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Business & Tech

King Music: Making Melodies In The Grove

The longtime music store offers lessons and much more.

It was 1967 when Leonard Charles King III arrived in Lemon Grove to work as a music teacher at Coady School of Music on Main Street. Owner Merle Coady operated his music school in two locations. The main store was in downtown San Diego on 7th Avenue, and was very well known—almost a local landmark. The other was right here in little Lemon Grove, providing a musical cornucopia to East County residents. The school was quite famous for the quality of its teachers. In fact, many of them were members of the San Diego Symphony orchestra.

In 1986, after Coady’s death, King took over the Lemon Grove store and changed the name. For the past 25 years, King and his impressive roster of teachers have been instructing students to be the best that they can be…with practice, practice, practice. The lesson offerings include piano, flute, clarinet, saxophone, violin, viola, cello, trumpet, trombone, drums, guitar, bass, ukulele, banjo, mallet percussion, voice, and music theory.

I have the feeling that if you showed up with a flugelhorn or a kalimba, King Music would be able to find a teacher for you. They seem to do it all. Indeed, while I was there an employee had a customer on the phone asking if they repaired cellos. King quickly answered yes.

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Students from amateur to pro can enroll in a lesson program for $80.00 a month. The package is eight lessons: four private half-hour lessons, and four group one-hour ensemble lessons.

In addition, the music store offers both new and used instruments for sale and rent. They have a rent-to-own program where all payments are applied to the purchase price of the instrument. King’s also carries sheet music and accessories.

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King reminisced about his many years running a music school by saying, “All of my friends have retired, and I am still here.” This is a man who started playing piano at age five, and clarinet at seven. I think he is still in the business because music is what he loves—it is in his blood.

is located at 7441 Broadway, between West Street and New Jersey Avenue. You can check out their website, like them on their Facebook page, watch them on YouTube, or call them at 619-335-6934. The store hours are: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.–7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m.

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