When I decided to start playing the violin a year as a half ago, I was going to attempt to learn via YouTube and other various ways of self study to avoid paying for an instructor. I had the impression that a music teacher would charge $80-$100 an hour. That was until I contacted Julian and learned that his private lessons were well below that price, without sacrificing the quality of one-on-one tutoring.
There’s no way I’d be where I am today, musically, if it were not for his instruction. He’s flexible to work with your schedule and is very skilled in analyzing your habits and interests to better guide you in your musical path. No “one size fits all” approach to instruction.
Bottom line, if you’re serious about learning you need to find a mentor. If you’re looking for a mentor, I can’t recommend Julian enough.
– Scott
I have been taking lessons from Julian since the fall of 2015. He is such a great teacher and a true professional. I have come so far with my fiddle playing since beginning lessons with Julian. He is very patient with his students, and he experiments with different teaching techniques by explaining and showing new content in different ways to ensure his students understand fully. I recommend taking lessons from Julian to fiddle players of all experience levels.
I can’t believe it’s been 4 years since my last review. What I said then is true today: Julian is an excellent instructor who is well worth taking lessons from. Here’s to many more years on this fiddle journey! ~ Scott
6. Deltona Music Instruction
Address: 2484 Albury Ave, Deltona, FL 32738 , Lake Helen , Florida , United States
Our kids love Daphne! She is incredibly so very patient with both of our kiddos. They are learning so much from her.
Kind and patient. Daphne works at your pace while gently moving her students further. Not only is my daughter playing beautifully, she has learned the theory and history behind the music.
Highly recommend!
Mrs. Danielson is an amazing teacher! I have learned so much from her over the years and she has helped me excel in piano and achieve my music goals.
8. TR Music & Voice Lessons
Address: 3144 Boxelder St, Deltona, FL 32725 , Lake Helen , Florida , United States
I found Taylor through some quirk of fate, and even though he’s alllll the way out in Hollywood, I decided to write to him and see if he could take another student. Fortunately for me, he could. I worked out a trade with him– I did training and massage on him, and he gave me guitar lessons. He was patient with me (and trust me, teaching me guitar requires A LOT OF PATIENCE), customized the lessons based on how I learn, and gave me stuff I enjoyed playing. Despite my lack of practicing, I was actually progressing. Shocker!! After a while, I started taking 2 lessons a week because I wanted to progress faster (and because Vreny is just that cool). I have to say, I did pretty well. It almost made me want to practice more.
My ten year old daughter has a short attention span – especially while learning virtually. I wondered if virtual piano lessons would be effective or not, but decided to go for it since my daughter loves to play her keyboard all day. Marissa has been WONDERFUL!! My daughter was having a difficult time remembering where her fingers were supposed to go, and which pages to practice. (Remember, she’s a scatter-brain… or is artistic?) Marissa creates a google doc for parents to know what their kids are learning and what their practice pages are for the week!
I had always been interested in learning to play the bass, but I didn’t know where to start. That’s when I started taking lessons with Mike. He was able to teach me the fundamentals and help me develop my own style. Now, I am able to play with confidence.
Great store!! Great prices!! Steve is an awesome guy and will do what he can to get you what you want. Worth the hour drive for me to get to his store. I even found my Iron Maiden Brave New World there at an insane low price. Always look forward to stopping in. Highly recommended!
Steve is a amazing human. I’ve been going to Steve’s Downtown Music for 15 yrs. now and he has always been stellar and has maintained the coolest record store Deland ever and will ever have. I’ve had photo shoots and music videos shot here, bought my first records and posters as a kid and met many cool people. This shop should be a Deland treasure.
Love supporting local businesses. Steve’s has been around since I was a kid, lots of good music and memorabilia to check out.
Owner is a great guy, if you like real music he’s got it or can get it and quick,
Lots lots of vinyl!!!!!
Cool shop, Steve was friendly and helpful. Lots of vinyl and CDs. I’ll be back.
Owner was very rude and berated us for standing in one section for too long. Also ironically “thanked” us for our business when we didn’t purchase anything. Store was also very dirty and disorganized.
The owner was rude, personally insulted my husband and made rude, mumbled remarks for no apparent reason. He was apparently upset that we visited another record store in town before going to his store. We were just walking the little strip this little town has for shopping so the order we went was just random. Then when my husband asked for one band, he showed him a completely different other band’s merchandise. My husband tried to make conversation, but the man seemed to want to compete about music collections? He also called my husband “cheap” because we bought cds for $1 elsewhere. We were just spending a nice day shopping as a family on vacation. Very strange way to treat visitors. Weird. Also, no AC in the store – hot as hell in there. There are two records stores on this street – this is definitely not the “good one”.
Expensive and poor quality
12. PianoDrumsGuitar.com Deland & Orange City
Address: 445 S Kepler Rd, DeLand, FL 32724 , Lake Helen , Florida , United States
My daughter loves learning piano from Jay. She has lost interest in the past with other instructors. Definitely not the case with Jay. He is really good at making it fun. I highly recommend him. He has even helped my husband get back into playing his guitar after a 20 year break. Jay truly inspires those around him.
