
Richard W.

Teaching Locations:

Hi, I'm Richard, and I can teach you simple Japanese. I graduated from BYU in Japanese and lived as an LDS Missionary in Tokyo for two years in 2003-2005. I love teaching everything that I know in a simple, understandable way. So I can help you learn the basics faster than you would normally. I know what it's like learning in school where you seem to take forever, and don't get very good. I also know what it's like talking to many people in Japan, and learning very quickly, and knowing the difference. I want to help you learn as efficiently and as quickly as possible. I also have a one hour presentation of the basics of Japanese grammar, that basically covers like the first 2 years of college Japanese classes! No joke, it's a powerpoint presentation I've put together that will really give you the "big picture" with the backwards grammar that we try to understand. Ask me any question, and I'll do my best to help you out! Mata ne!
About Richard W.
My goal is to help students ENJOY the piano by finding ways to make it easier and doable. I have a very useful approach in helping students become self sufficient to sight read very well, to see patterns, understand music theory to either help them play well, or to even create their own music(I compose a lot of great music as well)
I couldn't sight read very well until I was 16, but I had a great sight reading teacher that showed me how to develop it, and now I can say that I'm one of the best sight readers out there that I know. I was a ballet pianist at Brigham Young University for several years where all I did was sightread binders full of ballet/classical music. I play for choirs, church congregations, jazz bands, or musical jam sessions all the time, and I couldn't do that at all if I didn't learn how to sight read well. I would love to help you learn the piano, and I will do my best to make learning as effective as possible. I especially enjoy teaching those who quit and would like to try again, because I know what that is like.
Concerning my musical background, I've played, arranged, and composed piano for choirs, bands, jazz combos, singers. I've been in bands all my life, and have composed for jazz bands, choirs, and orchestras at BYU and in Eastern Europe. I also play about 10 different instruments. I won two Student Emmys in Hollywood for my compositions to BYU's animations in 2010 & 2014.
I am currently writing music for video games.
Reviews
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Best instructor ever!!!


Richard is an intelligent and gifted musician..
His music is very cool! His talk is interesting.
And he is good at teaching English logically.
Thanks to Richard, I could understand English pronunciation very well.
Richard is approachable, well organized and able to adjust to the speed I needed. Fantastic instructor!
My online experience exceeded my expectation!

I've had 7 weeks of lessons with Richard so far and each one has been great. I feel like I've made good progress with each lesson I've had.
Richards systematic approach to constructing sentences made everything very easy for me to learn and understand. I'm very happy with the lessons I've had.

I have been studying with him already 1 year. He is the best instructor ever I had.

After 4 lessons she is learning important details of time measurement in the rhythm that she had not been taught before. Beginning a new challenging song now so we will see how to apply this method to take her playing to another level...

Initially my son was reluctant to take lessons. He would conveniently forget the time and day of his lesson. But after three lessons the conversation changed, he reminded me of the time and day. Over the last four lessons Richard and my son have recorded a song. I recommend Richard to any Parent with children that are interested in music as the subject matter. He is accomplished, gracious, demanding but patient.

The instructor seemed impatient and it was easy to tell he would rather be doing something else. If you don't learn quickly, you might struggle with this instructor.



I really enjoyed my lessons with Richard! He helped me break songs down and taught me tools to read the music more quickly. I was only able to take lessons with him for a few months, but I feel as though it made a huge difference in my playing and reading. Definitely recommend!

My son just started today with Japanese lessons. Richard quickly found out what he was capable of and challenged him at the level he needed, providing a useful list of words to practice right away. My son loves him!


Richard is an awesome teacher who worked with my daughter to help her learn. Although she is not taking lesson for much longer, we are grateful for all the effort he put into the lessons. Thanks so much for everything!

I am really enjoying my lessons with Richard so far. He is very knowledgable and his tips have been super helpful. Definitely recommend!

