I took piano lessons for one full year with Elizabeth as an adult. I had previous musical experience but was a beginner to piano who also wanted to refresh my music theory basics. Elizabeth is a great, knowledgeable, and flexible teacher who tailored lessons for my situation. I learned a ton, and I highly recommend her.
My son has been taking piano lesson with Ms. Elizabeth for more than five years and improved his piano technical skills and music knowledge iquickly. He has obtained two branch honors and certificate of advance level in about four years with the teaching from Ms. Elizabeth. Ms. Elizabeth is very knowledgeable and has always been encouraging students. We really appreciate all the supports and help from her.
3. Guitar Center
Address: 53 W Hillsdale Blvd Suite A, San Mateo, CA 94403 , Foster City , California , United States
We were able to rent out a drum kit for $80 (weekend). The staff was really helpful in guiding our drummer through the drum set being rented and then loading / unloading of the drum kit. Excellent place, heaven for musicians, must visit.
A lot of people hate on GC, but my personal take is that you go to a GC for the gear, not the expertise. If you bring that mindset and do your homework in advance, it is hard to beat the inventory. I always end up spending more time than planned and look for excuses to stop in.
Me gusto guitar center san mateo.
Me atendio una muchacha, ella dise que es nueva pero muy amable
A great musical instruments store. No fancy guitars though
It was a nice setting. Great place, it was busy but still we got the help we needed.
Customer service sucks here
The older tattooed gentleman was extremely rude when I asked about a price for some display model cymbals.
If you’re so proud to be a drummer for 45 years, clean up your drum room. It was a total disaster with sticks, loose cymbals and equipment everywhere. Half of the cymbals had no locks on them, I’m sure corporate would be stoked.
Customer service sucks
4. H-Music School
Address: 1101 Marlin Ave, Foster City, CA 94404 , Foster City , California , United States
My child has been studying here for 5 years. The teachers are very nice and responsible. They make plans according to the child’s situation and communicate with parents in a timely manner. My child really likes it here
The children really like it here, and the owner is so nice.
the teacher is very kind and responsible
5. Free Market Music Inc
Address: San Mateo, CA 94404 , Foster City , California , United States
Excellent service. I got my 5 string bass repaired here recently and they ordered custom strings, communicated with me throughout the whole process and charged an incredibly fair price. Thank you Clock Tower Music!
GOOD FOR MUSIC LESSONS – especially for kids.
Very nice guy, helped me with my RG Ibanez with a messed up Floyd Rose
Grant is incredible! Super friendly, with tons of experience and totally fair pricing for a small shop
I brought my Ibanez in for a little work and was very impressed with Grant’s knowledge & professionalism. Right off the rip he told me that if I was sticking around that he would not only allow me to watch, but teach me how to do what needed to be done. We had an excellent conversation about our musical influences and the wonderful state of California. Grant is a personable guy and does top quality work for a solid price. I couldn’t recommend a tech higher.
Grant is very friendly and seems to know his guitars. Cool little place with all the tools needed for custom repairs.
10. Gelb Music
Address: 722 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA 94063 , Foster City , California , United States
Great selection. Friendly, enthusiastic, knowledgeable helpful staff! Just a great local shop for musical instruments, accessories and advice.
I was looking for a box to ship a guitar and this store had them available to purchase, where the other stores I had called in the area did not. Other than that this place had a cool atmosphere and a large store packed with instruments and equipment. I would definitely shop here for future instrument needs!
A great place to find good instruments
Good
Selection is really good. Nice instruments, And I like the atmosphere. A classic old store, kinda historic. A little pricey (for this I blame the insanity of real estate in the area, not them). Some music store staff are great. Some are typical.
I have found that music store workers are mostly of two varieties: the typical kind, who tend to have this undercurrent of rather sexist, judgmental pressure, and those who just love to connect people of all kinds to what they need.
Sigh – this place has both.
Unfortunately, there are a LOT of the typical kind in this world, and female (or otherwise not “Rock Star” types) really feel it. It is like they somehow need to prove that they are more knowledgeable than me, or something. Very tiring. I want to tell them, “look, I know you wanted to be a professional performer and it feels degrading to be working in a music store, and that you feel like selling stuff to female musicians makes you feel even further from your standards of your own self-image. But you really need to heal that, not surround yourself with a bubble of asserted wannabe dominance. It is not helping you at all. this is actually a really cool .”
