Ms. Kelly’s calm demeanor and patience is a big reason why I recommend her to anyone and everyone that’s looking. I’ve unfortunately heard horror stories of other teachers and trust when I say Ms. Kelly is heaven sent. If you’re not comfortable with dropping off your child, Ms. Kelly does allow you to sit in. After sitting in on a couple months worth of classes, I’ve learned that I’ve become the distraction for my child, so now I just wait outside. Ms. Kelly is very accommodating and also does zoom classes if you can’t make it in person. If you’re thinking about it, get on the wait list now.
My daughter used to see a different piano teacher for a whole year… and I never saw much growth. I play the piano so it was easy to take notice on how well she was doing or not. I eventually moved her to Mrs Kelly Munoz at Pacific Island Notes because she offered in-person while others were only strictly doing virtual piano lessons because of the COVID pandemic.
I saw my daughter make HUGE improvements in just one month with Ms Kelly after not playing for almost a year because of the pandemic shutting everything down. 8 months have passed since first starting with Ms Kelly, and my 8-yr old daughter is now really good at sight-reading music! She plays music that echos beautiful throughout the house and it impresses everyone. The books Ms Kelly uses to teach have really been good for my daughter. If you’re able to get a spot with Ms Kelly as a teacher, take it! Because she’s always booked up. My daughter loves her being her piano teacher. I’ve asked if she ever wanted to go back to her old piano teacher and it’s a hard no for that! Also, she’s located in Makakilo so it’s perfect for ppl on the west side! I no longer have to drive past kapolei to go to piano lessons.
Kelly is a wonderful person and piano instructor to both of our children (ages 9 and 6). We have been with her for 3 years now, and it is incredible to see the improvement in both of our kid’s progressions. She is extremely patient and is able to work with each student at their own pace. She has been flexible and always clear and prompt with any scheduling conflicts or questions. We highly recommend her as an instructor!
5. WestSide Music Hawai‘i
Address: 94-239 Waipahu Depot St, Waipahu, HI 96797 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
Very helpful and knowledgeable owner. Works with you if you have questions about products. Sells you what you need and gives you honest feedback if you don’t necessarily need to purchase a piece of gear for what you are trying to accomplish. Will shop here in the future for music gear.
Bought myself a DS-1 and a Delay pedal here the other day. Ron, was super helpful and friendly. Will come back for more! Thank you!
Had what I needed
They had what I needed
Employee was helpful, knowledgeable about music instrument. Park right in front of store
Isabelle is the best! My 8 year old son had a bad experience with a previous piano instructor and was very hesitant to try lessons again with Isabelle. But after the first lesson he was over the moon and already looking forward to class next week. Isabelle has so much patience and explains everything in a way that clicks with the kids.
Isabelle has been my piano teacher for about 3 years now and I absolutely love lessons with her ! She has helped me define what music means to me ! I have been able to grow and learn so much from Isabelle. I would definitely recommend Isabelle to anyone ! 🙂
7. Guitar Center
Address: 1000 Kamehameha Hwy Suite 200, Pearl City, HI 96782 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
Guitar Center’s Lessons program is suited for students of all ages and all skill levels. If you are looking to enroll your child, we recommend around age five, but it should really be the decision of the parent as every child is different. Guitar Center Lessons makes learning music easy and fun with our in-store and online music education program. Guitar Center Lessons provides an engaging and solid academic foundation, in virtually any music genre, with state-of-the-art studios and equipment, convenient instruction hours and some of the most qualified and well-respected musicians in the country to help you meet your goals!
This is one of my favorite places. I live nearby so I visit here frequently enough the workers know me by name.
Each time I’ve been to this Guitar Center I’ve gotten great service and a lot of helpful recommendations from the staff. Jesse was especially helpful this last trip. He really went above and beyond to help me get the things I was looking for.
Hey, a real Guitar Center on Oahu. OK selection, but Easy Music gives it a good run.
