Red Pelican Music

Although I was taking guitar lessons with Red Pelican for a brief amount of time, I really enjoyed my experience with them! I filled out the online form and within minutes Brian called me to instruct me on how to find the right teacher for me, that would also fit into my busy schedule. He paired me with Sebastien, who was awesome all around. Super nice guy, super friendly, with a great understanding of all different genres of music. I have been traveling a lot lately and had a busy work schedule and Sebastien was always super accommodating when it came to moving around our lessons! Unfortunately due to my busy schedule, I found I wasn’t able to dedicate as much time as I would have liked to playing and am going to take a bit of a hiatus from lessons (but I’ll be back :))
Thank you, Brian and Sebastien, for making me feel right at home, and for helping me revisit my passion for playing. I came from a background of being shy and super self conscious about playing the guitar, mixed with brief lessons from ten years ago that I filed away in the recesses of my brain, and Sebastien was super understanding and warm, non-​judgemental and made me feel, truly, like a friend. He jumped right into the kind of style of music that I loved, started out with showing me some great/​nostalgic songs that I vibed with and any time I had a question (which was often to say the least), he explained everything to me thoroughly and mapped all of it out for me. He was also always responsive to any questions I had outside of the lessons and sent me a video when I struggled understanding one of the songs. He is definitely talented and passionate about what he does, its a kind of passion that is infectious… the kind that makes you really realize what it is to LOVE what you do. I highly recommend him as a teacher!!!
I am truly happy to have had such a great and humbling experience with this company, and I hope to return in the near future, when I am ready.
In addition, Brian was extremely understanding about my decision to take a bit of a break, and was happy to welcome my return :)
Thank you both!!!
–Victoria

I love Melody and Brian! They are always happy and awesome! I learned singing with Melody. She is energetic and powerful. She definitely helped me a lot and teached with her heart:). Recommend this music institution to you^_^. It gives professional training, while also makes me happy~~

I’ve tried many times to learn an instrument, and many times I’ve sputtered out after considering how tough classes and practice would be…
Red Pelican made it easy to change my pattern and I’m now on my way to being a ukulele master!!!
Ok, so maybe not a master, but atleast a passable instrumentalist.
If you’ve never been able to stick with an instrument, I highly recommend you try the red pelican!

I don’t know why it took me forever to take guitar lessons but I was so glad that I finally did and that Thomas was my teacher. Talk about real progress… I couldn’t believe that I was playing cords to my favorite bands in just a couple of lessons. Thomas made the lessons really fun and stress free. I looked forward to practicing at home and the weekly class. I would definitely go back to Thomas when I have more time for myself.

This is the type of business that makes you forget that you’re dealing with a business. From the initial selection of instructors, to the lesson followup. Everything was personalized and professional. I was matched up with Syreeta for voice lessons, who was perfect for me and my singing style. I’m extremely happy with how much I’ve learned in such a short amount of time. I look forward to taking lessons from Syreeta again, and will definitely be recommending Red Pelican to anyone looking for lessons

Simply superb! For the past few years I have been meaning to get back into music and I kept making excuses but I finally gave Red Pelican a call and I am so glad that I did. Brian was amazing — he spent so much time with me on the phone answering all of my questions with the utmost patience. I was impressed with the way he really tries to get to know your musical taste and how he made me feel instantly comfortable, like we had been friends for years!
I’m learning electric guitar with Thomas and I can tell you this: never in my life did I think I would be able to play like I do now after only 4 lessons. I have never previously played a string instrument so it was a big adjustment, but Thomas is such a great teacher, knowing how to strike the perfect balance between making you feel comfortable and pushing you to accomplish more difficult songs. I love his approach to teaching, he knows that you don’t want to just play endless scales even as a beginner. You want to get to the good stuff! By the end of my first lesson I was already playing the bassline to «Someday» by The Strokes. I really appreciate how he treats every question I ask (I’m sure some of them are very dumb) with care and takes into account what type of music I want to play.
I HIGHLY recommend Red Pelican Music and Thomas, I cannot go anywhere else!

