Tennessee is a hotbed for musical talent and music lovers, and Chattanooga is no exception. We have a flourishing music scene, and whether you’re an aspiring or established artist, a hobbyist, or someone who simply loves to appreciate great music, you will be able to find what you are looking for here.
- Giant Steps Music is the area’s oldest band and orchestra store, having served the community for over forty-five years. They offer a range of instruments and accessories, as well as instrument repairs, rentals, and lessons. Their customer service is highly praised, and they have a broad inventory and knowledgeable staff. If you are looking to get rid of your instrument, they are able to buy, consign, or offer trade credit.
- If you play a string instrument, The Picker’s Exchange is your one-stop shop for everything you need, be it repairs, buying, selling, or training. They also offer a range of accessories and amplifiers. Their teaching staff has over 50 years in combined teaching experience, so they will be able to help anyone improve their craft, from the novice to the expert.
- Judah Guitars has a high-quality selection of rare and unique guitars, accessories, and a selection of services to help you achieve the guitar of your dreams. They offer aging and distressing services as well as completely custom guitars. You can view their selection in their storeroom or on their website, though we highly recommend you open their site on mobile if you plan to shop online. In person, they have immaculate customer service.
- If you are looking for pianos in the Chattanooga area, you cannot do much better than Summitt Pianos. It has been open and locally owned for 100 years of excellence, hosting a variety of recitals and other music events. They are the exclusive Steinway & Sons dealer for the region, and have helped Southern Adventist University reach their goal of becoming an All Steinway School. Their staff is extraordinarily knowledgeable and experienced, and in addition to selling pianos they offer rentals, piano moving and storage, and rebuilding, refinishing, and tuning services.
- Located in Cleveland, Clark Music is a hidden treasure. They have friendly, high quality service, and good string instruments at good prices. Customers have raved about their high quality repairs, hard to find vintage parts, and the owner, Mark Clark, is very willing to search for any parts you may be looking for. The store has been in business for nearly thirty years, and people and music have been the priority through all that time.
- Papaw Odell’s, located in Cleveland, is a great option for people looking for high quality acoustic instruments.They have a showroom filled with guitars, banjos, fiddles, and mandolins for you to try out and also offer an industry leading trade-up program for instruments purchased from them – new and used. Their collection is available online, or you can visit their showroom to get a better feel for your next instrument.
- St. Pete Records is “the Scenic City’s funky, friendly, rockin’, rollin’ record store.” They specialize in both vintage and new vinyl as well as CDs, cassette tapes, and listening gear, and have their stock visible online as well as in person. Of course, for the most accurate stock, you should check in-store. If you are looking to offload your physical music library, they also buy record and CD collections.
- For vintage vinyl and music memorabilia, you should check out For the Record, located in Hixson. In addition to new and old vinyls, they sell used CSs, records, collectibles, memorabilia, posters and framing, and more. If you are interested in something specific, you can touch base with the very attentive owners, or alternatively they post updates on their Facebook page about big titles and artists they’re bringing in stock, as well as events.
- Yellow Racket Records is a haven where music aficionados can soak in the ambiance and discover, hear, and buy records both new and old. Their staff is very knowledgeable, and they have comfortable seating where you can enjoy their delicious coffee and take in some new favorite songs. You can see their stock and merchandise online, but with such a welcoming atmosphere it would be a shame not to go check out what they have to offer in person.
