The Musik Nest

As a mom who has always loved music, I really searched for the best studio and program to get my daughter excited about music. I was in band in school, my husband played several instruments including the french horn, and my FIL’s entire family is very musical. I have to say that the best reviews all pointed to The Musik Nest in Issaquah. Now, we live in Kirkland, so it’s a drive, but what my daughter gets in return for the drive is well worth it. She loves the teachers, and has worked with Miss Rebecca and Miss Sarah in the Young Child program now for two years. She has learned to read music, to love a variety of styles of music, she is learning to compose music, and her fine and large motor skills have improved as well. I also love that she is learning math via music in this class because it’s so essential in life to have that foundation in math. I am really excited that they are working on some new programs, because my daughter was super sad that the fourth semester of Young Child was going to be her last with The Musik Nest. Great for all ages, and again, I really love the teachers and feel it’s worth it to drive from Kirkland to Issaquah once a week for this program and this studio. They are the best!

I have gone to The Musik Nest for the last six years. All three of my kids love Miss Rebecca. She has done a wonderful job of teaching my children. My oldest son graduated from the program and has the basic understanding of sheet music. My two other children are currently enrolled in the program and truly enjoy going. They love the songs, dances and stories that Miss Rebecca introduces. I would highly recommend this program.

Great classes for parents and babies/​toddlers. Really gets the little ones interested in music, listening, dancing, and instruments. We have been taking the Our Time classes for the past 6 months and I have enjoyed all of the sessions. Each lesson is a little different!

We’ve been taking our kids to the Musik Nest for about 6 years. Our oldest started when he was 2 and finished a couple years ago, our middle child is almost done with the final program, and our youngest, 3, recently moved up to the program where the parents don’t stay with the kids during class, a big step for him.
When they’re done with the final program, the kids know several notes and can read simple sheet music, and play it on the glockenspiel and recorder. They also learn to play a stringed instrument, the dulcimer.
They learn quarter notes, half notes, dotted half notes, whole notes, eighth notes, quarter rests, and half rests. They learn forte, piano, crescendo, and decrescendo. They learn to identify many, many different instruments by picture. All very impressive for a 6yo, the typical age when they complete the final program.
And the kids have a lot of fun along the way. Often when doing the music homework (around 10 minutes a day, a few times a week), they insist on doing a previous week’s homework again too because they like playing it so much.
One important thing that is special about the Musik Nest — if you’ve been a parent for a while, you’ve probably paid for various «classes» in which the «teachers» are teenagers with, it often seems, about 15 minutes of training, if that. It’s not like that at all at the Musik Nest. All the teachers are real, licensed teachers, who could be teaching at public schools if they preferred. They know what they are doing and they are good at it.
Learning music at a young age is good for brain development. Don’t take my word for it; read the fascinating and thoroughly researched & documented book «What’s Going On In There: How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life» by Lise Eliot. The Musik Nest programs are fun way to make your kids smarter.

The Musik Nest is one of the few programs that I really enjoy, and where we not only have a great time together, but learn something every week, as they nicely blend music and movement activities with early childhood development into each class. So you understand how music is really helping your child develop. For the last year, we’ve seen several of the same mommies and kids re-​enroll, which is great as we’ve gotten to know lots of other families. The classes are upbeat, fun, and they flow very nicely. And the teachers are amazing!

OK, to be fair, my kids seemed to like this place (when they were 2 – 3 years old). Me, on the other hand, not so much. The teacher is nutty. And not nutty in a fun, happy to be around kids way. Nutty like — well you know.
The classes were expensive, but came with take-​home stuff nearly every week, so that was cool.
I recommend you get a free trial class before you sign up just to see if you agree with me about her personality. I hope you disagree, and you have fun with your kiddos.