I was pretty surprised and lucky to have my girlfriend to buy me ukulele lessons for my birthday. My level of play — strumming while watching TV. I waited a full year to use to the gift certificate. Brian answered my phone call, and he stated that Thomas would be available to be my teacher. I thought we were going to go through music theory, however we just dived in. So from strumming to the end of my lessons — I was able to play 3 – 4 songs — which to me was priceless.
Thomas was a great teacher, and I was awe-​struck to see that he could listen to a song, and he already knew roughly how the chords/​melody went. I really enjoyed the lessons. A great experience for sure; an experience I would love to continue hopefully in the near future.

I can’t say enough about my experience so far… I emailed on a Sunday morning about purchasing a gift certificate for a friend interested in guitar lessons. I figured being a Sunday the response time would be at best next afternoon. On the contrary… Brian responded via email within 30 minutes and then a phone call an hour later. He was patient and very informative. Brian gave me many options to help me choose the best gift for my friend. Now that I have had a great experience I’m confident that when my friend calls to book his lessons he’ll get the service he’s accustomed to.

I received piano lessons in a set of four as a gift. Brian, the director of music is the nicest person and even called me to ask many questions about my previous knowledge of piano. I picked an instructor to teach me, Cassie, who was a wonderful instructor! Very kind and patient. I will defiantly re-​new my lessons.

Red Pelican Music truly helped me get back into the music composition fold. I was always neverous about finding a good teacher or a way back in since I don’t tend to learn too well with things like this on my own. Finding Red Pelican was a godsend. Once you pay the intial fees for enrollment, you’ll find that the subsequent lessons are not only comparatively low priced but they’re also very well worth the price. Brian Robbins is the attentive, personable and amazing captain of this brilliant crew of musician teachers and he is very quick to respond and help out potential and current students. He paired me with the brilliant tatiana and she is wonderful! I absolutely loved learning with her. the worst part was how quickly time flies when you’ve got a great teacher helping you master the piano! (if you’re reading this tatiana, I can’t thank you enough!) I’ll continue to study and master everything you’ve taught me so we can pick up right where we left off when I get back!!)
I had signed up for the four week session and each class helped me to further enhance my ability with the piano. I went from barely knowing how the play a melody without stumbling to crossing fingers and now I’m working on adding character to my piano playing and building chords and inversions (I LOVE INVERSIONS). Red Pelican Music is the most amazing music education institution in LA and I won’t go anywhere else!

WOWWW for real. I have been researching voice lessons in LA for a long time and just never found a studio I really felt comfortable with. Brian and the Red Pelican Team are incredibly welcoming and the set-​up is very intimate. I took lessons with Syreeta who I couldn’t recommend any more highly. She was down-​to-​earth, understanding of my quirks and shyness at first, and really helped me to open my range!
I recommend doing the 4 package deal for a little extra savings, but you will get every pennies worth from this wonderfully talented team!

I have not (yet) taken music lessons with any of the teachers from Red Pelican Music. However, I am writing this review because of the outstanding service I received when interacting with Brian the owner. I sent an inquiry about guitar lesson pricing and availability, and received a prompt response ensuring me that Brian would be in touch with me.
When I talked with Brian he answered all of the questions I had, and gave me clear details on how the lessons would work and pricing. However, being a full time student I cannot yet afford paying for a month worth of lessons at a time.
I wrote this review because I think good customer service should be recognized, and I will definitely be back in touch with Red Pelican when the time is right.

