Discover the top 15 music camp in Lihue

I love that School of Rock sparks a passion to become a great musician, learn multiple instruments and be an integral member of the band. This experience is unparalleled and provides a much more enhanced musical education beyond private music lessons. The group environment is extraordinarily dynamic, exacts demanding expectations from each musician and propels these kids to greatness.

My kids (and I) have been students of the School of Rock, West LA for the past 3+ years. After watching the school establish itself and grow over the years, I can genuinely recommend the school. The premise is simple — teach people how to play by enticing them with music they actually want to hear and play.

Since the time the school has opened, there have been some significant changes and improvements. The school was purchased about a year and a half ago, and is under different ownership than it was during its early days. The new owners have been very careful with the school, evaluating what works and changing the things that could be improved. They have invested, and continue to invest, in the facility — this summer adding a shaded deck outside, They have made additional investments in the interior, the furnishings, the equipment and the faculty and staff. Billing, scheduling and accounting functions have all been improved, computerized and streamlined and are easy to access and understand.

The reason why anyone comes to a music school, though, is to learn how to play his or her instrument of choice, but the reason people stay is the quality of the instructors, the sustainability of the program and the community of other students and parents that supports continued effort. It is in these areas where the school really shines. The school’s music director, Ryan Schiff, is a gem. He cares about the students and the community at the school and he has been very successful in recruiting some really talented instructors. Between all of us in the family, we take lessons in vocals, drums, guitar and bass. There are also keyboard instructors, a violin teacher and several other multi-instrumental instructors. Recently, the school seems to have increased its emphasis on music theory as well, which is important to us.

I believe the school gives tours and offers free introductory lessons. If you are interested, the best way to see what the place is like is to go to the school, have a look around and try a lesson.

The instructors my daughter has worked with have been infinitely patient and kind. They’re always full of encouragement while still reinforcing important character traits like commitment and teamwork. I have seen a big boost in her self-confidence and she’s proud of herself for overcoming her stage fright. As a parent, I like the way SOR communicates her progress with me. It really helps that they send out recaps after class and let me know what to help her focus on for the week. Now that she’s moved into the performance program we’re all really excited to see her with the band on stage at one of the amazing venues! It’s such a cool goal to work towards and that really inspires the kids!

Great staff great location great music

Kelly who “runs” the school is absolutely awful. She is unprofessional, combative, lacks follow-up skills, lacks customer service skills, and is incredibly rude and unable to resolve conflict. I would never send my child to a place that is run by a person like Kelly. That said, I pulled my child out of the summer camp.

Great instructors and great atmosphere to learn.

My daughter has been taking piano lessons with Peter for a couple of years now and she is having a great time. Thanks !

I really cannot say enough about this incredible organization and specifically the staff at LO School of Rock!! Our 13 year old son has been an integral part of LO SOR for the past three years and it has been an incredibly positive and enriching experience. It has taught him discipline, responsibility, commitment, dependability and the importance of getting along and working with others. He has received expert musical instruction and as a result his musical acumen and proficiency continues to excel. Prior to starting LO SOR our son could play both piano and guitar and now he can sing and play drums. But most importantly, he’s having a great time! Actually i’m not sure who’s having more fun; our son or us (his parents) who have the absolute privilege of seeing these talented children perform well rehearsed and arranged rock songs at amazing authentic venues.

We highly recommend LO SOR without reservation! It will undoubtedly be a special experience and memory for both you and your child.

The teachers have all been amazing, and both my son and I are enjoying our lessons. We look forward to coming every week. Additionally, both of us have become more outgoing and confident in our performance ability.

My son has been at SOR for the last 5 years and can now confidently play 3 instruments and is a musician for life. The staff is so welcoming and positive, they help the students reach for goals and they are a lot of fun to learn from. This school has played a major role in our lives and in my son’s happiness and self esteem.

We are very happy with the lessons that my daughter is receiving on zoom from Liz. She is very motivating and a great mentor.