To be fair, I only really got this attitude a little here, and it was pretty subtle (but there). Everyone else has been fine. But even a little makes it hard to want to come back. I think music store owners need to screen this, and train people out of it. Or better yet, hire some good female staff.
But I do come back, because the location is good and they have good stuff and they are historic and small. I like them overall. And it is very rare to find places that do not have that phenomenon. So they are not losing my business any time soon. I just hope that one issue gets fixed. Everywhere.
Price is not the best
You guys have a lot of overpriced and outdated merchandise. Go to Guitar Center where you get the most out of every dollar.
Just another music store now since being under new management. Not much left in high end equipment.
Very disappointed this time as they are being unprofessional. I ordered guitar cleaning service, but when I picked up my guitar, it was only half cleaned. They explained that when they were doing the cleaning, they figured out that they didn’t charge me enough.
Okay, then you should have given me a phone call, explaining everything, not just leave your job half done.
excellent experience piano shopping here. fair pricing, fast communication, very professional dealer.
Just strolled in as an outta towner.. was still treated with the utmost genuine and practical piano talk, learned fascinating details of Kawai and pianos in general. Very knowledgeable and sincere manager.
Andrew was super helpful and honest. He tried to understand my needs and provided the best options available. If you are looking for great service and a fair market price, I highly recommend this store.
Has pianos and lessons.
Limited selection of piano and the staff was not rushing customer out even with appointment.
Bozkurt switched a customer’s Brand NEW piano for a used Floor Model piano and told me “DELIVER IT TO THE COSTUMER AND DONT SAY ANYTHING”… While I was working there as a Delivery Driver I noticed his tricks to get over on customer’s a save money. When ever you buy a piano MAKE A REQUEST FOR THE NEW PIANO SERIAL NUMBER. Dont get Ripped Off.
Not a happy place. After visiting another store, these guys were not as bad as I first thought.
13. Heriz Music & Art
Address: 210 California Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010 , Foster City , California , United States
Friendly staff and ecclectic assortment of instruments! I am a collector of world instruments and love shops like this which offer a wider variety than your standard wall of boring guitars and one ukulele. Glad they’re here!
Great Service!! Friendly!!
Amazing service! Very friendly management!
Cozy place, new and used instruments, variety of sheet music, they also suggested cello lessons.
Nice instrument. Closed when sing reads open.
Musical instruments shop with a few sound proofed rooms in the back for lessons. They carry unknown brands and charge a premium for rental, even for elementary students.
I came in to sell my 2013 gibson. Right when i walked into the store i was greeted by a lady who worked there who immediately said “sorry, not interested”. She didn’t even take a look at the guitar. I’m a little annoyed that the front of their store says “buy-sell-rentals” but it doesnt seem like they buy anything. Drove all the way here for nothing…
Fraudulent. I rented an instrument for my daughter’s school year then returned it. They continued to charge my card so I called them and they said they would stop charging and refund me. They didn’t and continued to charge me. Then 3 months later ($350 extra in EXTRA rental fees) and I call them and they say they don’t have the instrument! They want me to pay for it! Absolutely insane. Don’t EVER use them.
14. KEN SU VIOLINS
Address: 2199 S El Camino Real, San Mateo, CA 94403 , Foster City , California , United States
Last week, I bought a 1/2 size violin from Ken Su Violin, recommended by our teacher. Ken Su violin let us try three different violins for a week. The service was very good and the sound of the violin is good as well comparing to other well-known brand. You also have an option to trade-in for upgrading your future violin. If you are looking for a professional workshop for good violins, I recommend Ken Su violin.
Great store to buy violin and its accessories. Friendly service
Very friendly luthier, allowed me to try on multiple violins and gave useful tips on how to do the maintenance and care. Always responsive with questions and after-sale service.
My student was pressured into buying a violin without the option to try it (she is advanced enough to make her own decisions and would have brought it to me for approval). Ken su’s assistant played them for her and let her only hold it before saying that this was a good instrument. She came home and did not like the tone and found it to be lower quality than her previous instrument so I accompanied them for a return. Ken su’s assistant lied to me and told me that she had played on it and that the mom seemed happy when she left the previous day and tried to deny them a return. I was asked what took them so long (they bought it before closing the previous day, and it was an hour after opening on the following day when we were all in). The return eventually got sorted out, but Ken demanded that my student’s mom admit that she was wrong, which she only did so he wasn’t more aggressive.