After about three years of umming and ahhing, I finally decided to get over myself and try to learn the drums. Not knowing too many drummers, I turned to ye olde trusty internet, which quickly pointed me towards Red Pelican.
These guys are great. I email with Brian intermittently, who’s always quick with a response and totally reasonable with requests I have. He also got me in touch with Neil for my drum lessons. I can’t really say enough about how cool he is as a teacher. He’s super chilled and friendly during and outside of lessons, and really open-​minded with my song requests, no matter how weird they are. I’ve been learning for about six months now, enough time to figure out some basic patterns and learn how not to twat myself in the face with my sticks, so, emboldened with my progress, I asked Neil if he could transcribe a few songs by the likes of Meshuggah, Tool, and, most recently, Mudvayne. These are pretty rough songs to figure out, but Neil’s totally happy to sit there and listen over and over again until he’s got things right. I feel encouraged to play loud and proud (something I struggle with, being all shy and English and shit), and never feel like TOO much of an idiot when I inevitably fuck things up. All in all, I have a great time at my drum lessons, and always get as much practice in as I can.
I can’t speak for the other instrumental teachers, but as far as Brian and Neil go, I can’t rate them highly enough. They’re the best.

I’ve just had my first lesson with Sebastien and all I can say is… he’s totally amazing, nice and respectful. I might seem a little old (27) to start learning to play a string instrument for the first time in my life but Sebastien is very encouraging, so I guess together we’ll be able to succeed :)
Brian (the manager) was very helpful and engaged in the process all along and I’m very happy he paired me with Sebastien.
Thank you so much, guys!

I took piano lessons for 13 years but stopped in my late teens. Even with all those years of lessons, while I was taught to read music, I was never really taught music theory. So when I wanted to really get back into piano and try song writing at some point, I wanted someone who could teach me what I felt like I never learned.
In comes Red Pelican Music, I found them from an online search and am glad I did! Brian is so responsive and really wants to understand what you are looking for to make sure you are matched up with the correct teacher. I answered a few questions and was matched up with Anthony. I was very impressed reading his background before I started with him, but I wasn’t prepared for how amazing he would actually be! From the very first lesson, he was teaching me music theory and how not to just play the music but to play is expressively. I still struggle with some of it but Anthony is so great at helping you determine exactly what is is that is tripping you up. I have only been taking lessons for a little over a month and I can’t believe the things he has taught me. Seriously, it’s unbelievable. I couldn’t be happier and I plan on taking lessons from him as long as he is giving them!
I am so grateful to both Anthony and Red Pelican music. I work a ridiculous amount of hours a week and am still so excited to come home and practice piano and put into play everything I am learning. Brian is so responsive, cares about placing you with just the right person, and follows up to make sure you are completely happy. Eventually when I get some more free time, I’ll be taking guitar lessons too and I wouldn’t go anywhere other than Red Pelican.
If you are interested in taking any kind of music lesson, put your faith in Red Pelican; you will not be disappointed!

I was looking for music lessons when I moved to LA, and I’m really glad I reached out to Red Pelican. Brian is incredibly helpful. He makes the entire process so easy, and is genuinely excited about matching you with the right instructor. He matched me up with Tatiana, and I’m really happy with how the lessons are going!
I’ve learned so much from Tatiana in just over a month, not knowing a thing about playing the piano when I first started. Her energy is great! She is very positive and encouraging. Our current lessons are focused on Ableton, and she’s helped me understand so much about songwriting and producing every time we meet. It’s been more than I expected.
I highly recommend Red Pelican.

For those who don’t feel like reading a lengthy review, here are the main points:
–I totally recommend Red Pelican. I take guitar from Alex and have for a month. He is exceptional.
–This has been an extremely smooth process and excellent for the price.
–I have improved a ton in a short amount of time.
For the longer review…
I’ve been learning guitar with Red Pelican for a month so far. It was an incredibly smooth experience from the get-​go: Brian called me a few hours after I put my information on their site. He was a really nice guy and very understanding– I discussed what I wanted in a teacher and what exactly I wanted to learn, and from there, he decided who would be a good fit for me (also taking into consideration where I live and the times I’m available for lessons).
While on the phone, he paired with Alex (great name!), and before the night was over, I had my first month of lessons booked and payed for (refundable), starting in less than a week. Just about as easy as it gets.
I was then emailed by my new instructor – Alex – with additional information.
He has been awesome so far. He’s less than a 10 minute drive from me, he can play anything on guitar, he’s down to earth and just an all-​around good teacher. He packs so much into every lesson which gives me plenty to work on during the week, cares about what I want to learn, and always makes sure I’m using proper technique to avoid any issues down the road. On top of that, he has a way with making the learning process as simple as possible. He’s good at pointing out patterns, relating unfamiliar concepts to familiar ones, etc.
My guess is most (if not all) of the instructors at Red Pelican are of similar quality. No idea how they find them, but they pick good ones. I had a couple of free private guitar lessons through a university a few years ago, and I can confidently say that these are much more worthwhile and have me learning at a way faster pace.
Completely worth it and great for the price. I would absolutely recommend them!

