Cornerstone Music Conservatory

I started taking my daughter to the toddler music class when she was around 18 months old. Needless to say, toddlers do not have long attention spans so I was not sure if she was getting a lot out of the class in the beginning. Then all of a sudden she started mimicking the do-​re-​mi hand movements she saw the teacher doing in class. Singing (as best a toddler can do of course) and other movements also followed. I started noticing other benefits such as an increased attention span. Since my daughter is not in preschool yet, the interaction she gets with other toddlers in a classroom environment is fantastic. My daughter is a little over two now and really looks forward to the music classes. The morning of the class, she starts making the hand movements from the do-​re-​mi song and gets excited when I ask her if she wants to see Teacher Dan. The teachers and staff here are really great. We have had Teacher Dan the most for classes and I have to say that he really knows how to introduce music to the young ones in a fun manner, really having a great sense of how much their minds can absorb doing one thing before moving onto another music activity.

Really as good as it gets! We were first introduced to cornerstone by way of a gift certificate we bought at my son’s school fundraiser. Boy were we lucky! My son loves many instruments and so we took the opportunity to try our several different ones, we tried guitar, drums, violin and piano. I am being sincere when I say each and every teacher he had –they were all different – were so patient with him – he is 6 years old-​and they were able to convey the lesson in a way he understood and was able to follow. I highly recommend all the music teachers here. You will be very happy if your child takes lessons here. My son decided he likes drums best!

This has been a wonderful place for my 4 year old to get introduced to music and playing the violin. Her teacher, Shayna, is outstanding, personable, and skilled violin technique as well as in teaching kids. I am very happy that we came here for my little one’s musical development. The staff is kind and competent, and the general atmosphere is warm and inviting. My daughter loves to go here and her end of year recital was a proud moment for all the family!

Jan at the front desk is very sweet and always called before class to make sure my daughter was still coming. My daughter would have continued music classes here but the Monday class was canceled due to the teacher having a family emergency and not enough students to keep the class going. We may try to enroll our daughter in the Saturday morning class.

My daughter, age 4, tried the piano class for kids. Most of the other students were under 4. We tried one free class session. I liked it a lot. Naomi says she wants to try it again.
The teacher, Miss Annie, played the piano and sang throughout the session. Most of her instructions are delivered in song. She plays chords in staccato as she tells us to jump, and she plays a fast ditty as she tells us to march in a circle, etc. She has us repeat a short song that she sings, and then she replaces the words with their do-​re-​mi notes. We use tambourines to make different accompanying sounds as she directs from behind the piano. This all sounds cute, but believe me, Miss Annie is no-​nonsense. Pay attention in this class.
Students open up little electric pianos which are disguised as desks during the session. Miss Annie gets students to play the highest note, the lowest note, to play random keys and then just black keys, to use pointer fingers and to use all fingers like spiders or like dinosaur claws.
Session ends with the use of egg-​shakers as rhythm tools.
Others have recommended that we try private lessons from UCLA music graduate students, but I opted to try this class because my daughter does not take direct instruction consistently well yet: she prefers to do what other kids are doing. Also, the classroom situation is much more affordable for me.
Downside: the bathroom is shared by other businesses in the building, and it is just your standard industrial bathroom, not kid-​friendly and no diaper-​changing station. Well, I can only talk about the men’s room. And of course there is not much that the Conservatory can do about the bathroom facility, since they do not own the building.

I’ve seen some bad review for this place around the web. I don’t get it. Jan is nothing but nice and sweet and accommodating. My guess is the reviews are from a disgruntled employee or something. The instructors are all top notch and the kids all have blast.

i must say im very impressed with the training of their teachers. all of the teachers have at least a masters if not a phd in music and for the prices you pay, you are getting a steal! there are group classes for all ages as well as private lessons for any instrument as well as a music therapist for children with special needs. this place has a lot to offer at an affordable rate.