Amir School of Music - San Jose, California

S. K. K.

We feel incredibly lucky to have Amir as a teacher for our 10-year-old son, who is learning the darbuka in the past four months. Amir’s calm and patient demeanor, combined with his genuine passion for music, makes each lesson enjoyable and inspiring. He has an amazing ability to keep my son engaged, ensuring that he fully understands each technique before moving on, which allows my son to practice confidently on his own between lessons.

One of the things that makes Amir truly special is his flexibility and openness to working with each family’s unique situation. He warmly welcomed our entire family to stay during lessons, creating a wonderful bonding experience as we all get to witness and appreciate our son’s progress. Amir frequently introduces us to different instruments and thoughtfully answers every question my boys have, making each session both educational and engaging. He has allowed me to record parts of his lessons so my son can review and practice for an upcoming talent show, which has been incredibly helpful.

Amir’s knowledge and expertise in music go beyond the darbuka. He takes the time to share the history and technique behind various instruments, sparking curiosity in my son and enriching his understanding of percussion. We discovered Amir’s talent on YouTube while searching for darbuka performances and couldn’t believe our luck when we realized he lives nearby in San Jose. He is flexible with scheduling, supportive, and has an extraordinary ability to teach students of all ages.

If you’re interested in learning the darbuka or any Middle Eastern percussion instrument, do not hesitate to contact Amir. You’ll be fortunate to have him as your teacher. His passion for music is infectious, and he has a gift for bringing out the best in each of his students.

Reem M.

I have been taking my son to Darbuka lessons for 2 months now, he loves to go and learn the new things with the brilliant instructor Amir. Our lessons are much more than learning how to use Darbuka, it is a cultural enriching, enjoyable moments to see Amir playing and creating new instruments. My son enjoys it very much. Me too😊

farhad K.

Since the very first online class that I took with Amir, I have been totally impressed by his effective teaching skills, mastery of both Western and Middle Eastern music, his innovate approach and constant attention to his students. His classes are dynamic, interesting, diverse and accessible. He carefully selects his teaching material to match the skill levels of the class. Every session is recorded and shared with his students to compliment their study material.

Learning music is a life-long undertaking that can present many challenges along the way. Amir has the musical knowledge and skills, at the highest levels, complemented with a very effective teaching methodology that helps to make this journey both easier and enjoyable for his students. He embraces technology to share his talent for inspiring and benefiting many people.

Amir is also a very nice person with a contagious smile and excellent personal and professional manners. I am honored to know Amir as a mentor, music partner and friend.

Nükhet K.

I have taken lessons with Amir for almost two years and have been very satisfied. In fact, I think he is one of the best teachers I have ever had for the following reasons. Amir is very well organized and systematic in his approach. He is patient and clear in his instructions. His knowledge of Middle Eastern music is deep and extensive. As a teacher, he knows exactly the balance between encouragement and letting me know where I can improve. While he is very well organized and clear, he is also a very intuitive and creative person. He encouraged me to explore my own creativity so that I started composing poems and reciting them along with my drumming. Furthermore, he has created a beautiful community of music lovers and practitioners and organizes regular concerts and venues for his students to showcase their work.

Minoo N.

I've been taking drum classes with Amir once a week for more than a year now.
Last summer his ad caught my eye and I decided to register for a 4 week session.
After one year, every week I'm looking forward to my weekly class.
With his positive and creative approach to teaching, I feel that I'm improving my reading and playing skill, my knowledge of music theory, and the connection between culture and music.
In fact, Amir creates a community of students who care about and support one another.
Most importantly, his lesson plans are clear and he is always prepared with his teaching materials. As a novice musician, I was concerned about a teacher being able to meet me on my level. Despite his great depth of musical knowledge, Amir has always met me where I am at and I never felt like I didn’t know anything in the class.
He is an excellent instructor.

Joseph E.

Amir is an incredibly talented teacher. His knowledge of Persian and other forms of Middle Eastern music is unprecedented. In addition, he is extremely kind and always meets me, as the student, where I am able to show up. I am able to learn at my own pace but I am also pushed just enough to always make some progress with each lesson.

Amir is also very skilled with the online format and consistently professional in every way. I am not a fan of online learning, but he has made it very fun and entertaining. He is always resourceful and trying new things to enhance our lessons. Highly, highly recommend this teacher.

Alaska M. (.

I have been taking frame drum/daf lessons and doumbek lessons from Amir for about a year and a half. He is an excellent teacher and for the first time I feel I can read music and am taking my drumming to a whole new level. Classes are really fun and interactive with Amir and the other students. I love Amir’s positive attitude and the meditations he does at the end of each class. He has taught us a wide variety of rhythms and not only teaches us how to read the music but the history of the rhythms, how they are used, and how to play effectively and sensitively with other musicians, both for fun or professionally. The knowledge he imparts is not just academic but covers all aspects of culture and real life applications. In class activities and homework are varied and fun, using a variety of tools such as watching and playing along with mp3’s and videos or reading and practicing from music notation. He is always giving gentle pushes to expand our abilities and increase our speed, as well as to practice composing our own pieces and performing them for recitals.

All in all, Amir has been my favorite of all my percussion instructors. The classes are really fun and I have improved greatly in my playing and knowledge of music theory, reading music and understanding of the music of other cultures. I would highly recommend Amir as a teacher to anyone interested in learning more about playing Persian music at any level.

Aida O.

Amir is an asset to the global Persian music and dance community. He has students from around the world, from beginner to professional level. His lifelong dedication to the art comes through in his meticulously planned classes which challenge and nurture student's creativity. I've really enjoyed learning to play the daf from him (via zoom, as I'm based in New Zealand!) and highly recommend his classes to other dancers who want to see notable improvement in their musicality.