SOR is a great place for kids. The environment is safe, fun and engaging! My son loves SOR Doylestown!

School of Rock has been integral in fostering a love of music in both of our sons. Not only do they enjoy and get a lot out of the live shows, they also look forward to their lessons with instructors they adore.

It’s not just a lesson. You are welcomed in, and made a part of the family.

This place rocks! I joined the adult band with no prior experience and it has been a blast to learn along with others. The instructors are very passionate and personable.

The concept is brilliant and great musical education for our son who’s now 12. The selection of covers that kids play is fantastic- adapted to the level they are but since the beginning just songs we love to listen to. The formula of having both band practices and individual lessons is a perfect balance. The teachers are very engaged and knowledgeable. I also like that while the kids have a primary instrument (drums in my son’s case), they are encouraged to play others or sing in some songs.

But the culmination is of course the concert after each period. Kids playing in legendary Seattle clubs like Crocodile are in itself experiences. And it does not hurt these are Instagrammable

School of Rock Issaquah has changed our lives completely. Both my kids have grown in their musical skills but more importantly they have grown as people. The teamwork and talent that abounds at SOR Issaquah has contributed in an enormously positive to our family.

Great to meet people and make friends. I understand you cover bands but still no creativity. It’s a school of learning how to play with other people but doesn’t encourage creativity. Just go there, assemble your own band and get out and change the world…

As you can tell from the previous negative reviews the owner Tracey Fondren is extremely unprofessional and would rather stress out the overworked understaffed team at the Issaquah location. I submitted a negative review (internal to their system) of the camp my kids attended and the owner reached out. I took the time to write what their experience was expecting some accountability on her end. Nope, she made the young camp coordinator call me and apologize. Disgusting!! My review was basically that she had set the team up for failure. There was basically one person to work with 13 kids which is impossible when they are learning 6 different songs at 13 different levels of experience and age. My letter to Tracy is below. She herself never responded, not even to thank me for the time in providing my feedback. All this to say – don’t waste your money. They put your kids in front of a Chromebook in an isolated room and call this camp.

Hi Tracy,
Thank you for your email. I appreciate your follow-up to my negative rating. I didn’t really have time to go into all the concerns I had with the camp and I wasn’t that invested seeing as it was unlikely we would ever return (sorry that’s a bit harsh but true).

My boys didn’t enjoy the camp at all. They are pretty easygoing and kinda went with the flow but would come home every afternoon not wanting to return. Here is the list of things they didn’t like.

1) Being handed a Chromebook and sent to a room by themselves with little to no help. For me, had I known your primary form of having the kids learn is with a device I would’ve never signed them up in the first place. 2) There wasn’t enough personal instruction (their words). It seems Delaney was the only one working with all the kids. Again, had I known there were less than 3 people working with all the kids it would’ve been a no-go for me – especially knowing what you charge for this camp. 3) Because of the way the camp is designed (where you don’t limit the amount of instruments ) this camp had 6 drummers for 6 songs. My son was only on one song (five days working on one song -this was boring for him) he tried another song to learn but still was bored. A lot of waiting around while the other kids were rehearsing. My younger son was the same – bored. His parts were so easy for him that he was bored out of his mind and really didn’t want to go back Thurs /Friday. The best part of the camp for them was lunch. So that has to tell you something. For me, I was expecting them to come home with sheet music (which my husband ended up doing for them) and be taught something -anything. Also, you could tell that the kids weren’t taught how to perform together (one of the main reasons for having them do a camp like this) which isn’t surprising if your primary form of instruction is YouTube. My kids have been playing music since they were 4,5 and do not have access to devices at home. I would’ve never sent my kids to what I feel is a very expensive camp only for them to be given a device and sent to a room and be isolated from the other kids and only checked in on every once and a while. This for me is in no way a “camp” and the little blurb you have to advertise this camp doesn’t reflect the real thing. I can tell you as I type this it just makes me angrier and angrier. My boys play classical piano and is starting drums (his instrument for middle school) and I was so excited for them to experience music outside of Chopin. This is not at all what I had in mind and I really believe that they were robbed by this experience. Both boys feel that they didn’t learn anything that they could’ve just taught themselves at home. If you are interested in reimbursing us for this experience I would greatly appreciate it. I didn’t need a daycare for my kids as they would’ve had a lot to do at home – so this really was meant for them to immerse themselves in music – which sadly was a very negative experience for them.

