Matthew is, hands down, the best music instructor I've ever had, on any topic…read more My musical background - both in theory and technique - is pretty scattered. After college, I decided I wanted to learn the cello, so I searched Craigslist to find a teacher. I recognized Matthew's name from Ifshin's and he had a good review from the Berkeley Parents Network, so I decided to schlep up to El Cerrito (from South Berkeley, without a car, with a large instrument) to attend a lesson. Matthew was able to quickly, accurately, fluidly gauge what topics I understood and which I needed help on, and immediately cobbled together a lesson in which I felt not a single minute was wasted. I came away from that lesson feeling like I'd learned more from him in an hour that I'd learned from other teachers in six months. I was hooked. Since I already had a basic background in music theory, Matthew jumped pretty quickly into teaching me straight from repertoire. Matthew himself is quite an excellent musician - very artistic and expressive - and gives similarly excellent instruction on musicianship. He has the unusual ability of being extremely precise about what he wants you, the student, to do to achieve a given effect. (And is very good at being precise from several different approaches until you have that 'a-ha!' moment.) He's been very patient with me on the days that my head just hasn't been in the game and very persistent in making sure I get something out of those lessons, anyhow. Because of his high degree of achievement in cello and his patience, innovation, and keen intellect, Matthew would probably be a wonderful teacher from everyone from complete novices to seasoned professionals. (He does, in fact, teach both these levels, but I can only speak from my own experience. :P ) I have moved towns twice since I started taking lessons with him and, six years later, he is still absolutely worth the transbay drive.

I am very lucky to have found Matthew as a cello teacher. I started to learn to play the cello as a…read morebeginner since almost a year and can strongly recommend him as a teacher. It has been an amazing experience for me to play the cello ever since I started my lessons with Matthew. He is amazing, extremely patient and explains musical concepts and the cello as an instrument to an adult with great precision. In addition, he has a great ability to communicate and can provide explanations to you that suits perfectly well to the way you can understand, which is essential for learning. He always has an analogy to an everyday movement when you learn a new technique that is a great help. Matthew is a remarkable person and has a great personality. He can combine his understanding of humans with his teaching extremely well. Although sometimes your own performance might not be the best (e.g. because you could not practice enough for the lesson) at each lesson you learn a lot and have a smile on your face after you leave the lesson. What I like the most about Matthew's teaching is that he has an exceptional sense of creativity and tries to unmask this ability in his students.

Harry is clearly a very talented pianist, but not suited for teaching in my opinion. Granted that I…read morehave had only had one lesson with him and am not making this decision off of much personal experience, I think it is important that I share this experience with others so that they may take any of the given information into consideration when selecting a piano instructor. I think it's important to preface this by saying that quality instructors, regardless of the subject matter that they are teaching, will share a common set of characteristics that make them so. They will be good listeners and adjust their teaching style to the student's needs. They work with the student to understand the student's goals and devise a structured plan to help them get to that point. An effective student-teacher relationship cannot be achieved without sufficient student-teacher interaction. Just as the teacher questions the student on his/her current skill level and goals in an effort to gain a solid understanding of how he/she can help the student, the student should question the teacher and ask about the teacher's background, skill level, and how he/she will help the student achieve his/her goals. This is not the experience I had with Harry during our first lesson. As a college student, I am financially limited and thus have to make the best use of the money that I have. This means I have to put a lot of effort into finding a quality instructor, which further implies that I must spend time working to understand the instructor's methods, techniques, and plan for helping me eventually get to the point where I want to be. During our lesson, I asked Harry a lot of questions, to say the least. I told him my goals with learning the piano and throughout our lesson kept asking questions about whether I will be able to do ___ or achieve ___ given the path that we were going to follow. Harry wanted to stick to the absolute basics during our first lesson, which is completely normal and fair, but interpreted my questions as my "being a very resistant and skeptical learner", and that I "didn't trust his methods". I kept trying to clarify that this wasn't the case and that I trusted his methods but I was rather trying to gauge him as an instructor, our curriculum, and thus get a more structured and comprehensive idea of how we were going to proceed with future lessons. He kept cutting me off and I had to repeatedly (3 or 4 times) request him to let me finish my train of thought before he let me do so. When I repeated myself to try and clarify that I wasn't trying to be rude or skeptical, he replied "Yeah, that's about the tenth time you've mentioned that today" in quite a snarky manner. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I felt as though he crossed the line for basic human decency and behavior. He was rude and off-putting, which is rather unacceptable even outside of professional or student-teacher contexts. The worst remark that he made, in my opinion, wasn't even rude but was rather shocking to hear a teacher say. I told him that if I sounded skeptical, it was because I was trying to make the best use of my money and find an instructor that suits my personality and learning style. He complained that all of my questions were eating into our time, and when I mentioned how I would have been okay with not even touching the piano given that it is our first lesson and I wanted to use it to get a solid understanding of the teacher, his style, and how we would progress throughout our learning journey, he replied "well that's just a waste of money". Just as one should not select a cosmetic surgeon without understanding the procedure, the surgeon's personality, and how they will help you achieve the look you desire, one should not select an instructor without gaining a comprehensive understanding of the teacher, his/her teaching style, and their method of helping you achieve your goals. Given my experience, I would strongly recommend that individuals looking to receive piano instruction look elsewhere.

