Exclusive selection: The top 20 music shops of Contra Costa Centre

Great place for used music and movies

Haven’t been to this store in years took the kids in to look for used video games. Nothing fairly new but we walked out with a few titles and a great price so we all left happy.

Excelente lugar y atención. Variedad de productos.

Great finds

If the other Rasputin doesn’t have it. This one will. Old building and style that makes the store fun to visit. Dudes at the counter are a little un-enthusiastic. They could maybe humor people about their purchase and not be in such a rush………with no line in the store

You can find videos and music you may not find other places.

Normally, I’d leave a banger review for this place.

Google says that it’s open. The phone even rings.

But the door is chained up, with the lights on and everything. So thanks for that.

People were rude and didn’t help me.. U went to amazon and got my CD’S next day.. Sad. … I love brick n mortar stores

The door guy we very rude & followed me & my gf around

Gloria Leiter has been my teacher and mentor for the past twenty years. She is the best educator I have ever experienced (I have a Master’s Degree in Psychology). She has an exceptional understanding of how people of all ages learn and is, herself, a brilliant musician.

Ms. Leiter runs her business with integrity and professionalism. She pays close attention to detail and she communicates her policies well to her clients. Currently, she is teaching piano classes on Zoom and that is no small task.

Ms. Leiter is loved and appreciated by all who know her. Her reputation is beyond reproach. I am baffled by Mr. Dawud’s negative comments. Nothing he said fits with the way I, and hundreds of others, know and respect her. I can only assume that Mr. Dawud was having a bad day but that is no excuse to besmirch the reputation of an innocent person. In this time of global stress and uncertainty, let us be mindful of how we treat others.

I have recommended F.A.M.E. to many people. If you are looking for the best piano instruction in the world, I suggest you contact Ms. Leiter and let her open up for you or your child the beautiful world of music.

Tips when you wanted to enroll your kids to FAME.
1. Ask for the class calendar if it’s not provided when you sign up for the lesson. We’ve been provided with class calendar after few weeks from the first day of enrollment. And be aware the tuition is monthly charge, not based on the number of classes(kids will have few holiday across the year in class calendar so some month you’ll get few classes than others)

2. Gloria is a great teacher but she is teaching so many kids which means she is so busy, most interesting thing happened to me was when we’ve been provided with private lesson as the compensation of missed classes in March due to COVID(Don’t know the reason but she offered private session for kids in Group class, one 45 minute private session was compensated for two 1hr group sessions ), she waited 45 minutes for us without sending any text or email as a reminder (because we booked this session using the online calendar and there was a few weeks of gap between the date we booked and actual class, when the day of class we totally forgot that we have zoom session with Gloria and missed it). We’ve been honest with her and told her we forgot it and asked nicely if we can reschedule it, but she refused it and said she is teaching so many kids will not have time to do so. I think with current days technology , setting up an automatic reminder for classes wouldn’t be hard and it’s actually very helpful, especially when you are taking classed which was scheduled not regularly like the one we’ve been compensated.
3. Lastly, just be aware that she is so busy and she will not spend time to listen to your problem if you have any, instead she will just ask you withdraw from the class. Yes, that’s what happened to me .

So what I did was went to online searched for piano classes( Gloria switched to zoom classes as well due to COVID) and found a new private teacher for my kids. Maybe you would want to do the same before having kids to start at FAME.

@Shirley Richard I don’t know what is your relation with Gloria but I wanted to make it clear that I’m not besmerching any ones reputation here. I’m just telling my experience , you can ask Gloria if I’m telling anything that’s not true. It’s awesome you have Master’s Degree in Psychology, and maybe Gloria good at communication with people who has degree in Psychology. One more thing that I actually didn’t mention in my previous comment Gloria charged me monthly rate for March(two classes only due to holiday), it’s been offered as private session as compensation in May as I mentioned in previous comment.I missed one and gloria asked us to withdraw from class when I nicely asked for rescheduling and the funny thing is I’ve been told I would be receive refund at hourly rate for the one lesson that I canceled. Think about it two class in March monthly charge but when refund it is calculated by hr. I’m not telling the lie here,@Shirley Richard I can share the email between gloria if you would love to see proof.I can tell she is a good teacher but don’t think she is good at math, unless you are super rich don’t care about money at all when you receive service from business, you should be fine with it.

Neat Store: does anyone remember when there was a sign in the front window that read, “Free Adult Organ Lessons!”????

Wonderful piano store with a great selection. Manager, Carson very nice and informative. If you are looking to purchase a piano, this is the place to shop!

place is special full of beautiful people and sspectacular ! Good times

I try Music Xchange branch in Walnut Creek was, unfortunately, a frustrating experience. After attempting to schedule a virtual appointment, I was looking forward to getting information about pianos available within my budget. However, things did not go as expected.