Extremely disappointed by the owner’s careless responses from start to end. Almost traumatizing experience for my kid.

Being a part of School of Rock.of Issaquah for 3 years has been a miserable experience. I wish I had listened to the warning signs that these owners were petty, unprofessional, and unethical. I wish I hadn’t wasted roughly $15,000 of my family’s money, which doesn’t even include the 6 tickets everyone is forced to buy for every show. You soon come to realize that special programs like House Band and Allstars are just “carrots” that they can hang over you in order to convince you need to pay for more lessons, more camps, and more speciality mini classes that are extremely expensive. There were a few last straws for us. A wonderful instructor was bullied out by the owners when he refused to put the owner’s daughter in the more advanced group. Then, they decided to become 2/3 of the judges for the auditions to place their own daughter over more talented students. We refused to put our child into this unethical situation, and because we ever brought it up, we were “punished”. Also, in the last show my child was in, our child was subjected to really negative behavior from older kids that were 3-4 years older because most kids were sitting around unsupervised for hours while instructors were working with small groups. In talking to others, this type of bullying was happening to others.
One of child’s former friends at the school bragged about getting away with sexual activity because no one was watching them during the 3 hour practice time. With so many other great music programs like this in Issaquah and in the area, you don’t need to go to one that is run by evil people.

It’s not all about the music for me, it’s about the confidence and self-esteem that has been instilled in my daughter. Have seen such a wonderful change in her since she started School of Rock!

We have tried a few music instructors for our son and never could find the right fit. I heard about Rock School KC from a co-worker and thought we would give them a try. Nick is the BEST instructor and really knows how to work with kids. We are so thankful we found this place, Andre is always asking when is it time to go see Nick! Keep up the great work guys!

These peeps are f*ing awesome. My kiddo has ADHD and it can be a struggle sometimes in new environments to keep her focused. They had her attention and kept her on track to playing some minor chords quick fast and in a hurry. The fack that the progam includes private lessons AND band practice to socialize the music skills is fantastic. Will be enrolling shortly, may even look at some lessons for me as well!

We really liked all of the music instructors & they are great with kids(my 3 stars are for them). Can not say the same for the young woman who works the front office. She has zero social skills. The prices are very high and the layout of the programs is a little confusing.

Do not go here if your child has ADHD, which is a neurological disorder. They will never advance past rock 101 due to minor behavioral issues even with the talent to advance.

I have had an incredible experience at SOR. My drum teacher Dave has patiently responded to my teaching needs and provided encouragement. When I was ready, he encouraged me to join the adult band. The school, teacher, and band have been a very positive influence in my life:)

A good place for kids to get jiggy with the tunes!

Absolutely love school of Rock. We tried guitar lessons from other music stores and my son just didn’t stick with it. He loves school of rock. They have a completely different approach. Highly recommend!

Disappointing. I have two kids there. They decided to switch my kids lesson whither I liked it or not, because her teacher was needed elsewhere. They were having her teacher teach a group class. So they inconvenienced us to make more money whither we liked it or not.

My other child is in group kids class, it doesn’t seem like he’s learning anything. He spent one day drawing a picture of drums and played no music. It’s more like music themed daycare than music lessons. Classes start late every week.

I was using SoR in Elmhurst. They rarely had the same teacher from week to week, at least there each kid got to play their own instruments for the class. My scheduled changed and they don’t have Sat classes. Usually with the franchisee model things are held together a lot better.

