Curtis Kamiya Music

Honolulu, United States

5

Closed now

5 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 808-253-9088
Website:
www.curtiskamiya.com
Address:
550 Halekauwila St Ste 206, Honolulu, HI, 96813
Downtown
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.4 miS Hotel St + Alakea St
0.4 miAlakea St + S Hotel St
0.5 miS Hotel St + Bishop St
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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Parking
Garage, Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Dogs Allowed
No

Today

Today 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Honolulu) 00:26 Thursday, 12 June 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday –
Wednesday 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Thursday 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Friday 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Saturday 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sunday 8:00 am – 7:00 pm

Description

Specialties

At Curtis Kamiya Music, we offer every client — through the medium of music — a way to be more self-​expressed, increase confidence, develop stamina and discipline, and create a lifelong love and appreciation for music. We believe that music can transform lives and foster a unique setting to live into your individual creativity.

We specialize in music instruction, boutique recording services, and music production. We base our private sessions around each unique client, drawing upon your learning style, desired skill level, musical tastes, and articulated goals.

We offer:

* Teaching & Mentorship ~ beginning to advanced musicians in guitar (acoustic & electric), ‘ukulele, bass, voice

* Professional Recording Services ~ EP/​CD releases, demos, voice-​over work, project over-​dubs

* Music Production & Direction ~ multi-​layered music composition projects, songwriting in a collaborative environment, and full-​service production of your project from foundational underpinnings to mastering

History

Established in 2006.

The original Curtis Kamiya Studio started in Seattle, Washington out of Curtis and Annie Kamiya’s small apartment on Capitol Hill. A handful of dedicated and enthusiastic acoustic guitar students filled-​out what was then just a side «gig» for Curtis. Over the next two years, the hobby grew exponentially and finally Curtis left his managerial job at The Guitar Center to teach full time.

Born and raised in Honolulu and Waipahu on Oahu, Curtis knew he would someday return from the mainland and open a studio that would offer a relaxed but rigorous venue for lessons and music recording/​production. Today, Curtis caters to not only guitar students but offers lessons for ukulele players, vocalists, mentors songwriters, produces, and offers recording space. His wife and co-​owner, Annie, runs the front of house operations and you can catch the two around town performing with their band Mango Season.

Meet the Business Owner

Curtis K.

Business Owner

Curtis Kamiya is a professional musician, private music instructor, recording producer/​engineer, and coach & mentor for emerging professional musicians. He co-​owns and operates Curtis Kamiya Music, LLC with his wife, Annie Kamiya, and their studio is located in the Kaka’ako District of Honolulu. Curtis received musical training and mentorship in guitar and voice at Punahou School, and continued to pursue his love of acting and music at the University of Puget Sound where he received two B.A. degrees in music and theater. Curtis is also the leader and artistic director of local Honolulu band, Mango Season. As a solo artist, Curtis released two albums: You Can Close Your Eyes (2001) and 21st & geary (2005). Recently, he recorded and produced the debut album, Flying Home (2013), for his band Mango Season. You can find his music on iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby.

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5 reviews of Curtis Kamiya Music

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Honolulu, HI
Curtis Kamiya is the best! He’s really been able to tap into some creative musical vein of mine that I just couldn’t find when I was a kid. He’s one of the best teachers I’ve had musical or otherwise!
My dad was a wonderful musician. My favorite memories were sitting on the porch with late at night and listening to him sing and play the guitar– tears in heaven, stray cat strut, and as I got older, he’d listen to whatever my favorite song was at the time and then play it for me that night having just heard it once! So when he passed away recently, I inherited all his beautiful guitars. Although he taught me a little and I had piano and guitar classes as a kid and teen, I just wasn’t all that dedicated back then…
But now I wanted to learn really badly, I wanted to keep the music alive in my family.
So I found Curtis. I told him my story and scheduled my free consultation. He was very relaxed, very easy to talk to, and I loved that he cared about why I loved music and what music I loved. He could see when my eyes lit up talking about my favorite band or song and he kindled that fire to bring back things I’d learned and forgotten long ago. I quickly scheduled more classes. Whenever he showed me something, it clicked in my mind, and all of a sudden the random bits I’d learned came into focus. I knew the things I remembered, but he taught me WHY they were so– and it all made sense! He taught me with songs that I chose, and it made it fun for me to go home and practice. I was always amazed at myself after a class, I never felt defeated or frustrated.
Unfortunately I’m having a little financial rough patch now and had to take a hiatus, but as soon as I’m back on track, I’m investing in Curtis/​investing in myself. I’ve had a lot of music teachers, but Curtis really cares about how you learn, and what you should learn to keep your passion for it strong, and that’s a tough skill to find in a teacher.
Place rating: 5
Clatskanie, OR
My wife and I have a couple of ukes, one of which was given to us as a wedding gift after our friend played it on the beach at Hanalei for our wedding march. We decided it was time to learn how to play and I don’t know how we got so lucky to find Curtis, but we are delighted that we did!
Curtis gave us a free introductory hour after which we bought a five-​session package that we attended together. Curtis met us at our level and challenged us the right amount to help us make progress that we didn’t know was possible.
Curtis did an excellent job of discovering what our musical interest is and finding songs that we could manage. He keeps good notes and was always prepped for our sessions.
Curtis’s musical knowledge is thorough without being didactic. I found him to be a perfect ambassador for the transition from a life of listening to music to the other side: playing!
Additionally, my wife used Curtis for a corporate event and he knocked it out of the park. He was able to teach and entertain 18 marketers visiting from the mainland for a retreat. He met them at their level, which got silly at points. He reinforced the themes they were working on and was a success at setting a tone for this week in Hawaii.
Big mahalos, Curtis!
Place rating: 5
Honolulu, HI
Curtis Kamiya Music is highly recommended. Most importantly, my teen likes the lessons, looks forward to them and does practice. Second, Curtis is extremely talented not just as a musician, but also as a teacher. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music & much of his knowledge is expressed to students. Third, he’s a great entrepreneur too. His lessons are easy to schedule online; he’s available & communicates well with clients. In other words, he not at all like the usual creative-​type-​personalities when it comes to time management & commitment.
I will say this though. Curtis Kamiya is pretty well-​booked, but I think that’s an indicator of his fantastic product.
Place rating: 5
Honolulu, HI
I’m a beginner but have had a few other teachers. What those guys were lacking, Curtis has. I really didn’t like the little 4×4 rooms I took lessons in from previous teachers, so I was stoked with the big layout of Curtis’s studio. I also like his intro policy; your first lesson’s free and he uses that lesson to get feel from you about what you want to get out of the lessons.
All that other stuff aside, Curtis is a natural teacher. A genuine guy that’s patient and easy to learn from. I move around a lot so I’ll be forced to work with other teachers, but I’m betting that my experiences with Curtis will be the standard that I measure other teachers against for a long time.
Place rating: 5
Albuquerque, NM
Like many chronic guitar-​noodlers, I usually hate guitar lessons. But one day, I found my guitar playing stagnating, and found Curtis on Craigslist.
I took guitar lessons weekly from Curtis for several months before I had to move away from Hawaii, and I loved it. Curtis is a great teacher and a nice guy. Lessons were always fun, always insightful, and always encouraging. Even though I’m not too into structured learning (or practicing for that matter), I still learned a lot and got a lot better taking lessons from Curtis.
In fact, I liked my lessons so much that when myself and my finace got married, we decided to hire his band, Mango Season, to perform. They did a great job.