played in at least 40 years. I…read morewant to have fun and learn some basic musical theory. Preston is my guitar instructor. He is patient and and personable and is the perfect fit for my music educational needs. The staff is professional and very accommodating. Due to a new work schedule, I've had to reschedule two of my lessons without any issues. I highly recommend Musical Expressions.

Excellent music school for taking lessons whether you're a beginner or intermediate.read more

My granddaughter made a lot of progress in this music camp this summer. It was a great opportunity…read moreto meet and perform with other students.

My daughter recently performed in her first School of Rock "gig" since beginning to take guitar…read morelessons there. I had not seen the SOR bands perform before. Going in to the performance, I keptr my expectations in check for my daughter, both in terms of her comfort of being on stage and her playing ability. My expectations for the performances overall were tempered as well. I think I expected children to miss notes and to get off rhythm occasionally. I was so impressed with how polished the bands actually sounded. They were all playing music I really enjoy, and doing it really well. I'm even more excited to see how my daughter progresses going forward, and I'm legitimately looking forward to future performances, simply for the chance to listen to good music played well. Thank you to administrators and the instructors for making School of Rock fun for my daughter and for obviously doing such a good job teaching the children to play music.

The staff and teachers are all very personable and extremely friendly. They seem to really care…read moreabout the students and helping us succeed. Collin is also very fair at trying to make sure we are treated fairly when it comes to getting fair value for what we pay for by way of rescheduling lessons and/or crediting us to compensate when makeup lessons aren't an option. *Update as of 12/30/2017 I wrote my previous review based on my personal experience with the intention of returning to resume lessons after taking a short hiatus. I was informed 2 nights ago by a friend that School of Rock abruptly ended their adult program without giving the adult students any notice. I still stand by my positive praise for the teachers. They are great. However this sudden move to end a program that many of us enjoyed and looked forward to without warning is disappointing. This move applies to only 3 locations owned by the same owner. Perhaps there are other SOR facilities that are managed more effectively to accommodate the workload?? I will miss going there and miss the instructors. My experiences with the Elmhurst teachers are nothing less than great. My disappointment with the sudden abandonment of the adult program without any notice remains intact.

We've been with WMA for almost a year now. My kids love their teachers and are making amazing…read moreprogress in their ability to play guitar and violin. My 11 year old son can't wait for his lessons and my 9 year old daughter truly loves playing her violin with Patrycja. The school offers much more than just music lessons, it's a community of young musicians and teachers who really care about their students' growth. They love music and you really feel that they care about instilling the same passion in your child. The school constantly offers fun initiatives and events that bring the kids together. We've tried other schools and they do not even compare to WMA. I wish we found this place sooner!

Dirk has been teaching my son for over 6 years now. He is fantastic - he has a great way of…read moreengaging the kids to learn and grow. He makes learning fun - quite often brings his guitar for jam sessions. Dirk's excellent teaching skills helped my son lead the drum line at his high school for two years. Lastly, he is a great role model for kids. Very genuine individual who will be a great teacher for your child.

My son has been taking private lessons from Dirk for years. Dirk relates and communicates very well…read morewith his students. He not only teaches, he is in a band as well. This makes him very relatable and current in the music scene. My son has done very well in marching band and band thanks to his continued guidance from Dirk. I also love that he comes to our house. So much easier than getting in a car to drive to lessons. Dirk is a great guy, very orgainized and trustworthy. I would highly recommend him.

My 14 year old son joined Garage Band U two years ago playing the electric guitar. Jamie, the…read moreowner, found a wonderful group of boys the same age to create a rock band with a singer, guitar, bass guitar and drums players. Playing in front of people has given them so much confidence and it's been so fun watching them improve with each performance. They have played to large crowds at Tailgaters in Bolingbrook, Ballydoyle's in Downers Grove, and Grove Fest in Downers Grove. Charlie, their band director, has done a terrific job helping them to perform as a group and helping with stage presence.

I can't say enough good about my experience at Garage Band U. It was absolutely fantastic…read more I'm relatively new to guitar, only playing for about 15 months. At the urging of my teacher, I enrolled in Garage Band U to help advance my skills. I was rather nervous going into it....Being on stage playing guitar is (well, now a "was") bucket list item for me. I've always wanted to do it, but didn't think I'd ever be able to. James helped to pull together a great group of people to play together. His practice area is great, his direction was spot-on, he helped us pick songs that would work well and then provided input on how to best play them. All this culminated in a set at a local bar which incidentally went great! It feels great to be able to check this one off my list, but all it's done is made me anxious to sign up again. I can't do it next semester, as I need to be home a bit more, but I will definitely be back in the fall. What might be most amazing about James' program - the wide range of ages that participate. I'm guessing that there were people ranging from approx. 9 to 55 in the program, and they all sounded great. Thank you, James, for a great experience, and I look forward to working with you again! I'll be seeing you soon.

My daughter has been taking voice and piano lessons for almost a decade with Kimberly (as she works…read morereally well with any age.) We absolutely are so proud of what our daughter has learned. Kimberly is the type of teacher who adapts to each student and meets them where they are, she knows how much to push without adding stress. My kid is really sensitive and nervous but was instantly at ease with Kimberly. She loves going to her lessons. Also, she always gets to perform really trendy songs or good classics. Kimberly constantly makes new audio recordings of our kid's latest songs which we share with family. The recitals are sometimes in a cafe and they're wonderful but not mandatory. She works out of Downers and Aurora. She's given us all a gift.

Never met a music teacher with such laser focus and aptitude in finding a students strengths. Her…read morestudio is equipped with state of the art recording equipment and musical instruments to meet her students needs. We felt encouraged and right at home. She is supportive and puts her students at the ease. If you are fortunate to get a spot in her schedule you will not be disappointed.