It’s too bad because I like the model where kids play together.

When you walk in you can tell everyone enjoys being there. The staff is friendly and knowledgable. They always greet my son and take the time to talk him. They make him feel like a rockstar when he is there. They encourage him to do his best

The performance experience is what‘s so great about School of Rock. It makes the learning very fun! The teachers and staff are great too! My son has enjoyed SOR since 8 years old (he is 15 now) and still loving it!

SoR Columbia has been a fantastic experience for our whole family. Our son has greatly improved his guitar skills & his confidence has quadrupled. My husband & I love to watch the performances & we are always blown away by the kids as well as the whole SoR staff. The staff is so friendly and professional that they make my son immediately feel at ease. Our son will now sing on stage which he swore he would never do before he started at SoR. Because of his “Rock Star” confidence, our son went to NYC and auditioned on Broadway. He didn’t get the role, but he had a blast & has been inspired to keep practicing. We love SoR Columbia!

First let me start off by saying, the teachers at Columbia SOR are amazing and my daughter had such an amazing time in vocal classes with Gideon & Zack and Keys classes with Alex and Colin. And we really, really wanted it to work out but the administration at this branch of SOR was absolutely abysmal. The pervasive disorganization, cancelled lessons (sometimes on the same day), constantly shifting schedules, inconsistencies in which teacher we would have from week to week overshadowed whatever benefit my daughter was getting from the highly professional teachers at Columbia SOR. It made us very sad to leave the school because my daughter really made a connection with and loved working with her teachers and we really tried to put up with the mismanagement at the Columbia SOR. But ultimately the mismanagement was too much to bear. If Columbia SOR gets their act together, it could be a great place to learn music. However, at this time, I would not recommend spending your money there, which is a shame because the teachers really are great.

My experience is with Siohban Beckett. She inserted herself into a situation at work, based on a rumor from her friend and her own personal prejudice, that started an investigation. When nothing was found, she escalated the rumors, sending messages to her friends on social media, with the full intent of having someone fired. Based on the screenshots of her messages, Siohban Beckett’s own credibility was damaged. She left after one performance night.

Hi guys ! Please save your money and time and do
NOT go to this place . My daughter had an appointment and my mother in law took my daughter showed them the confirmation email with the time and date that they sent . The staff stated that the appointment time was wrong , even though it came from them . I reluctantly reschedule my appointment and they sent an email and again this happens . Just please don’t go here staff is very unprofessional . I would give no stars if I could .

Best thing I ever did was sign my daughter up at School of Rock East Brunswick! It has been a great experience where she has learned so much and everyone there is like family! They put on amazing shows and my daughter loves it!

My son has learned so much in just 1year, he loves his instructor too. Joe is very professional and helpful.

Nice service , nice people,my daughter likes her lessons.

Great place to get young kids exposed to music and instruments.

The owner Denise is very rude and unprofessional! I was running late for my son’ s rescheduled lesson. I arrived about 20 minutes late due to an accident on route 18 to a locked school. When I spoke to Denise, she said the teacher had to go to work. When I told her my son’s lessons were 45 minutes, he still had time in his lesson. He still had 25 minutes left. She told me for the first time, it’s policy that they wait 15 minutes. Although the teacher was willing to reschedule the lesson, she refused to allow it. She would not en reshedule the 25 minutes that the teacher was not there. She stole 25 minutes from my son.

Needless to say, I gave 1 months notice and cancelled and now my son goes to the School of Rock in Clark. He is loving it. In addition to private lessons he is taking Rock 101. When I asked the manager at the Clark location if it is School of Rock procedure to wait only 15 minutes, she said she never heard of that. She told me if someone doesnt show, they call to follow up and see if you are on your way. I believe this is common courtesy, especially since, we are early 99 percent of the time. I guess all Denise cares about is getting your money! She did me a favor though because the Clark location is actually closer to my house.