Very decent prices. But the stock on some items—for me, particular mixers—was majorly depleted. Granted, we’re in the middle of a pandemic, so I’ll update my review when we’re back to normal
Though it pains me to admit, given how hard our local music stores have worked to stay alive, the experience of visiting this mainland franchise was impressive. I was surprised at how large the store was, and yet packed to the gills with equipment and instruments. And there’s a lot here for media makers like podcasters, too. The icing on the cake was the classroom for guitar and bass classes, something my wife might just try. Pearl Highlands is one of my least favorite shopping centers, but Guitar Center is definitely a highlight.
Music instructor is not bad, but, the front workers in the lessons department need to get their act together!! They don’t give a heads up when a music instructor is absent, when driving there for nothing could have been prevented!! Needs more people that are there to get paid for working. They don’t answer their phone m
Very poor service also prices on the equipment is very expensive , tuners and cappo is through the roof..
I was disappointed in the lack of equipment for ukulele, there was no options available for tenor ukulele.
Bought a concert uke after a recent trip to Hawaii. Beautiful instrument, well made, wonderful sound (except for my playing). Completely pleased w this purchase!
Fantastic customer service! I bought a bamboo ukulele stand from Kalena’s online store, and – much to my dismay – the stand was too small for my wider ukulele neck. I emailed the store, and Anthony offered to send me the guitar version of the stand (for free). I declined thinking it would look funny to have this little ukulele on a tall guitar stand. I was just gonna call it a loss and gift the stand to a friend. Then Anthony refunded me the price of the stand which was delightfully unexpected. So even though I had a negative experience and was bummed that the stand wouldn’t work out, Anthony did everything he could to make things right. And he did! So I highly recommend this store for the customer service alone. I’m sure the rest of their products are fantastic so I’ll be visiting their site again for another gift to myself 🙂
i love this store so much! everything there is such a reasonable price, and there’s such cute merch. the employees there are so sweet too!
Would never recommend this place to anyone. The guy that works there made me feel so offended.
Bought the ” toy” violin for Christmas which was advertised as high quality. Cost me $40. It was awful. Couldnt play a single note on it. The bow is complete garbage and the resin was as hard as a rock so it couldn’t be used with the plastic bow strings provided.
Be careful. They have a fickle return policy and they replaced my strings with the wrong ones. I didn’t know my uke could sound bad until it left Kalena. My fiance took it there as a gift to be restrung and you were also rude to her and said that 14 days means less than 2 weeks. You being a musician shop is suspicious. I don’t think you should replace strings if you don’t know how to do it
10. Walmart
Address: 91-600 Farrington Hwy, Kapolei, HI 96707 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
Great service. Employees are extremely friendly and know how to take care of customers.
We had gone to Walmart to get a replacement hydro flask lid. Unfortunately, they did’t have any in store. But, we bought protector screens for our cell phones which were a very good price for 2. We were happy when we left Walmart.
Frozen pizzas is the main objective good buy, quick meal. Best yet brand rising crust.
Decent usual Walmart. Was out of stock of a normal Bose headphones item which bummed me out but was decent enough overall.
Waiting over an hour on the phone . For electronics . Just for then to tell me if they have Xbox 360 and the price.
I had to ask an associate to unlock a case for $16.00 Medela baby bottles and then had to be escorted to a register to pay for just those bottles even tho there is $60 breast pump parts just out in the open with zero security tags on them. And oh by the way the door greater/ receipt scanner could careless about checking the receipt for these said Bottles that you need a employee to get and can’t have them in your possession until purchased. Wish there was a zero star review. As this doesn’t even deserve one star.
What kind of company doesn’t price match their OWN online website!!
11. Easy Music Center
Address: 1314 S King St STE G1, Honolulu, HI 96814 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
Great selection and prices. Helpful team. Nice experience. Recommended.
Iaorana Mr PETER. I’m from TAHITI. Would it be possible to order online and have an instrument delivered on Tahiti? Thank you for your reply.
I enjoyed the way the employees treated my son. Great product knowledge, kind, enthusiastic, and very accommodating staff.
Great place to go for musical instruments. Very friendly service and knowledgeable. Great way to support a local business.
Very helpful and friendly. Willing to help with all your music or music related needs.