Upon scheduling a virtual appointment on the store’s website, I received no response whatsoever. I decided to call the branch directly to resolve my query, but to my surprise, the lady who attended to me seemed unaware of my previously booked appointment. This initial lack of coordination left me feeling bewildered and neglected.

Finally, I received a call later on, but my hope for a more satisfying experience quickly faded. The salesperson who contacted me appeared unwilling to make any further effort or provide the information I needed. The conversation was brief and unhelpful, leaving me with more unanswered questions. I have to insist asking for the info like pushing.

What frustrated me the most was the feeling that, in order to get the information I needed about piano options within my budget, I had to go to the branch in person. Unfortunately, I do not have the time required for an in-person visit, making this limitation a disappointment.

Acquiring a piano is a significant decision that requires careful attention and good guidance. I had hoped that Music Xchange would provide me with a more positive and accessible experience. The lack of response to my virtual appointment and the salesperson’s lack of effort to assist me online left me with a negative impression.

While my experience was unsatisfactory, each individual may have a different experience, so it’s important for prospective customers to research and evaluate the store according to their own needs and expectations.

Friendly service great advice best prices in town can’t go wrong with these guys

This place is truly a local gem. It’s a third generation family music store. They have any band or orchestra instrument to rent or buy, and the owners and staff will work with you or your kid to find exactly the right fit (literal size as well as what you like). They have lots of accessories and method books in stock, and will order anything they don’t have. Rentals can be for the school year, summer, or calendar year. They can also refer local teachers for many instruments, and know most of the MDUSD music teachers well. They have a maintenance repair shop in the back, and their technicians will show you how to maintain your instrument. They also have a huge range of prices, from inexpensive beginner instruments to really fine ones. If I could give them 10 stars, I would.

Friendly, knowledgeable service with a good selection to choose from make this my go to music shop. I have always been happy with the service, they are willing to special order items they do not have in stock. I also have my instruments repaired here.

I was happy until the saxophone broke 3 weeks after renting it. I thought We were getting an instrument in good shape but apparently it was not the case.
Also, the lady at the store is very nice until you ask them to expedite the repair process or question them why they take so long to fix the instrument that never should have broken in first time if it was inspected and sterilized not too long ago.
She was a rude on the phone and she just think that talking to my daughter’s teacher will solve any inconvenience. It does not, because my daughter can’t practice without the saxophone so the one that they should be concern is about my girl missing practice time and getting behind. Sad moment for a middle schooler

Great place for kids in school music programs and musicians beyond that age.

The store was better before Covid. It was all open and had a large selection. Now they have most of the store closed off and the lights aren’t all on. Call before you go to make sure they have what your looking for. The owners are knowledgeable.

Deserves zero stars. Can’t go in the store. All they offer are a few junky used books outside. Only good as a walk up window if all you want is a box of reeds. I won’t be returning and won’t be recommending this dive. Go anywhere else.

Cranky old man with no concept of customer service.

Complete trash, terrible sevice. They don’t have a wide selection of books that actually matter when trying to become a great musician. Over priced on everything, buy everything online. They don’t know how to properly repair instruments. I took ina saxophone that I bought from them and they didn’t fix everything. I told them the pads were sticky and they didn’t fix them. Quality of the instruments they sell is extremely low. I wouldn’t recommend to people that actually care about creating music.

Best place to rent a harp in California!!!! Helpful staff!!! Great harps and accessories!! This place is a total gem!!!

Gerry is the most knowledgeable person when it comes to harps. He gave me great recommendations and not to mention such a sweetheart to talk to! I highly recommend the store and gerry!

I purchased a lovely harp from Harpsetc. Excellent service, caring and professional. My new harp arrived way across the USA in record time and mint condition.

Robin and her staff are excellent and always ready to help with instruments and private lessons.

What a great place! My daughter thought her saxophone was broken and would have to be repaired. Turns out that upgrading the mouth piece was all she needed. Carol took the time to find that right mouth piece for my daughter. The knowledge she took away today will benefit her in high school band.

I went there to buy brand new gemienhardt and staff were really welcoming i reccomend going there.

Friendly service. Attentive, knowledgeable, immediate.

Expensive store some of the staff are very nice and friendly some are grumpy 🙂 but the owner will do her best to accommodate your wishes!

I like how knowledgeable employees are, but they are disorganized and that has cost me many trips to this store.

We’ve been going to Village Music School for about a year now and have been very happy. Our piano instructor Abby is awesome – super sweet, patient, and encouraging to my little one! And recitals are always positive and fun. Love this place!

I have a 15 year old strat that I hadnt used in years, and I knew it was in desperate need of a proper set up. I reached out to Langley and he was super responsive from the first email I sent. The entire experience was so smooth and Langley is a true professional. My guitar plays and feels better than ever now that it’s properly adjusted and dialed in. Thanks Langley!

