Both of my kids have  had a wonderful experience at California Conservatory of Music. They started…read morelearning since 2007 and it has been great. Chris Mallett is such a great teacher, very patient, encouraging, and great with kids. He made learning guitar fun while still helping my children build strong skills and confidence. My kids always looked forward to every lesson and have continued playing guitar even though they are in college.  I really appreciate the positive environment and the way the instructors inspire a love for music. I highly recommend this school to any parent looking for a great place for their child to learn guitar. Thank you for instilling the passion for music in my children's lives!!

I love coming here all the time! I have the best teacher here. She's very smart and tells me all…read moreabout music sheet and about how to improve my singing as well. Great place for anyone interested in learning music.

We started at NCMAC with piano and voice classes for my children and myself, with Ms. Georgianna…read more It is rare to find a teacher like her-- not only is she passionate about teaching piano and encouraging her pupils to make the most of their potential, she makes it so much fun that we look forward all week to our classes! What I appreciate most of all is that she genuinely has our best interests at heart and we learn in the right way, and in a manner best suited to our individual personality and ability. I also believe that Ms. Mary and Ms. Trisha, who run NCMAC have a similar philosophy where the children and their interests are at the center of all their decisions. Recitals at NCMAC are about doing your very best, but finding true pleasure in it, and that's how they run NCMAC too. Genuinely thrilled to have found this place and these teachers!

My son goes to NorCal Music for clarinet lessons, and he really enjoys the experience. The owners…read moreand team are so helpful and very flexible offering makeup lessons when there are openings. Highly recommend.

My 9-year old son has been taking piano classes from Claudia for over a year. Claudia is a great…read moreteacher. Claudia is very focused on nurturing my son's passion for music, while being strict (in a very nice way) in ensuring my son develops good piano hand forms and playing techniques. We highly recommend Claudia!

I've been learning here for about 8 months now. Claudia is super nice…read more I'm not a kid and I have occupation so sometimes gets a bit busy and don't have much time to practice. Claudia is very considerate and does not push me in those times which I really appreciate :). She goes a little bit faster when I have time to practice and slower when I don't. She would not force you to practice only on some specific pieces designed for teaching. She'll also get interesting jazz music or some movie music or something interesting for you to play. For me I learned to play an easy version of memory and some mini-jazz. So I'm pretty sure you won't get bored. I am continuing in her classes and I would recommend this class :)

I've been taking lessons for about 3 months.. My teacher is Mr. Wilson , im learning to play the…read moreguitar ... Incredible teacher, plays with u .. So it actually enjoyable. ,it sounds like music . Even tho I'm a novice the class is undivided attention with Mr. WILSON. Recommend if u wanna learn Music. Please get with Mr Wilson ... Great School...

Mark is a fantastic guitar instructor. Not only does he teach you music that you want to learn but…read morealso opens your mind to other genres. From jazz to funk to classical, Mark demonstrates proficiency in the genre and is able to explain easily what he is playing and why it works.

I went to Starving Musician (Santa Clara) in search of an electric drum amplifier and an Epiphone…read moreSheraton. I was in luck this day as I found both a brand new e-drum amplifier and a used Sheraton at fair prices. Looking the guitar over I noticed the nut for the instrument jack was loose and asked that it be tightened prior to purchasing. On a semi-hollow & hollow body guitars this can be a tedious task, hence why I asked for assistance. The guitar tech, Dimitri, stopped what he was doing and went above and beyond my expectations to remedy the problem. It was not a quick fix and he kept me updated throughout the process. Starving Musician is my first stop when looking for music gear. They have been around as long as I can remember and offer the best trade-in value for your used gear. Always a great experience.

Basically a great place for nice condition used equipment at decent prices with sales people to…read morehelp you with your selection. You can also sell some of your stuff here. However, sometimes.... ? A few days ago, I got this... I came in to sell or consign an 8 track reel to reel Tascam 38 in hardly used, pristine condition, value $800-1,000+. I was told that they do not sell this kind of thing and to go to Rasputin or Street Light. ????

Reviewing as a total music novice family. We needed to rent a violin for my 5th grader for…read moreorchestra. We could not have been more helpful, patient and kind helping us set up a rental. Similarly, when we made the return at the end of the school year, the process was seamless! Highly recommend!