Jay is a great teacher, he adapts at your pace while also making a challenge for you. A true expert.
Jay is very skilled and knowledgeable in the guitar and piano: technique, music theory, and all! He will meet you where you are at (whatever level) and teach you what interests you. He’s patient with you as he challenges you to each step further.
Great teacher! Very patient and caring. My son has learned a lot in a short time and enjoys his lessons.
My son has had several drum instructors but Mr Ricardo is by far the best. He is always on time, you always get your full lesson. He is always prepared and gives consistent feedback. I love that he gives lesson notes and homework so I never have to hear “I don’t know what to practice” ever again! He has tons of performance experience and plays shows regularly so he has more to offer than just book knowledge.
My son Richard has been taking lessons from Mr. Ricardo since September of this year. His style, knowledge, patience and love for the art of drumming are just what my 8 year old needs to get a solid experience. We appreciate his flexible lesson schedule and the space in which the lessons take place. My son is truly establishing a foundation for becoming a drummer.
17. Groovy Records
Address: 212 N Woodland Blvd, DeLand, FL 32720 , Lake Helen , Florida , United States
Jerry was a huge help to me with my circa 1970’s Amplifier. Did a great job cleaning it and making it run like new. His advice was spot on, and now I’m enjoying Music again. Great service. Thanks Jerry.
Classic record place. You can get all the oldies but goodie
It’s like going back in time to the original music’s stores of the 70s
So far customer service has been great. Friendly staff and willing to help. Will do another posting after my truck gets repaired.
Best selection. Coolest owner I have met. Say hi to big doggie behind the counter. Big big selection of everything vintage
Nice selection but expensive prices. Seemed to be a lot of emphasis on vintage stuff geared toward collectors. I’m just looking for stuff to throw on the turn table and listen to and not admire the quality of the sleeve or care what year it was pressed. Anyway, lots of record stores where you can pick up lots of $10 stuff. This isn’t one of them.
A man that is very arrogant !!!! And all about knowing everything!!!! He thanks he’s in a class of his own!!! Real bad !! NOT to go there !!!! Bad business!!!!!
I looked at the good reviews, smiled, and said this is going to be my to go record shop. Boy, was I wrong. The owner is extremely disrespectful and has some sort of anger issues. Yes Jerry, I’m talking about you. I went to Steve’s down the road and super friendly staff over there with great knowledge and positive energy. I chose to purchase all my records there. Music is all about just chilling out and having an overall great vibe. I wish he could’ve provided that but instead he called my generation “lazy” and the poor woman behind him looked scared to even be around that lunatic. Take pride in your business and don’t humiliate others.
18. Quick Guards
Address: 400 Lake Charles Rd, DeLand, FL 32724 , Lake Helen , Florida , United States
One man shop that does excellent work. Be prepared to wait a few weeks and he is very busy and custom quality work takes time.
Absolutely Fantastic! Mike’s work is amazing and far exceeded my expectations. The problem now is I want new pick guards for every guitar I own.
Best quality pick guards. They are stylish and well made. Mike is really responsive to questions and will make sure the parts you order actually fit your guitar.
Pretty disappointed with this experience. Not only did my order get ‘forgotten’, when I finally got the overpriced piece of plastic it was warped. Do not recommend
19. Premier Recording Services
Address: Deltona, FL 32739 , Lake Helen , Florida , United States
Wonderful place for music lessons. Very friendly staff
Super nice staff, helped me pick out a new amp. Even gave me some band suggestions to look up. Will come back again.
Huge thank you to Rebecca and the team at Music and Arts Sanford. They truly care about their customers, and do great work.
I’ve purchased two guitars from here so far. They don’t have a huge selection, but the prices are reasonable.
The 2nd one I got from this store was on clearance and they even knocked some off that, giving me a better deal than I could have gotten online for the same guitar,
They sell flutes, do flute repairs, offer flute lessons but their selection of flute music is very limited.
It going to be cool
The guys here are great, the issue is the company itself. I rented a guitar years ago for my daughter, no issues, the bill came out automatically and i returned when classes were over.
Then my next daughter rented the flute for school. I find out a year later that not a single payment has been withdrawn, I own the flute, and I owe $1200 for it. I have a bunch of kids and bills when I set up automatic payments, I expect that the payments are going through unless I get some sort of notification or call telling me otherwise, even just one call.. The card on file is fine, nobody can provide me a reason why I’ve never been charged. The only call i receive is harassing debt collectors two days ago.
I don’t know what happened to this store, I’m guessing management changed. But, this store is not friendly anymore. I do not like shopping here like i used to. The layout is awkward now. You do not get greyed when you walk in all the employees look bored and tired and when asked a question they seem to get annoyed that they have to get off their phone or computer. I rather go to another store where at least i don’t feel like I’m an intrusion.
My child and I went here first before going to another local music store on recommendation. I dont usually post bad reviews but thought i must for anyone else having their child starting band. This place will try and pressure you into trying to buy whatever it is they have to sell for the week. the employees are rude and wont give you the time of day if you are there with just questions. not to mention the arrogance felt from them. save yourselves the time and find another store.