I had a great experience working with Langley. He is very friendly and shows great interest in guitars. I just needed to have the toggle switch on my guitar replaced, but Langley finished the job very quickly. I will definitely contact him for future work on any of my guitars!

What a cool guy! Langley set up my old Orlando hollow body and got it playing really well and sounding great. Very reasonably priced and shows a ton of care and finesse with vintage instruments. We just relocated out here from SF and it was great to find someone out here that you can trust with your guitars. Great work!

We’ve been using NADY for years and never been dissapointed, amazing customer service too!

Totally unresponsive to multiple voice mails (you cannot speak to anyone live), over a half dozen emails, and several attempts to use their web page “send us a message” form.
A product is only as good as product support, and Nady offers NONE!

nice store

Plenty stocked, peaceful, & sweet employees!

This Kpop store is seriously underrated, you can find any k groups like stray kids, new jeans, twice and more! I recently got my new jeans light stick and i love it ! And it’s better than any store that sell Kpop items !! 10/10

Super friendly and knowledgeable staff.

Wonderful people!

So helpful with taking care of our instruments (guitar and flute.) Wonderful service!

The place has helpful staff and great collection of musical instruments.

Great customer service and repair

Sam has helped us out to pick right a digital piano for my girl. I know nothing about the instrument, so he put enough time to explain all the options for us.

Boo

Laura is an excellent teacher for me. As an adult learner, I appreciate her patience and lessons fit to my abilities. She is very knowledgeable and makes the lessons fun.
I love that she comes to my house, as I can fit lessons into my work schedule. Thanks Laura!

I am one of Laura’s adult students. I have played various instruments all my life. But despite many teachers, and even a year in music school, there were basic obstacles I had never overcome. Studying with Laura has changed everything. She has a gift for listening and observing patiently, figuring out exactly what is holding a student back, and pointing out a way forward that actually works.

Since the Covid19 pandemic began, Laura has been offering lessons via Skype, which is free and works on almost any device. The virtual lessons have been going very well. Of course it’s nice to be in the same room as one’s teacher, but I haven’t noticed any difference in the content or quality of instruction or in what I get out of the lessons. Social distancing doesn’t mean an end to learning piano!

Laura has been teaching piano my 8-yr-old daughter and 10-yr-old son for the past two years, coming to our home for one-on-one lessons and switching to remote instruction over skype since the shelter-in-place order. The transition to remote learning has been very smooth and we were so happy that Laura came up with a solution for the kids to keep learning without interruption.
One of the reasons for the success is that Laura has a way to connect with the kids, keeping them focused and motivated. We also appreciate that Laura has a very systematic approach to teaching piano and builds good technique skills patiently and methodically. Not only is she thorough and instructive, but she tailors the lessons to fit the students’ needs. We can see both kids progress steadily and continue to gain confidence from her encouragement.
Thank you, Laura, for making piano part of life and for instilling a lifelong appreciation of music. We highly recommend Laura!

Yes, the other reviews are correct. Great selection of guitars, odd hours, but Stevie is as gracious as he is talented. If you’re in the area and you like guitars, check it out.

Took a $60 Uber ride to get out here while on a work trip, and man was it worth it. Stunning guitars for every kind of player, you’ll definitely find at least one that you connect with. Steve seems like a great guy too, it was fun chatting! I wish I had a shop like this near me. Such a wonderful experience!

Great guitars. Odd hours. Stevie is a great guitar connoisseur and teacher. Interesting mix of great acoustic guitars.

Fast line

Good prices

Love this place! Helpful and friendly staff.

Convenient location

Fast friendly and the lowest price on the blueray player

Little busy. Kind staff.

Called to verify some item at the store. Whoever that picked up was extremely rude. The B!7# hung in mid conversation. Needless to say, my inquiry was not met.

So bad costumer and products service. Wasted time and money.

Out of stock on whatbi wanted

Great experience working with Sound and Video Rentals. Rented speakers, cables, microphones for outdoor wedding. Jay was very helpful explaining the equipment in advance. Delivery to me was smooth and on-time, and Jay explained connections for the set-up. The equipment was easy to set up on the day of the event, and worked perfectly for our needs. Pickup of equipment was on-time and smooth. I’d definitely rent again from this company!

I called Jay 2 days before my event and he was beyond helpful. We rented a Karaoke machine for my daughters bday party. Jay was extremely helpful in explaining how to set up the system. Jay was also very fair in his pricing and added on some additional features at no cost. We will definately be using him again!!!!

I was very pleased with Mister Mariano’s service. He helped us out on a last minute gig and I was very thankful for that! A easy going and reliable person. I would totally recommend this person to any others that need a set up for a party or at a nightlife event. Thank you again for all your help and his prices are reasonable and affordable!