日曜日は休みでした。
I ordered a $300 dj controller from this place and it arrived with a broken crossfader. I had a local professional dj look at the item to confirm it wasn’t a software issue and after reached out to return the broken item. I was told that Easy Music Center would not accept a return (you have seven days to return broken items) and that I would have to contact the manufacturer. The manufacturer does not have the unit in stock so basically I paid $300 for a controller that I won’t receive for 3 months. I definitely won’t be ordering anything from this place again. I’m sure they are great if you live in the island but ordering from them by mail is definitely risky. The only reason this review is not one star is because on a personal level I really liked everyone I spoke to at this place. They definitely have a good vibe, and did contact the manufacturer on my behalf to arrange a replacement for the broken unit they sold me in 3 months
Very uncomfortable shopping there I guess I wasn’t somebody famous so they need help we have a pocket full of cash I wanted to spend unfortunately the staff was lame so I didn’t spend my cash there. I ended up at Hot Licks and spent about 2 Grand don’t judge a book by its cover
never seemed to care bout helping trying to solve my guitar problem after spending over 500 dollars at there store..warranty wasnt explained cleary at purchased and they also changed their policy when i tried to purchased another guitar cause they assumed i was going to return it..treated very rudely..i would not recommend this place to any of the people on this planet nor any other planets
12. Redbox
Address: 91-600 Farrington Hwy, Kapolei, HI 96707 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
Not always stocked with what your looking for but very convenient when you have to drill off. Easing to locate in store also
I us to use Redbox a lot all over the place but the last time I was going to use it was in the Kapolei Shopping center it was in Safeway. When I saw the changes to the terms & Conditions or Rules I had to change my mind about using there service again. I was very disappointed to see that now instead of 3 days to view your videos you have to return them within 1 day!!!? It would be almost impossible for me bcuz I live in Kalihi rent at least 3 movies at a time so to have to return them within 24 hours I wouldn’t be able to relax and enjoy the movies. Infact when they 1st opened these rentals I think you had 7 to 10 days B4 you got charged I’m not sure it’s been so long but I do know it was charged to 3 days. I got charged full price for 4 movie’s that I forgot to return. That was like $ 58 dollars a movie. That was crazy bcuz they were older movies and used a lot. Now it 1 day. I think people just stream for free on their phones now days it’s free. And you can mirror the movies to your cheap streaming TV’s. It has come a long way. I don’t know how Redbox stays in business.
14. Music Center of Hawaii Inc
Address: 2347 S Beretania St. #200, Honolulu, HI 96826 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
Friendly and expert staff to help with all my music needs!
Well stocked with supplies and instruments. Great friendly service. Convenient location with ample parking.
Amazing service! Came here to get a new set of strings for my violin, and we we’re out in like three minutes! They were very polite and helpful. Easy to get to, although parking is a little tight. Still amazing!
Friendly staff that looks for your intetest.
Really great store.
Too far.
They don’t buy used instrument
I didnt know you can’t be laughed at cause you didn’t have enough cash on you … How low class can you be ….
15. Goodguys Music & Sound LLC
Address: 619 Kapahulu Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
Small place, very up close and personal experience..lol. nice people and very reasonable prices..I loved this place…peace..
Excellent service, wonderful people and a great selection!
An awesome spot for all music makers of any experience level! Friendly and knowledgeable staff will give you recommendations if you’re not sure what you’re looking for. Great family owned alternative to the large conglomerates!
Great shop. Nice guys. A touch overpriced.
Helpful staff but mostly cheaper instruments.
Like the name, these are really good guys, love their biz and it shows.
Won’t shop in a place requiring a mask. even though I have bought stuff in there back during the time that covid was new and there were no mask mandates. Sad truth is I try to shop small local stores especially for music equipment but I will not be available to shop here anymor.
