Middle C Music

I work next door to Middle C and wander in sometimes. I told the sales woman I’m self-​taught on guitar and she recommended strings that were the opposite of what I said I was looking for. She asked how I planned on tuning and I said by ear to which she scoffed «what, you think you have perfect pitch?». Not to toot my own horn but 14 years of classical violin and yeah my pitch is pretty darn good lady.
A couple weeks later I decided I wouldnt dismiss the store because of one salty lady, so I came back for a loop pedal. I got the single pedal Ditto looper. I brought it home and it was broken. Just a total dud, wouldnt even turn on. I then researched online and found that Middle C was charging almost TWICE as much as retail value. I understand mark-​ups but thats insulting. I returned it. I ended up just making the drive to Chuck Levin’s and buying a BOSS RC-​30 which by the way is SO worth the extra money. Leaps and bounds in quality and capability.
3-​stars for the super kind young man who helped me buy an amp (an exorbitantly overpriced amp), and for Mike who lets me fool around with guitars sometimes on lunch breaks, and the young woman who helped me return my pedal. They were all lovely, but I won’t bring anymore business to Middle C.

This is the only music store in the District opened on Saturday and Sunday, which makes it invaluable. They do rental as well. We have been using it regularly since my son started the violin a year ago. Salesmen are welcoming. The owner, who can have a rough edge, is becoming increasingly comfortable with us (and us with her). This is also a great place to find party gifts. A full service store, highly recommended.

This is a very crony store, the management is very nasty even with their own employees. I had a very bad experience with them trying to buy an amplifier, and also trying to take guitar lessons. The teacher was getting cold and they would not switch on the heater as they wanted to economize on the heating costs, so disgusting!

This store is so much fun. I went in to buy music flash cards for my piano lessons and walked away with a ukulele too. Alive with energy. I love just going here to see people trying out different instruments.

I would not recommend purchasing instruments through this store. I went with some people with the mindset of purchasing a ukulele. Within seconds of entering, the salesman acted in a surprisingly unprofessional manner and we decided not to buy anything from the place.
The salesman was unnecessarily aggressive with everyone in my party. He continuously responded to our questions and statements as if we were the unknown butt of a joke. He was also unable to answer any questions about even the most basic aspects of the instruments. Finally his interactions with the females in my party made them all very uncomfortable.
Because of the interaction with that one salesman, we decided to leave and not give this store any business.
Also it is a pet peeve of mine when stores do not tune or really care for their instruments. Of the nine instruments I played, not one was remotely tuned.

Middle C Music is a great location to not only purchase instruments, music, but to learn music as well.
I started learning the guitar from April (With lessons ending in July because I won’t be in the area anymore), and in that short time I had with the teachers, I have been able to improve my strum patterns, fingering, power chords as well as introduce a few more songs into my repertoire. (All from Amilcar Cruz, who is a great teacher).
For people trying to learn Spanish, Latin, or Classic Rock songs go with Amilcar Cruz because he’ll take the time to make sure you get every detail right and he has experience performing live in the DMV area.

Three stars for the guy being helpful, at least now I know what to buy on amazon. Went to buy a couple things but they only had one item which I was willing to purchase, but since I didn’t quite reach the minimum card purchase I could get my item. Is it so wise to send a customer away over a small percentage fee, who would have come back for the items when in stock? Instead eating a .37 cent transaction fee you made no sale and lost another customer to amazon. You want your small business supported? Buck up an weigh the options.

My wife and I had a wonderful experience purchasing a piano here and felt compelled to write a review. For us, the service and expertise of the sales associates were key. Matthew, the gentlemen who helped us, was extremely knowledgable about pianos and very friendly and open to our questions. He made our experience pleasant and put our minds at ease by explaining the pianos and the various features of each compared to competitors. We would recommend this music store to anyone!

I have no experience with their lessons or repair services. I play rock, pop and so on.
Middle C has a great sheet music selection an increasingly good if limited stock of guitars and basses now including Fenders, Schecters and even elusive Kala U-​Basses. Instruments are typically in good shape and kept in tune. The staff is very friendly, helpful, and try to keep shop volume low.
Unfortunately it seems they are selling most instruments at MSRP/​list prices. Standard practice among guitar shops is to sell at the «minimum advertised price» and match lower prices you find on identical items; many brick shops will let you haggle. MAP is what you’re offered at Amazon, Guitar Center, Chuck Levin’s, Atomic Music, etc. and can be 30% less than MSRP. Accessories such as strings, picks, and stands are similarly priced.
They are involved in the community and often swamped with kids taking lessons on a variety of instruments. It is a good local shop that would be great if they priced their instruments and accessories competitively.

I just found the guitar selection extremely limited. I’m a somewhat novice player, but not a complete greenhorn, and I was looking to upgrade. Unless you want to either go really cheap or break the bank, there’s not a lot of selection. Middle way, man, I can’t buy a guitar for $ 650 or $ 800 yet, but I don’t want some piece of wood that’s $ 150-​$ 200. Give us some range!