Harry is a passionate and knowledgeable teacher. With decades of experience as a performer and…read moreeducator his love for playing is contagious and inspiring. I thoroughly enjoyed studying with him and he has provided me with a refreshed foundation in jazz and a wealth of information that I'll continue to build upon for many years to come. Highly recommended!

I studied flute as a boy and took it up a couple times again as an adult. Encouraged by a concert…read moreflutist friend this year, I took up the instrument again. Buying a better instrument helped a lot, but I soon hit a wall with my amateur technique, and I discovered that Sujatha was teaching nearby in Berkeley. What an extraordinary stroke of luck that was, as Sujatha is by far the best music teacher I've ever had. My flute playing is now growing in leaps and bounds. I am now learning quickly (and unlearning bad habits), and am inspired to practice a half-hour to hour every day. Sujatha's lessons are joyful, enthusiastic, fast-paced, and targeted to just what I need. Despite my amateur abilities, she treats my musical aspirations with deep respect, and challenges me right to the edge of what I'm capable of each week, so that my playing abilities swiftly grow. I'm now able to sight read music--at least on a basic level--and am learning things I never learned from any music teacher before about the phrasing and expression of music (not just the basics of getting the notes and tempo correct). Sujatha herself is an extraordinarily skilled musician, conservatory-trained, who performs regularly in the Bay Area. She studies with her own master teacher, and passes on those insights to her students. I recommend Sujatha highly for anyone who wants to discover the joy of music, and to grow their musical abilities with a joyful, exuberant soul.

I found Sujatha after trying quite a bit to find someone that would teach adult lessons. She was…read morevery kind and warm from the very first conversation to all the lessons I have had over many months now. Most importantly she is very patient and encouraging through the struggles of learning something entirely new at a point in life when learning a new skill is not the easiest thing. In addition to learning from Sujatha I have also been at her performance and she is very skilled and a beautiful flute player herself. After some of my initial hesitations and self doubt of whether I'd be able to learn, whether I would enjoy it or whether I would have the energy to sustain my learning I discovered at the end of three months that I was really enjoying learning and decided to invest in buying a flute and returning my rental flute. She also very graciously helped take me to to a store and shop for my flute at a local store where she is very well known. For anyone looking to learn I can say for sure you are going to enjoy learning from Sujatha if you have the motivation to learn :)

So glad to see Jim active as he is the best news in progressive jazz modes…read more.. It is so simply put with no charades and judgmental posturing I have encountered before. I passed on my experiences to others who were mystified by some of the rhetoric and needed help with ear training... I was relieved to see how much could be cleared up. His courses helped me communicate better to other soloists in my band.

