Irvine Art & Music Center

I normally don’t write reviews unless my expectations are exceeded, and in this case it 100% was! Irvine Art & Music is by far the BEST music shop I’ve been to in a long time. I recently bought a Yamaha grand piano from this store and from the moment I walked into the store I felt like and instant VIP. The management team was cordial and extremely helpful and the environment they’ve built within the store made me feel at home. The piano has since been delivered to my house and my sister absolutely loves playing it. If your looking to buy any kind of instrument I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SHOP.

A fine place.

We have been coming here for about 6 months and like it very much. My daughter wasn’t sure if she wanted to try the violin or guitar and they let us have a free 15 minute session with both a violin teacher and a guitar teacher.
She ultimately decided on the guitar, and have all the equipment in stock. Since she was a beginner we didn’t want to spend a lot of money on the guitar; and their prices for a basic guitar are comparable to Amazon. I also like that they fit the guitar her on the spot so we got the right size. We’ve had to have a repair or two, snapped strings and they’re able to do it on the spot for very little cost. In addition they have all of the other accessories available, so it really is one stop shopping.
Her teacher Adam is fantastic, he seems very patient and is able to tailor lessons to her interests and technical level. My daughter has really learned a lot and continues to improve every week.
The cost per lesson is also quite reasonable. $ 30 for 30 minutes, I have several friends who do private lessons in their home and the cost is a little bit more. While we are locked into a lesson time every week, we’ve had to change the time on a few occasions to accommodate our schedules and Irvine Art And Music is very accommodating to change.
I don’t know about other music stores but so far we’ve had a really nice and professional experience

Samuel Chen is a professional technician. He improved the music action by string adjustment after he installed my pickup.

This store seems clearly geared towards the student instrument rental market and not for professional musicians, though I could be wrong.
What they do very well is get your kid and instrument rental for school with minimal hassle and at a reasonable cost.
They also communicate very well through phone calls and even reminded me to return the instrument at the end of the year. Some employees may not speak perfect English, but who cares. We are in SoCal after all.
Great service and experience. My goto if my kid plays something next year.

Been coming here for my son’s violin accessories and books. The staff have been very helpful and this is a convenient place to stop by in Irvine. They have the accessories and books needed for school music program. Prices also seem good after checking websites for comparable products.

Howard helped me right away. I had a broken viola string the day of my sons concert, repaired and tuned within 10 minutes! I love this place!

I walked in and said, «Do you have percussion lessons?»
The woman who was sitting at the front desk looked at me quizzically and said, «Per…cussion?»
I walked out.
If the person greeting your clients and answering questions doesn’t know basic music vocabulary, I don’t want to shop in your store.

The store offers variety of items, including sales of instruments, music books and tutoring service. I go to this store because of its instrumental repair service. The young guy by the name of Sam really impressed me with his skills and his dedication of doing things right. I want to give him a thumps up! Highly recommended. Also, the quote for the instruments sounds fair, and they seem to be willing to work with you on the price. The only thing that I struggle with is the parking. It takes me some effort to find a parking space each time I visit them.

This is an odd kind of store — combining instrument sales, music lessons and art lessons. My daughter took music lessons here for around a year — the price was fair, the instructor was good, and the front desk staff was extremely helpful. I have also got her instrument serviced here several times. The last time (in June 2014) they did not call me when it was done like they used to before they changed technicians, so that was a little annoying. Also, as others have noted you some times have to wait a little bit at the instrument counter. I have also bought an instrument here, and their price was very good — better than other stores and much cheaper than the internet for what I was buying.
So, in short, my experience with this store has been mostly positive. The location is very convenient for me and I definitely plan on continuing to do business here.

REPAIR REVIEW– WARNING THEY WILL NOT REPAIR YOUR INSTRUMENT CORRECTLY IT WILL BREAK WITHIN 2 days of getting it back!!!
I normally do not review people this critically but these people are
A. Unprofessional– didn’t give a call when the repair was done and thus I didn’t get my guitar in time though they said they would call me when it’s finished…
On top of that they closed even though I needed 2 minutes to get there at 5 and didn’t stay open for the customer till 5:02…
Horrible customer service– I was talked down to and said it was my fault?
B. Terrible quality of service. I brought 2 guitars in for repair and paid over $ 80 and both guitars have the exact same issues and were not repaired at all. Broke with the SAME ISSUES within 2 Days!
DONT GO HERE
GO TO JIMS MUSIC, or anywhere else for that matter…
Not a good company.