I have a lot of students rent instruments from Ken Su, but this experience makes me unable to continue suggesting this as a viable option. I don’t want my students to be denied the option to play on their upgraded instruments nor do I want employees pressuring them to buy instruments.
Ken later apologized to me in a private message, saying if he knew it was one of my students then he would have pulled out the “good instruments.” Seriously?! Everyone should receive the same quality shopping experience.
Furthermore, I tried posting this several times on yelp and encouraged my student to do the same, but our review was taken down each time. Why can’t we speak openly about what happened?
We went in for purchasing bigger size violin, the employee, didn’t let my daughter tried on any of the violins, insisted that we trust him for picking the violin and pressured us to purchase. We didn’t realize the violin is a poor quality one until my daughter played it at home.
Went back to Ken Su for return the next day, the employee insisted that my daughter did play the violin before(how is holding the violin for sizing considered playing?). Ken Su then acted hostile in front of my kids and our violin teacher who accompanied us, BLAMED me for not trying the violin.
My kids had been renting and then purchasing his violins & viola for the past 5 years. I thought we could trust him that all his instruments are of good quality.
We will not be going back.
15. Scherzo Music School
Address: 10 Madison Ave, San Mateo, CA 94402 , Foster City , California , United States
Get your horns here… Got my mark vi here and haven’t been more happy with a purchase. Also an incredible atmosphere. Like a museum. Staff is awesome too.
Great music store specializing in horns of many flavors. Larry Sousa is the repair/tune-up man, very good. Highly recommend. The best way to get any questions answered is to call them.
Super helpful and kind! Highly recommended!
My dad has played trumpet since the ‘80s and has shopped at this establishment in the past. He has had multiple experiences where the staff was dismissive and rude. Most recently he wanted to sell a few of his trumpets, as he enjoys a fluid collection of buying and selling different horns to compare the artistry of the different brands. The clerk said that the police will let him know if the horns were stolen and that the store has no liability, strongly implying that she believes he stole these instruments and wants to pawn them in the store. Living in the Bay Area I would hope that people are aware that calling the police on a black man for no real reason isn’t a kind thing to do, and that it causes a lot of worry. I would hope that this review causes the staff to consider how they treat their customers in the future. She had no reason to assume that the horns were stolen. He has a thorough, years-long knowledge and experience of being a musician, marching in drum corps, he is a veteran and plays taps with the local veterans group, and her comments were absolutely uncalled for.
19. Haight Ashbury Music Center
Address: 728 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA 94063 , Foster City , California , United States
i know i can come here to get all the strings I need for both my guitar and bass
i got my merchandise (in Texas) in 2 days !! I’ve never had faster service, and i will definitely shop here again…thanks
Warm and helpful staff! Has almost everything we are needing and looking for . . .
Fun music store. Bought an electric kazoo. Nice native Americans flute selection. Slow service.
I was looking for this other used DVD store in the Haight, but I guess they closed their doors so we ended up here just walking by. They have tons of DVD’s, though some of the pricing was odd. They had better deals with box series. They have both new and used so you have to pay attention to what you’re getting. I like the way they organized the movies in categories and also had a series and BBC section.
My brother and I found the store by accident while visiting San Francisco. The staff was kind giving us freedom to try the instruments, explore the store and its stuff, and was very helpful to my brother giving advice about keyboards and stuff.
The clerk was great, but. .. .I went to buy strings from an independent music shop. I avoid the giants like guitar center. I’ve bought all of my instruments and I play from independent shops, bit these guys try to rip you off. They wanted $25.99 for the strings so I told them I’d go somewhere else and the price dropped to $17 as though by magic. Another (possibly the owner) walked behind the clerk that was helping me and told me they were really expensive strings and implied I didn’t know what I was talking about. This is my second horrible experience with them. I wanted to buy bass strings and the guy that runs the place told me he would have to charge me for a set up as well and told me that if I knew what I was talking about I wouldn’t change my own strings. What? I’ve been playing the bass for 14 years. What an ass. In any case this is a tourist trap try Noe Valley Music instead.
Vastly overpriced and rude. Tried to call and get prices and they said they don’t have time to help me. Good riddance.
Horrible service, over priced equipment and when i went in for electrical help with my guitar they were so disrespectful to me that i had to leave.
20. Thefortress HQ Music
Address: 111 N Railroad Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401 , Foster City , California , United States
Just called for basic information and was given very helpful tips. Very friendly, and although I didn’t use their services, I will consider using them in the future.