Jim Grantham writes the books the musicians play. He is "The Source" for Jazz Theory and Practice…read moreand presents clearly, concisely and with precision. He spans a 40+ year career as a player and teacher, and plays with the best. If you are serious about music and love Jazz, study w/ Jim. He's the best!

Phenomenal. Kristin is an amazing patient, creative teacher who meets students where they are and…read moreworks with them. Really appreciate how much my kid (and I) learned working with her.

I'm excited to write this parent testimonial for Piano Everyone. My 10 year old daughter has been…read moreworking with Kristin for four years and my 8 year old son has been working with her for a year and a half. My children have very different personalities and temperaments and Kristin knows how to work with each of them well. She has been a skilled, dedicated and inspiring teacher for both of my kids. Kristin is extremely positive and encouraging and demonstrates the much needed patience in working with children. She listens to them and also holds them accountable for their in class and out of class piano practice. She tries to pair the kids with other kids who are at their level or who will challenge them appropriately. I enjoy coming to her home space and observing the way she works with all of the kids in her studio. Kristin also uses technology well to help the kids practice via video and is easy to connect with outside of practice hours. I'm grateful I found such a kind and loving person to introduce music into my kids' lives. I like working with Kristin because she is patient and supportive. ~(my 8 yr. old). I did not know piano, now I do. ~ (my 10 yr old).

Do not attend this school--I attend the classes and paid for the entire DJ course early and never…read morereceived my certificate

I started my music journey awhile ago, but didn't really feel like I was progressing so reached out…read moreto Anthem to see what my options were. I found the classes well worth the price, and also realized I completely missed the value of music education in general. After so many years of youtube tutorials and tips I knew all of the lingo and how the fx worked etc, but not really the process. This truly helped unlock that, music is a process and not a collection of facts that lead you to something great. This paired with a focus on developing and understanding myself as an artist has made music so much more refreshing and exciting, it's truly a pleasure to create all over again-kudos to kyle and team!

As someone new to the cello, I found Crystal to be an excellent teacher. Her lesson plans were well…read morethought out, and it's very evident that she has ample experience teaching others. She was able to quickly assess which areas I needed to work on first, and used easy to follow methods so that I would feel confident practicing at home. She displayed patience, understanding, and a sense of humor that definitely set a positive mood, which can be crucial when attempting to learn a new instrument and feel good doing so. All of these conditions led me to come into the next week's lesson eager to demonstrate what I'd worked on over the prior week. I'm glad that I found Crystal, and wholeheartedly recommend her as a teacher.

He's a great jazz piano instructor. He's patient and obviously very good at what he does.read more

Josh has to be one of the best music instructors in the area…read more I am largely self taught and have tried private lessons over the past 10 years and am usually left disappointed. This is not the case with Josh. I still mostly teach myself but I find myself coming back to him over and over again to check in with my progress so that he could make adjustments. Even though at a certain level I think everyone eventually teaches themselves I now see the value of finding someone who knows his/her stuff to guide you and check in once in awhile. Josh seems to have a natural talent for psychology , which I have found to be one of the most important factors for teaching music. He is able to diagnose habitual errors and try to correct your practicing so that it is productive and fun. He is also one of the few teachers I have had that really tries to get to know what kind of music the student is into, regardless of how simple or complex it is. I could send him tunes ranging from Debussy to folk songs to get him to know the 'sound' I am trying to chase. Needless to say, the guy knows his music inside out. He is best known for klezmer music but I came to him for Jazz. He understands jazz theory and can simplify the concepts (without dumbing it down) to make it practical. He also is trained classically so he brings a deep understanding of the structure of harmony, which can give you insight into your own compositions. All in all if you could afford lessons I highly recommend Josh. If you can't afford weekly lessons I still recommend taking a lesson every once in awhile with him when you are in a rut-- you will be surprised at all the insights he could bring from one lesson.