La Jolla Piano Institute

It took me a while (2 years to be exact) to get myself to write this review as my experience here was pretty traumatic to say the least.
I actually applied to work here as a teacher. I had just graduated with my Master’s degree in Piano from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. It was my first time applying for a teaching job (though I had previous teaching experience) and this school was in my area so I applied and got the job.
The school is owned and run by a seemingly friendly old man who turned out to be a stubborn and incorrigible hothead which I believe is a product of his insecurity.
Firstly, he does not take very good care of his employees. The teachers are paid just $ 20 an hour which is a VERY low rate for any level music teacher. The students pay the school $ 70 an hour I’m sure, and the teachers (who do a lot of the work to run the business!) earn not even half of that. At that rate, no teacher is going to stay long term. Students will probably be switching from teacher to teacher often which isn’t good for their progress.
In addition, a requirement of taking the job is to finish 10 hours of unpaid «observation» in which the prospective employee sits in the lessons of other teachers to «learn» how to teach. I wanted the job at first so I sat in a couple lessons (even though I thought it was insulting and unnecessary to try to learn something from teachers who have less credentials than me). From observing the lesson I could tell that neither the teacher nor student was good at their job. The poor kid was playing a piece that was FAR too hard for him and he was struggling! I was concerned about this practice and confronted the owner, in private, about this.
This is where everything went downhill for me and I decided to quit before I even started. When he heard my concern, that I thought the piece was too hard for the kid, he started a very defensive and agitated rampage of why I was wrong and that I don’t know how to teach. He said their school method is to purposely give students hard pieces regardless of whether they can play it or not. (This statement is SO WRONG ON SO MANY LEVELS.) He even proceeded to walk me outside to the lobby and continue reprimanding me in front of other teachers and students’ parents. Not only was it humiliating for me but also totally unprofessional of him to talk to his employee that way in front of parents! He kept going on about how I’m wrong because I am a good performer, therefore I cannot be a good teacher. He said this to me verbatim: «Performers don’t make good teachers. And you are a VERY GOOD PERFORMER.»
I’ll never forget that phrase. Hands down the most ignorant thing I have ever heard from a so-​called musician. I walked out of there and never came back. Work for a crappy boss for a crappy wage? No thanks. (On a side note: I do remember overhearing him talking to another employee, saying how his goal is to make as much money from the students as possible. Go figure.)
Do not send your kids to this school. Whoever works for this kind of d-​bag is desperate for that $ 20/​hour and has no skill to be hired anywhere else. This owner is only after your money and cares NONE about the students’ actual musical progress.

I’ve been a student of Marden, the owner, for many years. I had him as a teacher from when I was 14 – 18, and then, 15 years later when I moved back to Orange County, I tracked him down and am now his student once again, driving from Irvine to the La Jolla piano institute once a month.
That said, I understand that he doesn’t often take students on himself, but I have also had the pleasure of interacting with the other instructors he hires for the institute. I have absolute faith in their grasp of the technicality and musicality of playing — perspective and experience over the last 20 years has shown me just how amazing Marden’s grasp of music is, and he would not tolerate anything less in his instructors.
While I have interacted with the other instructors as a peer rather than as a student and am good friends with one — Michael — in particular, even I get a sense of the fun and appreciation that is injected into the teaching just from our casual conversations. In fact, it is my very interaction with Michael that helps invigorate and maintain my enthusiasm for piano in between my lessons — he has a genuine passion for music and I fully credit him for increasing my practice time by at least 30%. While I appreciate piano and have learned to enjoy it for its own merits, Michael has made it fun to discuss and on many occasions directly inspired me to hit the ivory keys as opposed to the plastic ones on my computer in the midst of our chats.
What also impresses me is that the instructors themselves are still learning, and from a story I heard, this is almost an implicit requirement by Marden. I think it is important for instructors to also remember what it is like to be a student, and that music is not a static thing — there is always more to learn, more to explore, and it is something that grows with you. If you change, sometimes the music changes with you.
I will be the first to admit that I may be biased with regards to the La Jolla Institute, but between my experience with music — I have been playing piano since I was 4 — and teaching — half my professional career has been in technical communications and instruction — I am very confident that the La Jolla Piano institute offers a superior combination of instructional and musical talent.