If you plan on selling them a guitar understand they will only give you 50% of used retail price. Which means they will make 25% profit off you. While you lose 50% profit. Sell your own gear. 50% lose is too much
I am a repeat customer and always enjoyed the friendly service. I have bought several baritone ukuleles of various value and was always satisfied. However, today I spoke with Chris? And confirmed that I wanted to purchase the cheaper of the two that he said they have. At 4:30 pm I called him to let him know that I was on my way. He stated that they were filming inside the store but he would meet me outside and said “I got you” I thanked him. When I got there he informed me that he sold the ukulele!!! I was visibly bummed. He said that the customer had the ukulele in his hand and he didn’t want to tell him no. I asked if they still had the more expensive one ($500) nah was ($200) for real. He said yup, so I told him I would purchase it. I went to the ATM and even paid the additional fee because he said would be more convenient so I said sure. I got back just as he was coming from the back. Ukulele in hand, no case or box or receipt. He even threw in a tuner. I was stocked. In my excitement I tried to tune it as soon as i got to my car. Was having difficulties from the very start. Eventually even with the tuner. Really bummed. I ripped the strings right off the uke. Even burned the tuner with my altered torch. Luckily it was enough to destroy the tuner. If I am not able to get a replacement one, even if it’s cheaper one then I will be handling this matter between Chris and myself(Scott T Kurosu). I was very impressed by Chris’s quick response. I was able to go down the very next day and after hearing my feeliepairedengs about the situation he offered to replace my uke. However I would have to wait for the next delivery. I asked him if he could repair my uke, nothing fancy just as long as it works. He repaired it and also gave me $100 out of his own pocket. I am very grateful and happy. Thank you Chris Aloha & god bless
16. Starbucks
Address: 4960 Kapolei Pkwy, Kapolei, HI 96707 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
Great new Starbucks! It’s very roomy on the inside, neat mural when you enter, and the furniture and displays look great. The seats are flat and wooden, which I thought would be uncomfortable, but I was able to drink some tea and finish some work for several hours without an issue. The music isn’t too loud (which I dislike about some other locations) and since the area isn’t well established yet, the place doesn’t get too busy to relax in. Very pleased with my first two visits- will visit again soon!
I’ve always enjoyed my experience and enjoyed my orders. The staff is always warm and spot on. I love that they have a drive thru option.
The message on the door says to use app to order, but app was not available when I was there. My chai tea latte was very good, though.
Food, beverage, and service is great. Only 4 stars though as there’s rarely a place to sit to enjoy said food and beverage as this location is frequently inhabited by hours-long laptop enjoying. Womp womp
그냥 스타벅스 예요. 줄서서 기다리는 정도는 아니지만 손님은 꽤 있는편이였고 역시 학생손님? 좀 있는편이였어요. 음악이 신났는데 제시의 노래도 흘러나와 좋았어요.
Waited in the drive thru for over 20 minutes with only 3 cars ahead of me, not sure what happened here but that was too long of a wait.
Stinky
I’m a barista at another Starbucks , and I’m honestly leaving this review because I’m just confused , the customer service is nice everyone is friendly, but EVERY time I’ve ever gone my order is wrong or the drink is incorrect , I’m not trying to be problematic
accidents happen
I understand being a barista
but idk what’s going on at this store that I’ve never had the correct order I’ve gone probably 20-25 times in a year and a half
17. The ʻUkulele Site
Address: 66-560 Kamehameha Hwy, Haleiwa, HI 96712 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
These dudes were super helpful, really took the time to explain everything and answer any and all questions we had!
Fabulous
Super friendly, very knowledgable and professional. Bought a mini guitar from them and had them install a mic/pickup which came out great. High quality products and service. Stoked to do business with them.
We just caught a glimps of this place on our way home from shave ice and the shrimp truck today. Because we were on our way back to ukulele lessons at our resort, we decided to make a sharp tirn and check this place out…and boy did we hit the jackpot. As soon as we entered, we were geeeted with a nice hawaiian hello and promptly assisted in finding out which instrument would be best for our hand size and experience. Since we were here for my grandson, we got a really good deal on a ukelele with a gig bag, tuner and extra string to boot. All at a price that didn’t make you feel like you were in the islands. They even gave us a ahort tour of their valuable website full of information and learning videos. I will surely recommend this to my friends and other family who have shown interest in learning to play the ukelele.
I have been here 3 times buying a ukulele the first time and taking friends the other times and each one bought a ukulele
Went into the store to buy two ukuleles, the guy totally ignored us, didn’t say hello or ask if we gad any questions. After looking on our own at 15 ukuleles, and still nothing we went elsewhere. What a great customer service. Wow!
