My son really enjoys the instructors and the private lesson, then group time format. He has really…read moreblossomed as a musician. I've seen him improve much quicker than when he took private lessons at a guitar center.

School of Rock has changed my life forever. I am a vocalist there, and there are so many different…read moreopportunities there for me to grow as a musician. School of Rock is the place to be.

Area musicians, especially non-guitar players, have to be thankful for a store like Schmitt. It's…read morejust about the only place you can get repairs on your woodwind and brass instruments locally. Add in school band instruments and supplies, sheet music for beginners and professionals alike, enough guitar equipment to satisfy axe heads in a pinch plus a large showroom of pianos, and you have a centrally-located music store that's been serving Omaha for decades. There's also practice rooms on the lower level if you or your kids are interested in taking private lessons from local teachers. I took clarinet and saxophone lessons at Schmitt from Leonard Eby. As much as I hated going there with my brother and dad just about every Sunday for 10-plus years, the musical education Eby provided me with is invaluable and helped earn and keep first chair in the wind ensemble throughout high school. Not to mention build the foundation of a smalltime music career that has allowed me to play on the best stages of Omaha and travel from NYC to LA and play at international music festivals such as SXSW. Going in there yesterday to buy some clarinet reeds for the first time since the early 2000s reminded me of all this. I'm so glad Schmitt is still here. Hopefully it'll be here forever.

I have taken guitar lessons here for almost a year and a half. My instructor is excellent - just…read moreright for my learning style and musical tastes. I've spoken to other students with other instructors, and they were happy also. A lot bigger facility than it appears from the outside. Nice auditorium on the upper floor for recitals. Staff is friendly especially now that they've seen me every week for so long. Good selection of sheet music.

This place is incredible. Super knowledgeable and accommodating. Great communication and results.read more

From the owner: I believe each instrument and bow is an individual, with its own voice and characteristics and I…read moretreat them as such. What works for one instrument or bow does not always work for another, so I strive to realize and maximize the sound potential of each instrument, and the performance of each bow by understanding what is needed/desired by the player and balancing that with their instrument and bow. In short, come in today for: - Personally selected instruments, bows, and cases. - Professional repairs, re-hairs, set-up and adjustments. - Rosin, strings, mutes and other accessories. - Maximizing sound and comfort while playing. - High quality rentals. Listening to the player and/or parent to make sure I understand and meet their needs while staying on budget.

Mary and Craig Bircher have been Omaha Symphony musicians since 1981 so when I heard they played…read moreweddings (harp and trumped, respectively), I knew we had to book them. They're professional performers, 100%. Fantastically talented people that play with heart and soul in every beautiful performance.

Shurthing played for our wedding in May and it was fantastic! Their business manager, Lavonne, met…read morewith us early in the process and we walked through the contract, music sets, and announcements that we wanted for the reception. She was easy to work with and extremely professional. We wanted a special song for our wedding dance and the band learned the song so they could play it for us - we were very happy about that! On the day of the reception, the band set up and everything went smoothly! We asked the band to do some additional scripting at the last minute and Jim did a great job with his "on the fly" cake cutting announcements. Lavonne was at the reception and made sure the night went smoothly. The music was everything we had hoped it would be and we were so happy that Terry took the time to learn a special song just for us. Overall. Surthing made our wedding reception the magical night we had hoped it would be. The music was great, the band and manager were professional and our guests had a wonderful time. Thank you, Shurthing and Lavonne!

My sister hired ShurThing for her wedding in Aug. As an event planner, I took over to coordinate…read morefor her two weeks out. Lavonne (the manager) called me 3 or 4 times a day for 2 weeks before the wedding. She could not process the timeline I had created & when I asked a few simple questions (how much would it cost to have them play with no breaks, etc.) each one became so convoluted that I stopped answering her calls & just waited until the end of the day to call her back once. She made it so painful to deal with them & get a plan into place that we ended up giving up some of the playing time that we paid for just because it wasn't worth it to deal with her anymore. She would tell me something was fine & then call me back the next day & tell me no & every time I got on the phone with her it was a 30-minute conversation. Fast-forward to the wedding day. We had agreed that the bandleader, Jim, would MC even though the band wouldn't start playing until after dinner & introductions were at 7:30. I went to talk to him during cocktail hour & he had 1 sheet of the 8-page timeline & said that all he was told to do was the bridal party introductions. The insanity of this blows my mind. I talked to Lavonne about this at least 6 times & she made me write down an exact script for him to do the introductions (which I did). By no means did this mean I didn't want him to introduce the toasts, first dances or cake cutting. You are a BAND LEADER who is MC-ING A WEDDING. I am a wedding planner; my timelines are eight pages long & insanely detailed. Having "Bride & groom cut the cake, 8:05 PM, Song title, & Jim's name" by it isn't enough? You can't handle reading that & saying: "The bride & groom are now going to cut their wedding cake!" I was flabbergasted. Jim on the other hand, wasn't fazed & didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that this was all supposed to start in 30 minutes. Lavonne told me she would be there all night, so I asked Jim where she was; nowhere to be found. I called & left a VM for her & went through all of it with my brother so that I had a back up if Lavonne didn't show up & work this out. At 7:15, I had the bridal party lined up & went to tell Jim we were going to be starting soon. Jim wasn't there. I called Jim, left voicemail. I called Lavonne, another voicemail. Finally at 7:25 she called me & told me Jim was on his way into the building. Seriously? 5 minutes before he's supposed to start announcing he's not in the room? I told her that was ridiculous & my brother was already on the mic. Apparently neither of them could be bothered to show up 5 minutes before it was supposed to start. Dancing began & Lavonne stood around all night taking photos & hovering around the dance floor. A bunch of people asked me who she was because it was weird & awkward. The band: good musicians, but they didn't read the crowd at all. Lavonne said they played straight off of the list that my sister & brother-in-law gave her but part of their job is to read the crowd. We wanted people dancing, when you play a song that clears the dance floor, kill it & do a song that will get people back. That's why we HIRED PROFESSIONALS. They did shameless self-promotion. "We're ShurThing come see us next weekend!" So inappropriate to do at a private event when someone is paying you thousands of dollars and after the 2nd time I went up & told them not to do it again, lo & behold at the end of the night, one more shameless plug. Sigh. The party ended, Lavonne came up & said "I'll need the check now." Lovely. I asked my parents about it & found out that my mom had completely forgotten her checkbook in the chaos of getting to the hair salon that morning. I explained that to Lavonne & asked if I could meet her at 7 AM with the check (we were staying downtown & my parents live on 192nd St.) & we wanted to hang out with our family & not drive 30 minutes out & 30 minutes back that night. I said it was our fault, we forgot it, but let's cut each other a little slack since the MC didn't actually MC at all, we both messed up (I used a different four letter word, which later she claims meant I was swearing AT her.) She was adamant that they weren't leaving until they got the check & she was going to call her lawyer (really?), so we went to get it. She called 3 times to ask where we were. Lavonne, I already explained to you that it was going to take an hour to get there & back & you wanted to wait, so wait. I followed up after the wedding, she was not apologetic at all, didn't see any reason why the MC should be there two minutes before he's supposed to be on mic. announcing the bridal party. It was all my fault, she argued with me the entire time: it was like dealing with a 3rd grader (no offense 3rd graders). If I could give them half of a star I would, b/c I guess you should get half a star for showing up & remembering to bring instruments. They did that. There are better musicians that will not make your event a living hell.