I have tried coming to the store twice now looking for help with clarinets. First time was about…read morerenting one and the second was inspecting one we had donated. Both times we had very bad experiences. The first experience made me feel dumb like as if I should know more the process of renting an instrument. The second experience, the gentleman helping me and explaining to me about fixing the instrument, answered the phone mid explaining, seemed to put the person on hold and then literally mid sentence stopped talking and answered the phine again and walked away. Even my child said he was rude. The second person who took over again made me feel dumb as if I should know everything about this instrument. I will not be going back to this store again

As of this writing (November 10, 2025) I have been taking weekly half-hour long lessons with Jes…read moresince the beginning of August 2025. I stopped playing when I graduated from high school in the very early 1990s. Prior to that I had minimal formal instruction (2 years of elementary school instruction coupled with 2 summers of paid lessons). I faked my way through middle and high school orchestra in the subsequent 7 years with a combination of bad habits and truly poor technique. Jes has been an absolutely wonderful instructor to work with. I told her about my background and she has been extremely accommodating and helpful in curing me of the bad habits and poor technique that I retained after over a third of a century. She has an amazing knowledge of historical cello technique and pedagogy and has been applying it in dragging me out of 1983 and into this century. She has really gone out of her way to set me on the path to growth.

I've been learning cello from Jes for nearly an year. It was very hard to find a teacher as an…read moreadult at first, but Jes eased me into the cello with her talented, experienced teaching skill and depth of knowledge not just in cello but also with music theory. She catored towards my goal, so I got to play pieces I wanted quickly without sacrificing all the basic knowledge and skills necessary to be a good cellist! Shes the best yay!

Great service and selection of sheet music is extensive…read more One of the few music stores left.

Used to visit when store was on 262 Castro, about 1 mile from new location. Bought my first…read moreelectric guitar and Pignose amp here. Helpful staff and fair prices. So rare to have a local music store nowadays. I have to go here or Allegro in Fremont, both about 11 or 12 miles away, but a lot more traffic getting to Mountain view.

If I could give this place negative stars I would. My family has attended this church for years. So…read moreit made sense to sign me up for music school here when I was a child. I was so traumatized here that I did not want to have anything to do with music classes for years after. That was years ago. We still attend and love this church. But the music place I had my daughter in raised their prices and I began looking for a new school. After one of my daughters Sunday school friend's mom spoke highly of the music school, I thought I would give it another shot. Afterall it had been many years ago. I am pulling my daughter out. It has been about a month, and her music teacher is rude, unprofessional, condescending and demeaning! For the past 3 wks when I have picked my daughter up from class, this teacher has whined, complained, lectured and has made snide comments to me in front of my daughter! Even turning her back while making snide remarks in a crowded walkway. Today was the last straw. I work nights so sometimes my mother helps out by picking my daughter up. I found out that this woman has been equally as rude and nasty to my mother. Just think, if this is how they talk to the parents and grandparents, how do you think they talk to the children? My daughter is only 6!

I took voice lessons here for 6 months and didn't really improve much. My teacher was Michael…read moreStahl, super nice guy but not a very good teacher. It almost seemed that he was scared to ever give critique which would benefit me, and when I switched teachers I was told that my technique was poor. Maybe this place is more for kids, but I should've been told to go to another teacher if my age group was outside of their area of expertise.

Dr. Jamie Del Priore has been an important part of our daughters' musical journeys for many years…read more Our oldest has been studying with Dr. Jamie for over 10 years, since she was four, and our younger daughter has been with her for six years, also starting at age four. Dr. Jamie is an exceptionally knowledgeable teacher with an impressive breadth of musical knowledge. She is gentle, patient, and kind, while still setting clear expectations that encourage her students to grow. She also has a wonderful musical sensibility and teaches her students not only how to play with strong technique, but how to shape a piece with expression, nuance, and beauty. Under her guidance, both of our daughters have developed into advanced pianists, taking on increasingly challenging repertoire while growing in musicality and confidence. We feel very fortunate to have had Dr. Jamie teach both of our girls and are so grateful for the role she has played in shaping them as musicians.

I have had two lessons with Jamie so far and I am appreciative of her help. I am a bit of an…read moreoddball student. I took piano as a child and have had a relationship with music my whole life, but have lost what piano-related muscle memory I once may have had. She was able to adjust and give me what seem like the right set of challenges and exercises to help me grow. She was able to find a convenient spot in the schedule for me and the price is right. She has periodic recitals as well, so there are opportunities to perform, which is a very good thing, particularly for younger students.