Towing scam. They will tow your vehicle. Stay away from these garbage shops
Go elsewhere way over priced and the website price is not even close to the actual price they charge in the store .
18. Hot Topic
Address: 91-5431 Kapolei Pkwy RM D118, Kapolei, HI 96707 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
Has a decent variety of products and is well kept. Employees are friendly and informative when asked a question.
Cool
SpongeBob gameboard
I got to dye my hair
Lots of cool t-shirts, replicas, but still cool
Very helpful
They ripped me off the very last time I went. The manager said it was right but i priced with state taxes and i played full price instead of the holiday they have all over the walls. Plus I’ve been waiting for distract manger because the store manager was not following covid guidelines and was very rude. The other hot topics you get a deal
No one helped me and they was not busy
Waste of time, just close already
19. OfficeMax
Address: 4450 Kapolei Pkwy, Kapolei, HI 96707 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
Brittney, Jaz and Jacob of OFFICE MAX KAPOLEI, showed alot of excellent customer service. And I was impress, they went out of there way and offer me a different route to make my needs easier. Aloha to you guys. Keep up the good work.
I use this store all the time, for sometimes difficult print jobs. Even if they don’t get it right, and they usually do, they are happy to fix it. Here is a copy of the yard sign they printed for me.
I needed an office chair and had a budget but that budget flew out the door once I saw all the different office chairs…so many to choose from. After trying out a few I knew i had to go with comfort and quality. The gentleman who helped me was helpful and patient. He answered my ridiculous questions with ease and helped me upgrade to something i can still afford. He carried my purchase to front register. The manager or supervisor asked if I needed help loading while I was there. Good experience. Will shop here again! I’m only sorry I did not take the names of the people who helped as I would have included them in my review.
Clean store, merchandise organized, usually greeted once you enter by an associate who can help you locate what you need saving you time, check out is usually quick.
Lots to look some items good prices
It was good and has a lot of selections
Rude service staff. Completely ignored customers asking for help at the print/copy station. Did not even acknowledge customers by looking up from cell phone. Disgusting service.
If I could give half a star I would and only because the lights were on… printing sections definition of customer service is pointing at a poster and walking away. Then talk about you to other employees on there secret service like ear pieces loud enough so you hear them. Only to turn combative when the loud voice intended for you to hear is directly asserted. F****ing joke.
The other day, there was a small power outage in my area that lasted a good 5 minutes and when the power came back on, I noticed that my wireless bluetooth keyboard for my iMac was no longer connecting and after trying to troubleshoot the problem for so long, I just wanted to find a cheap replacement for it. I first checked Target in Kapolei and they didn’t have any MAC compatible keyboards, but they suggested that I check out this OfficeMax next door. I walked in and an older employee asked me what I was looking for and I explained to him what happened and he directed me to the keyboard section. It was very small, but they did have the iHome keyboards that were wired and could connect to my iMac, however, they were priced at $54 and I refused to pay that much. I asked him if that was the only one they had that was MAC compatible or if he could direct me elsewhere, and he seemed very disinterested and did not even bother to try and uptalk and sell me this $54 keyboard. He instead just shrugged his shoulders and gave an answer to the extent of “it’s what we got”. It’s fine if this is all that they had, but he didn’t show any good customer service skills to either try and sell me the keyboard or help direct me elsewhere and this really struck a nerve with me on an already frustrating day of finding a cheap replacement. I went later to Walmart and found one for $11, but basically, the customer service I received from them was awful.
20. Goodwill Store and Donation Center
Address: 2140 Lauwiliwili St, Kapolei, HI 96707 , Makakilo City , Hawaii , United States
Ultra clean, very friendly & helpful staff ready to assist with donations & purchases. This location is recommended by vehicle only. You will find plenty of bargains here. My family frequents this Goodwill weekly.
Getting more like a department store….some not much, buy a few items pricey for a Goodwill store… Cashier was very courtiuos.
Friendly people work here and the store is clean.
My first time to this new location. Very clean and organized with a large donation drop off station. I’ll be back.