My daughter (who plays violin) was in there with her friends this past weekend – they were barked at not to touch the instruments. I get that these are not toys – but another kid walked in and started fooling around with the instruments and nothing was said to them. Arbitrary and mean. Again – we’ll just keep buying and renting at Potter’s up the road in Bethesda.

I’ve been their twice now and both times they had everything I needed. One of those times though was somewha unpleasant because the owner was having a very loud and very long argument on the phone that was distracting and unpleasant. Office?

My first visit was good. Dude who was working the store was gonna hook me up with a floor model of a music stand for 10% off the regular price of $ 42. Didn’t have the capacity to take it home with me that day, so I had to wait on the purchase.
Fast forward to today. I guess since school is back, the price goes up to $ 56. And the floor model no longer has a discount. That said I was fine with getting a brand new one in the box.
Until the girl cashier starts pulling books off of the floor model. Apparently they had none in stock, yet insisted upon charging me full price. I raised the issue only to have what was probably the owner — an older lady offer me a measly 5% off for a floor model of an item whose price increased by $ 14 in the span of a week.
Sounds like a similar experience to AR F.
Pretty terrible customer service if you ask me. It’s hard to support a mom & pop store like this when a chain like Guitar Center will hook you up with a better price and help.

It’s pricey and I always feel pressured. Otherwise, seems like a decent enough place. I only shop there when I need something right away. Things are more than half price on Amazon (same brands, same quality.)

I was a little wary after reading the reviews from Unilocal but I didn’t really have a choice but to go to Middle C. I am pleased to report that everyone was very nice, it took all of ten minutes to get my items and get checked out. They even had Halloween candy for my little one. I’ll go back to get a few Christmas gifts.

unhelpful. unwelcoming. and all the gear sucks-​out of tune, rusty, and way way overpriced.

[This review pertains to instrument repair. I cannot comment on music lessons here.]
I was a band geek. Marching band, concert band, pit orchestra, youth orchestra, brass group for graduation, etc… you name it, I was in it. But once I finished high school, I stopped. Even though it was the most beautiful double French horn that my parents bought for me, it sat in its case collecting dust for 6 years.
Then it occurred to me that I really needed to start using it again. The parents brought it down to DC when they came to visit and as I suspected, it was in serious need of some love. The mouthpieces desperately needed to be cleaned, the valves no longer moved, and the sliding tubes moved just barely. This was obviously not something I could rectify myself.
So I gave Middle C a call to see if they did repairs because I didn’t want to go through the trouble of bringing it all the way here and finding out they didn’t. But they did. They outsource the repairs to some guy and he works on it for a week or so. Fair enough. I wasn’t entirely concerned about the length of time it would take since I belong to no such music organizations anymore. Parents drove me to drop it off, gave them my info and would return in a week.
During the week it was being overhauled, I kept worrying in the back of my mind of how much it would cost. I was anticipating $ 150 – 200 because it needed that much work. Well, lo and behold, a week and 2 days later, it was ready for pick-​up. I was beyond shocked (and I think the woman at the store was, too) that it was way less than I expected. She listed all the things he fixed and then looked incredulously at the note that read $ 100. Really? That’s it? AWESOME! Since I had a little money to spare, I also asked her to throw in a bottle of valve oil.
Great service, 1 week, 1 beautifully repaired horn, 1 bottle of oil and all for ~$ 106? Oh hell, yes.

SO one of my resolutions for 2009 is to learn to play the guitar. So after some online research, I decided to check out Middle C, partly because of the positive reviews I read, but also because it is close to my office. It’s about a stone’s throw from the Tenleytown-​AU metro station.
When I walked in, I had my mind set on a particular and inexpensive guitar. Well, once I met Myrna, the owner, she opened my mine (and my wallet!) to better and only slightly more expensive options.
Her staff was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. And as a beginner with guitar (but not to music), they took the time to explain about the construction of guitars, sound, tone, the difference between nylon and steel strings, and the list goes on. As much as she wanted to let her staff work with me, she couldn’t help but interject her wonderful opinion now and again.
They steered me to a model that was a bit more than I wanted to spend. But they were more than willing to do a limited layaway plan so I could get the financial issues straight without losing the opportunity to purchase the last of that particular model.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this shop for beginners and seasoned players alike. They also rent and sell other instruments and have a great selection of acoustic and electric guitars. They offer sheet music, music gadgets, and are very learned about their craft.
They also do offer lessons for most of the instruments they sell. I will start lessons at the end of the month. I’ll add a review about them after a month or so.

My girlfriend gets her music lessons here and it is simply fabulous. My girlfriend is an adult learning the piano, and they have been so supportive of her. Earlier this year they had an adult only recital where adults could strut their stuff in front of a supportive audience (often for the first time in front of an audience). There is a great sense of community in this store, and the owner is almost always present.