My 9 year old daughter has been taking guitar lessons here for about a year, and from the start, the instructor was very standoffish. As a parent, and a paying customer, I feel that I should be as involved as possible in my daughters activities and questioning what she is learning should NOT be viewed by a teacher as burdensome or intrusive. When I asked Mr. Tony, her teacher, what she should be practicing I was repeatedly told, she knows what to do. I have also seen him take this approach with other parents as well. On a few occassions I asked for him to elaborate for me on what she should be doing, and was again repeatedly told that she knows what to do, with no further explanation. On our most recent visit, I again asked Mr. Tony what she should be practicing because I did not feel she has been practicing what she needs to, and I'd like to be able to give her a little bit of guidance. The teacher responded by asking me to come with him into his practice room where he stated ""I cannot keep explaining to you every week what she should be doing, if you want to pay for a lesson, then go ahead. I'm the teacher, she's the student and she knows what to do"". His demeanor was very standoffish, he got in my face and raised his voice to me and he acted like I was doing something wrong by asking what she should be practicing. I don't understand what is so hard about just telling me, she should be practicing scales, or a certain song, or chords or whatever. I was not asking for him to detail the entire lesson, just a simple answer. I was so disgusted with the whole ordeal, I was literally shaking as I left. I would NEVER reccommend Tony as a teacher, however, my experience with other staff at Annies music has been quite pleasant. I believe that even the girl behind the counter was trying to stick up for me, offering suggestions as to how he could communicate to me what she is learning and should be practicing in an efficient manor, and he even snapped at her as well. In my opinion, this man should be fired for treating customers so poorly. We wil NOT be returning to Annie's Music any time soon, and will be seeking out a new guitar instructor who understands the importance of parental involvement. Please note that my star rating is purely based on my experience with this particular instructor, and not meant to reflect the quality of any other products or services offered by Annies Music.
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