I had my first guitar lesson with one of the owners back in 1984 or 85. I've bought and sold a…read morenumber of guitars and amps through MMH over the years and have always been treated with fair, friendly service. Very knowledgeable staff is always helpful and eager to share their expertise along with some good stories. I trust MMH with any instrument repair and service.

We bought a used clarinet from the Millard Music House in 2021 for my daughter who was just…read morestarting band. I am not sure who inspected the instrument prior to us purchasing it but we are now on our second repair. The first issue was discovered by the band director (clarinet not playing the right pitch) at my daughters school and luckily it was caught within the first 30 days of purchase so the clarinet was under warranty. It took almost two weeks to get my daughters clarinet back and they couldn't even tell us what they fixed. Just very odd! This second issue will not be covered. It is disappointing that we have had several issues with the clarinet and have only had it for 5 months. I wonder who inspected this instrument at their store and if they should be conducting any inspections. Very disappointed with purchase and will NOT be going back. I would NOT recommend purchasing an instrument from this place unless you are extremely familiar with instruments and can also do an inspection of what you are purchasing.

Absolute wonderland if you play stringed instruments or even if you just want to look at an…read moreincredible variety of instruments - there are a lot of unique vintage pieces here as well as a great selection of more typical modern ones. So many one-of-a-kind things here. The most beautiful ones are made here by John, the luthier/owner. He's happy to talk to you about instruments and to show you around his shop and the rest of the building - part of it is a vintage theater, the kind that used to be found in all parts of Omaha. Fascinating! Not long ago I stopped in to look at guitars. Mind you, I don't actually PLAY guitar, but I have gotten to a somewhat competent level at ukulele and baritone ukulele, and therefore I am craving the novelty of something new, that I can be bad at. I mentioned this to the woman working there, and she said "well, why don't you just take a class with John and he can teach you to build one"? Wow, this woman GETS ME. A total level up from what I was considering doing. I'm still thinking about doing this. But on this visit, I was just here to get a string, as moments earlier I had purchased a uke at a thrift store and it had a broken string. John had his assistant put on the string. He offered to show me how to put on the string, but since I already know (but just didn't have a string) I looked around the store and stroked a lovely cat on the counter. Which she enjoyed until she abruptly didn't, we know how cats are. Anyway, John wouldn't accept any money for the string or for the putting-on of the string. That was nice. Great place!

Outstanding craftsmanship! I took my old 1978 Giannini guitar for a bridge and crack repair and…read moreeverything came back better than I expected! It is extremely hard to find where the crack was and the bridge looks like it never had come off. Everything sounds and look as it did before. Thank you again for a superb job.

Of all the times I've been here, I can't think of a time when anyone tried asking if I'm okay or do…read moreI need anything. Today I'm looking for a new bass, but will have to go try another place.

I've been going to this Guitar Center since 2011 and seen a lot of changes. They used to have a…read moredecent variety of high end Martin and Gibson guitars, but on my last visit there were very few high end guitars. They did have a large selection of low to middle price fretted instruments but some were not in the best shape. According to the Guitar Center web site, they had variety of guitarlele's and Cordoba Mini II guitars in stock. When I went to the store, they had one guitarlele with a broken 6th string, and one Cordoba Mini II Bass with bad fret buzz on the 1st and 3rd strings. If you are looking for musical accessories, they do have a large stock. But the problem is that on my last few visits the store was severely understaffed. So if anything you want is locked, or requires staff assistance, it can be very difficult to get help. Even paying for your purchases can be problematic, since there was only one register open when I visited and the two staff members behind it seemed more interested in talking with each other than helping customers. I know that corporate Guitar Center has ongoing financial problems, but they need to invest some money back into their stores to make the shopping experience better for customers.