David K’s Music School

(since the school has two locations, which my son and I go to, and there are two entries on Unilocal,I am pasting a copy of my review for the other (Almaden) location, for completeness)
My 7-​year-​old son has been having piano lessons here for a year now. Having been musically educated in the past (primarily in classical music), I had specific requirements for my son’s education, including a good balance between classical and modern music, and an expressive teaching style.
Our first teacher was good (4 out of 5 stars), sort of reminds me of a teacher I had when I was a kid. Then we switched to another teacher, Ms. Luara Tsarya. What a change! Ms. Luara reminds me of a teacher I wish I had back in the day (you know, the best one in school, who had the strongest students performing at recitals!)
The switch took place at the end of summer, just two months ago, but my son made more progress than in months with a prior teacher. First thing Ms. Luara did was she completely changed the repertoire from the «cookie cutter» Alfred’s Basic Piano, to a set of separate materials, including Jazz, Blues, popular music. To keep emphasis on technical skills, every lesson also includes scales and the associated exercises. Recently, the «obligatory» classical études were also introduced for improving technique.
During lessons, Ms. Luara is very expressive and articulate. She would not rush a kid through new stuff and would prioritize her efforts for a kid to try to understand the «logic» first, rather than «mechanical drills». For example, early in learning a new scale, my son would try to play it blind. Then, after practicing a chord progression, a simple tune would be used to reinforce the new chords («can you play Twinkle-​twinkle in B-​flat major?» followed by a few other scale variations).
«How to perform» aspects are also covered in every lesson. All in all, a very well-​rounded, high-​quality lesson plan and execution, every time! At this point I can’t ask for more (other than a better tuned piano ;-)
My son (and I) feel more motivated now and appropriately challenged. After having had a large number of make-​up lessons from the first teacher, we have now switched from once-​a-​week to twice-​a-​week 45-​min schedule (which helps keep the learning momentum going plus that’s what I was used to when I was a kid).
The school has two locations, which offer flexibility in scheduling the classes (or make-​ups).

From my limited experience (My son takes clarinet lessons here), it’s a good music school. His instructor works well with him and the staff at the desk are very helpful.