Take heed when dealing with her.

Bad management. My grandson went to the camp here. Very expensive and not very professional…..his brand new guitar broke on the first day at camp….the counselor didn’t see what happened…well where was he?? There are only 6 kids in the class and a small room. How could he not know what happened? The web site says that they will provide instruments….all they could provide him with was an electric guitar….which he did not like ….not what he wanted so they convinced him to play the keyboard. We had to convince him that he had to try to go back the next day….he was very upset but this place is too expensive to just give up. They advertise all kinds of “great” teaching methods and that your child will learn how to play a song. Well for over $400 he learned 3 notes on the keyboard. They had a show at the end of the week…what joke…the drummer and the two guitar player obviously had been going to this place for lessons for quite a while. They should really have better management. Another point came up that my grandson said it was too loud…I sent him with my phone headphones and asked when I dropped him off if they had headphones he could use since mine were not really the correct ones….I was told they have them but they are on a first come first served basis…well when I went to the show no other child had headphones so where were they ones that they had. The room is so tiny and they had tremendous speakers….way too loud for this purpose…I know sound like and old lady but this place is not what it’s advertised to be. At least for the camps. Maybe their lessons are better but if I were you I wouldn’t waste my money here. And now we have to buy another guitar!

The most unprofessional owner who defames other local business’ and will argue with parents. If I could give it 0 stars I would. The instructors are fabolous and great with kids. I’m not sure how this place is in business still based on management alone.

Was really good instructor was patient and no pressure at all will go back.

This place is great! My daughter took an intro lesson to see what she thought. Being a teen she was nervous at first and hesitant to go. Came out of the building happy and excited. She loves her instructor and what’s she is learning. She would go every day if possible. They are professional, warm, fun, and friendly. My child loves this place!
They have a cool program where you can do lessons on your instrument or voice. And then, if you choose to you can join a band also which meets there weekly. You get to decide what level you sign up for. It’s been a huge hit with my kiddo! Wish I had signed my older child up years ago.
They offer a really great program and we are so happy a friend turned us on to it!
No one asked for this review- we are just that happy about it.

Just started and i already love it!

So I took my son for a trial run with a group of kids at this school last week on a Monday at the Madison Rd location, which he was so excited about, so he went in with (i forget her name..jenny?) and he was just excited about all the instruments, it was only him and another boy. I guess my son was too much for her because she said that he was not really focused on just one instrument and kind of all over the place and recommend Music Therapy because she is a music therapist and that an hour was too much for him, ( I was kind of shock and a little hurt that I didn’t even ask her any other questions, but said ok and left) but she didn’t recommend her services for a personal session or anything, so my husband called the next day and asked about the lady (the music therapist) that did the trial run with Aaron if she can call him back and recommend her services or if she has a referral. its been a little over a week and she has not returned his call. I also did tell them in the beginning he has a vision impairment) I just wish someone would of reached out and recommended something because my son loves music and he is not a bad kid.

My son and I have been going weekly for about two months now and we both love it. He has made a couple friends, and enjoys playing the variation of instruments. I’d recommend for kids and adults.

UPDATE: We had to temporarily put a hold on our lessons (we have a lot going on), they were really cool about it, and made the automatic withdrawals for payment stop immediately. Easy peasy!

Have to recommend Dillon (hope I spelled that the right way), he was so incredibly patient with me and my slow music learning self. Great instructor! Thanks guys!

School of Rock is helping me fulfill a lifelong dream of playing the drums. My instructor, Jason, is so fun, a great teacher and incredibly talented. Lessons have been a constant source of joy and honestly have helped me with my self-confidence. I haven’t practiced an instrument in 10 years and I had forgotten how good it is for you – mentally, emotionally, spiritually, you name it. If you’re a grown-up like me and are looking to try something new and fun, I’d highly recommend stopping in this location and doing a trial lesson. The other staff are also friendly and helpful and I’ve had a great experience!