The owner of this institute is only geared towards collecting money. Unfortunately that blinds him from carrying business in a more caring way. Cancellations are only accepted with a 7 day notice. I called with more than 6 days ad he said, oh no the «Web Master» is the one doing the reservations, I can’t help you. I don’t know about you but I do not like blunt lies in my face.
And if you have a balance paid of $ 100 for the month, he won’t allow you to take any classes unless you pay the month in full in advance. The month of December payment is in full, eventhough they are closed for two weeks. Very little regard for the client, only for the money. Very disappointed as the teachers seem excellent if it wasn’t for the poor attitude of the owner.
Sorry not for us. An absolute reap off.

This may be an excellent place for some (and I’m glad for them), however it was not a very good fit for our needs.
We found it as a result of a Living Social offer (4×30-minute lessons for $ 75 instead of $ 150) so it may be a case of ‘getting what one pays for’ but we were a little disappointed when every lesson consisted of having our son repeat the same ~20 notes in the same order for the whole lesson.
We did not expect our son to be able to play at all following the lessons; or even remember much of what he’d learned. We had hoped the lessons would maybe expose him to something he would find a pleasure, or a source of enjoyment; he found it a chore. There was no effort to share love or appreciation of music, simply 1−2 – 3−3 – 3−4 – 5-…3−2 – 1 repeatedly for each 30-​minute session. While I’m sure drills like that have their place, I’d have expected a little context of why we do them, along with a little fun along the way to retain interest.
There may be different instructors there, with different techniques, in which case maybe we were poorly matched. Unfortunately, the high point for our son was the candy at the end. Maybe shorter, more frequent lessons would be the answer if this approach is desirable/​productive?
We also felt a little misled by the initial appointment not being an actual lesson, and merely being an appointment to schedule the four sessions.

I am very annoyed by Sheri J’s review from 5÷27÷11. It’s negativity almost prevented me from giving this amazing piano institute a chance, when I was looking for a new Suzuki piano teacher for my 7 and 9 year old boys in July. We have now been at The La Jolla Piano Institute for nearly 3 months, and it has been the best experience ever!!!
My children used to complain about having to practice the piano; now they negociate over who gets to practice first! They are playing amazing songs that are interesting to them, yet complicated and challenging, like Star Wars, the Pink Panther, Chopsticks, and Fur Elise. I sit with each of them for half of their lesson, listening to how excellent their instructors are, and how they mix in humor and encouragement as they teach. Each boy has a male teacher, hand-​picked by the Founder, Marden. Marden has about 10 instructors to pick from, so he evaluates the child and matches their personality to his instructors so that it is a perfect fit. He also evaluates their maturity, to see if they are ready for lessons, and though I was worried about my youngest, Marden assured me he would do perfectly, and he has! He says he has 4 year olds that are mature enough for lessons. Marden also encouraged us to take lessons twice a week instead of once a week, simply because his vast experience has convinced him that students learn much faster when there is more time with the instructor. When I informed him that finances and scheduling prevented us from doing twice a week, he accepted that just fine, and did not push. The La Jolla Piano Institute is cheaper than the previous place my kids took Suzuki lessons, which is a method I strongly believe in, and worth paying more for anyway.
Thus nearly everything said in that 5÷27÷11 evaluation has been false, in my experience. I have never seen anyone smoking, and if they do it on their own time, then that is their business. The place is not expensive and the owner did not oversell. The comment about the «6 year old going on 20» makes me wonder if the lady has discipline problem with her child, and is trying to blame it on La Jolla Piano Institute. It’s a piano school, not a day-​care, so your kid needs to behave in there! Then she writes «I hope that helps», which really makes me angry! Writing unfounded reviews like that is NOT helpful, it is shameful and hurtful, and I am angry that I almost missed this amazing Piano school because of it. Shame on you, for trying to damage the business of this excellent place, with your sour-​grapes 1-​star-​review!