Musician’s Depot

Have had nothing but positive experiences with lessons and the store for both kids. It is so nice to see a local, independent store with such good customer service. Kathy is a great manager who gets to know everyone and what they need. It’s nice to be treated as though your business matters.

Musician’s Depot is exactly what one might expect from a small, local music store — friendly staff, personable instructors and reasonable prices. Two of my sons take weekly lessons in guitar and keyboard, respectively, and from the same instructor, no less. They are motivated and progressing well.
We also rent a saxophone for my older son to play in his middle school band class. The instrument required a couple of minor repairs over the last two school years, which Musician’s Depot fixed quickly and for free.
This place is a refreshing alternative to the large music chains stores.

My daughter has been getting alto-​sax lesson with Brain at Musicion’s depot about 2 and half years. She started it a few months before she went to middle school. When she started middle school she skipped the beginning band and joined the next level band. This year, as 2^nd year (7^th grade) in middle school, she made it into the top level band which has 13 alto-​sax players and most of them are in 8^th grade. She also made the 2^nd chair for alto-​sax in Jazz Band. She has improved a lot in short period of time with Brian’s help.
We are lucky to have him. Everyone in Musicion’s depot is very friendly, and they are very flexible about changing lesson schedule. They also offer some promotions, so we get a free lesson once in a while.

Both of my sons have been in music lessons at Musicians Depot for 3 years now. They both started with piano which was great, but when my older son started beginning band in middle school, they both changed instruments. My older son chose alto saxophone. We rented it from Musicians Depot for one year until we decided to buy one. My younger son switched to drums.
Brian is my older son’s saxophone teacher. He has helped my son achieve his goals of 1^st chair in Wind Ensemble, 1^st chair in Jazz Band, 2015 member of SCSBOA Honor Band, and 2015 CBDA CA State Honor Band. Brian has been crucial in my son’s development as a musician. He is are go to person for advise on everything saxophone.
Chris is my younger son’s drum and percussion teacher. He is an amazingly motivating and calming teacher. My younger son is very sensitive and sometimes self doubting to the point that it can get in the way of learning. Chris has been very good at reading my son’s mood, and always getting the best out of their lessons, leaving my son feeling self assured and excited to keep practicing. Recently, we have switched to percussion bells to prepare my son to be a confident member of middle school band next year. Chris has made that fun and instructive too.
Jose, at the front desk is very friendly and efficient. He helps me with scheduling, renewing lessons, purchasing music books, reeds and other supplies. He gives good advise too. We love this place!

Musician’s Depot is a great music store. They have private lessons, instruments to sell, and for you to rent. They don’t have every instrument, but they have most. I play an instrument which I rented from them that was very old. My problem with that is the some parts of the instrument broke (they fixed it) and in some ways it’s confusing with our class because of it’s tuning. If you are going to play a woodwind or brass instrument be aware of that. In all, Musician’s Depot is a thumbs up store.

Scott (Johnny) Wimmer is a great teacher who I recommend to anyone who wants to learn to play guitar.

Beware, if you purchase a groupon or amazon type coupon for Musicians Depot. I purchased one for my son, and they absolutely refused to honor it. He had taken a few guitar lessons there over a year ago. However, now he wanted drum lessons. No where on the voucher did it say that the coupon was only valid for first time OR new students. It only stated that a «current student» couldn’t use it.
Happy to report that I was able to get a refund for my purchase amount from Amazon. And as for Musicians Depot, well they were successful at losing several customers, «permanently» because of this LACK of customer service!

The hardest part is getting started. When you first walk in, make sure you get out in the open what you already know. Once the ball got rolling the instructor and I started to build momentum and I have learned more from him than I have from any other instructor within an hour. So I would say that if you do not have an idea on what type of music you want to learn first… let the instructor take the reigns.

I have two children who take lessons here – one for guitar and one for saxophone. They both love their teachers and enjoy their lessons. I highly recommend Musician’s Depot!

My son has been taking piano lessons with John over a year, he is very patient and skillful, fun to work with.
The latest email reminder/​online scheduling are awesome.

Wonderful staff, great rental prices on instruments, good location with easy parking. My daughter just started lessons and is very pleased.

Chris Robinson has helped me a great deal with my rhythm & tempo issues. He teaches how to play guitar, drums, piano & vocals. Musician’s Depot in the past couple of years have helped me become a better guitar player.

My son has been taking music lessons at Musicians Depot for six years. It’s a great place to learn an instrument with competitive pricing. We buy our lessons in blocks of twenty for additional savings. Manager Cathy and her staff are great, knowledgeable about the instruments, and extremely helpful. When it comes to vacations and scheduling, the staff is very accommodating. My son began with piano lessons and continues happily to this day. He has had several different teachers through the years and all were fine. His current instructor, John, is a stellar piano teacher and a really nice guy. We rented both a violin and a trumpet from the store, so my son could explore other instruments. Their rental policy was better than other area stores. My son now has his own trumpet and plays at Lindero Canyon Middle School in the Concert Band. (Though, we did buy the trumpet elsewhere to get the brand and price we wanted.) I’d like to comment In response to the one review that mentioned 30 minute lessons being cut short by five minutes. That was a problem we experienced when my son first started, but have not run into for many years. If John runs behind, he always makes sure that he honors the 30 minute lesson and each child gets their full allotment of time.

I don’t understand the other reviews. Our family has been getting lessons there for almost 6 years and have been very happy with the teachers and especially the «manager.» Beware of ex-​teachers. Kinda like ex-​spouses. Great place for lessons and music.

This place is a totally professionally run music school. All of the instructors are very knowledgeable and willing to go the extra mile to teach the fundamentals of music. I feel that their rates are very competitive and my 10 year old son has gained valuable skills that he can carry with him throughout his musical life. I highly recommend this school to anyone, young or old who wants to learn an instrument in a nurturing and caring environment.

My kid has been taking lessons here for over a year and has learned a ton about the Alto Sax. He’ll be in the Lindero Jazz A group this year, which is an accomplishment, and we owe his instructor Alex a big Thanks. I’ve always found the folks at Musician’s Depot to be fair, responsive and supportive. If you think about it, running a program like theirs with hundreds of kids is no easy thing, and I think they are an excellent resource and provide a quality service to our community.

Since day 1, we’ve only experienced positive purchases and lessons from the folks at Musicians Depot. Manager Cathy and her entire staff are extremely helpful and knowledgable. I have 2 kids, ages 7 and 12, taking lessons for string instruments and they both rave about each of their teachers. I am sure the kids will move on to other instruments as they’re already excited and talking about what’s next! Take a visit, you’ll see what I mean. — CT

We have had nothing but great experiences at MD. Their teachers are the best in the area and have always had good experiences purchasing music and miscellaneous instrument parts.
Cathy (the manager) is extremely knowledgeable with almost every instrument and has saved us a lot of money over the years. Give them the opportunity and you’ll be as satisfied as all the regulars I’ve seen.

Depot? i dont think so. This little crack in the wall has bad rentals, weirdos for staff, shady instructors, and the shop is cluttered and disorganized.

Be careful of paying for a 30 minute lesson and getting a 20 – 25 minute one instead. I told them «not cool». They didn’t seem to care.