I’ve had to go here a few times after Jim’s Music moved, and it’s a tiny little store but it does have a few decent items. It’s not highly inflated prices, but they are going to be slightly higher than other stores for understandable reasons. Customers should be aware that this is also a school, which is where I find myself less likely to return.
The times I shopped here the workers wouldn’t even be around, and one time a customer was ahead of me and it took 30 minutes just to get a simple item. That was the last time I bothered shopping here, I felt it was poor service and I get treated much better at other music stores, along with better prices. I won’t miss the terrible parking, which is caused by the local fitness center.

Originally I decided to come here to check out if this place was decent. I walked out with an acoustic guitar. The staff were extremely helpful in finding a guitar that fits me. I’ve been playing the guitar for a while and I absolutely love it. For the price I paid, the guitar was definitely worth it.
I read the past reviews about returning the instruments but I believe that’s normal to assess the guitar based on the scratches. Ya know… the price of everything even selling cars are based on that. Maybe the owners should take better car of their instruments versus blaming the company…-___-’

I only stopped by for about 10 minutes.
Upon walking in, there were many kids around. The place is normally sized for a non-​chain music store.
+++
All of the reps were busy, but definitely noticed me. Once the cashier was done with his queue, he immediately asked me what I was looking for. An older employee also came to my help, I felt that he was more inexperienced.
The older employee knew exactly what I was looking for, he thought it had been sold. He went to the back to check for me and brought out one of them. We opened it and it was a different color.
I told him I’d think about and left.
They have great prices.
—
Earlier, I had asked if they had the blue model in stock by email, I received a response from Jennifer Wang: «Our price for _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​blue is $_​_​_​_​_​_​.» I sent another email to clarify my question of whether they had it in stock or not. I received no response for that.
Biggest pro: Not feeling pressured to buy anything.
Biggest con: Email didn’t clearly answer my question.

This one of the few music stores in/​near Irvine. And one of the fewer still that have adept, knowledgable techs.
I brought my guitar here for a re-​string. The tech who helped me was friendly and professional
For a measly $ 10, he changed the strings, and cleaned my guitar (I never get around to cleaning my fretboard).
There is a side of the store that looks like a tutoring center, I’m guessing that’s the art side.
The service only took 15 minutes, I went to get some carry-​out and when I came back, it was done. You can tell that music is their passion, and with this level of service, I will be coming back.

Beware! Do not rent musical instruments from this place. I rented a viola for my son for the school year. They required an $ 80 deposit which was fine but when it came time to return the instrument they will try to point out anything and everything wrong with the instrument so by the time they are done you will not get your deposit back. We took very good care of the instrument. Not a scratch! They said we had the wrong strings and they had to be replaced. These were the same strings they installed!!! I won’t be back next year.

Was looking for a guitar, music, and microphone stands and they took care of my needs. Price was right, and wait was not very long. The staff walked me through different options when i mentioned what i was looking for. Very knowledgeable. They have other services, but I have not used them to say anything.
Staff is friendly and helpful.
Would definitely come back again for any music needs.

i really like this place. i’ve been coming here and buy my music books for the past 6 years. thet have a great collection of classical music and pop music. great location too. usually when i finish grocery shopping at ranch 99 or after visiting 24 hour fitness. i’d like to stop by here and find new music :) the front desk ladies are always nice and helpful.
they also have private music lessons. i think i will come look for a guitar teacher one day, ha!

They come across as very professional, but all they care about is making money. They rip off their students, mistreat their teachers, and care far more about their business than their students and the education they are providing. It’s sad because they have some great teachers and very dedicated students, but the whole business aspect and poor attitude of the management takes away from the learning. There are lots of other great places in Irvine to learn art and music that will treat both their staff and their clients far more fairly than these people. Go to one of them instead!