Sunset Music School

SUNSET MUSIC SCHOOL : Private music lessons in piano, electric keyboard, flute,sax,clarinet, violin, drums, latin percussions, and sanshin taught by English speaking professionals/and real performers. Recitals held twice a year. Instruments are also available for rent.

If you’re new to the island, have a bit more time on your hands or maybe you want to learn a new skill for your New Year’s resolution then now’s the time to get started.

Established in 2002, Sunset Music School has been teaching a variety of musical instruments to the local community for many years. The director and teacher, Mimi Nierva Ueta was born in Okinawa and has been playing piano since the age of 5 later studying at the Ryukyu Classical Academy. Apart from the usual musical instruments you will definitely have heard of back home, they also have the opportunity to learn the Okinawan sanshin.

The Okinawan sanshin is believed to have close ties to the Chinese sanxian due to the link between the old Ryukyu kingdom and China. They are traditionally covered in snakeskin with a body, neck and three strings. If you’re looking to purchase your own sanshin to learn and later take back home you should know that sanshin covered in real snakeskin are illegal to import into some countries including the US and UK. There are companies producing imitation snakeskin sanshin that still look good and are of a high quality.

Whatever instrument you decide to learn, now’s a great time to get started. Sunset Music School are offering a 50 percent discount on the first month of tuition right now, so you’ve got no excuse to put off learning a new musical instrument! Registration is 3000 yen and with the discount above your first month will be 3150 yen for 30 minutes or 5510 for 1 hour. Sunset Music School is located on the seawall in Chatan.