As a self-​taught guitarist of six years, I was originally skeptical about taking lessons. However, I felt I needed to break through a plateau so I gave Red Pelican a chance.
Within hours of submitting new student forms on their website, Brian (owner) contacted me directly to discuss my goals, experience with my instrument, etc… in order to best match me with an instructor. He was very accommodating and helpful in getting the process started on a good note.
Since then, I have had five sessions with Ryan and I can confidently say he is a PHENOMENAL instructor. Seriously, Ryan is The MAN.
He is clearly very knowledgeable and a fantastic guitarist, not to mention he is super friendly and always upbeat when he is conducting lessons. He has been extremely accessible and responsive when I have conflicts or just questions about music in general. Ryan has a very laid back but focused approach to teaching that makes learning guitar (even the tedious things like theory) enjoyable.
In just a few sessions I can already see the progress I am making toward becoming a better guitarist and I have no plans to stop taking lessons anytime soon.
If you are considering taking guitar lessons, look no further than Red Pelican.

I was looking for a banjo teacher so that I could buy a couple of sessions for my brother for the holidays. I searched for quite a while before I stumbled onto Red Pelican. I filled out a form and later that day Brian called me.
First, Brian is downright friendly. He is cheery on the phone, even at the very end of the day. I was coming off of a long day at work, and I just couldn’t help but want to laugh at how good a mood he seemed to be in.
Second, Brian is extremely knowledgeable. He knows the name, location, and detailed professional background of almost (or maybe all?) of the musicians they employ. He had me sold on their banjo teacher in about 3 minutes. It sounds like the musicians in their stable are simply exceptional, and I think my brother is going to be in very capable hands.
Last, getting a gift certificate for lessons was easy. After talking with Brian he gave me the choice of doing it over the phone, or sending me a link to pay for the lessons. I chose the link for simplicity. He sent the link later and I had it filled out in about 2 minutes (super simple online form). Then he just emailed me the gift certificate (though my brother really just has to mention it when he books the lessons because they keep their own record!) and I was good to go.
Overall I had a five-​star experience with Red Pelican and I will definitely be turning back to them the next time I need music lessons.

Where do I begin? Ms. Melody… as my 3 year old calls her is without a doubt, amazing. She’s personable, patient and incredibly competent in her field; we adore her.
In fact, every time I see the progress our little girl has made, I’m overwhelmed with amazement of how easily she’s developing an ear for music. I reiterate… Our little girl is 3. I don’t think they even teach that young, but Ms. Melody makes it look easy.
Ms. Melody has introduced her to so many things that honestly, I don’t know whether my little girl would have learned about otherwise.
Things like… Instrument identification, following tempo, learning scales and She even has her singing, do re mi and loving it.
Brian is very accommodating, personable and simply great to talk to about any arrangements necessary to fit my schedule as well as my munchkin’s.
Pelican Music rocks!!! And we hope to continue with them for as long as they’ll have us :-)
On a side note… Last weekend we got to see Ms. Melody perform and my husband was so excited to know that Ms. Melody was teaching our baby because she lit up the stage and was awesome.
I strongly recommend Pelican Music to any parent who wants their child to learn/​play or sing music.