Richard provides a very organized approach to learning Japanese. I have really enjoyed the success I have had in only a few lessons!

Extremely professional, he taught me lessons for about year. The books he recommended were very helpful and easy to understand. Richard has taught me the most useful Japanese phrases for real situations. I would recommend him to anyone who is beginning or intermediate like me. I would not have the skill speaking and reading that I do now without his tutoring.

Richard is a great teacher, and is patient, always ready to answer my questions. I am becoming more confident in my conversations.


Richard is awesome with my daughter. He continues to be patient with her and with me, as often my work schedule conflicts with lessons. He continues to work with me despite the schedule conflicts. My daughter is enjoying Piano more and more, as he continues to find ways to help her learn. Thanks for all the hard work.

He has helped me a lot. Japanese is challenging!

I am an adult learner and have just finished my first five piano lessons with Richard and have already booked up five more! I have been working through the excellent Piano Pronto series with him, but Richard has also been happy to set me practice pieces from other books of my choosing and has been very adept at helping me, even with pieces that are unfamiliar to him.
Richard is also a teacher on Piano Maestro, an iPad application where you can, among other things, play the pieces from Piano Pronto (and Alfred's). This has been a great way to practice, and would be especially good for children (as Richard gets a weekly progress report, including time played).
Richard is very flexible and teaches each lesson at my pace - so, the more I practice, the more I can progress! He is patient and encouraging and clearly wants me to enjoy each lesson - and I do! I can't wait to begin my next block of lessons!


He was great, I haven't had him long enough to call him the best, but he is very close to that.

Great experience, He was very flexible and more than willing to help with any confusions. He is patient as well and will help you plan for sessions and exams.


We enjoyed our first piano lesson with Richard this week! He is patient, knowledgable and kind. Looking forward to progressing on the piano.



Richard is extremely talented and understands the varying interests in the piano from student to student. He makes every effort to find or create music to learn that will motivate the child. He is patient and kind and I highly recommend him.

Richard is great with my daughter. He is patient, fun, and always looking for ways to help her learn and be engaged. She has improved drastically over the year he has been her piano instructor. She enjoys playing the piano more thanks to Richard.

My 16 yr old son started lessons with Richard a year ago. He was with another teacher for 10 years before that and quit at age 14. He forgot most of what he learned and was hesitant to try out online lessons after a two year break. Richard had a way of motivating my son to read music and in very little time, he started practicing daily and for fun! Many times I would catch him playing piano at night (using a digital piano with headphones). He improved so rapidly and now plays Chopin pieces whereas one year ago he could barely play half a Thompson song. Highly recommend Richard. My son loves playing the piano now!

Very good instructor, lots of repetition to help the student ingrain the grammar and vocabulary in their head

We're having a great experience with Richard, with both Japanese and Music lessons. He has great ideas and is really helpful, knowledgeable, and personable. Lessons are fun and we're learning a lot!


Richard is an excellent English teacher. His teaching style is very creative and fun. He is also very friendly and helpful. He tailors lessons to fit my need and I've learned a lot already in the first five classes. I would recommend him to anyone who is in need of learning English.

Very helpful, and gets me through every song!

Richard is a awesome teacher.
He is very friendly and helped improve my English pronunciation and grammar using his guitar.
Thank you Richard!

By far the BEST piano teacher EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Richard has a good attitude in teaching music.

I had a great time

it was AWESOME!!!!!!

Richard is an extremely talented musician and an encouraging instructor. He takes his time to know his students and their individual needs. He focuses on developing confidence in each student through customized and private lessons. He is not only friendly and extremely patient, but he is also good at gauging his students' abilities and needs. He gave me great feedback to help me improve at an appropriate pace for me. I was surprised to learn how qualified he really is too! He graduated from college in music, composes and records his own songs, has been teaching for many years, and has had over a hundred successful students. Despite his achievements, he still made me believe in myself as a beginning piano student! I highly recommend him!


Richard is fantastic! Helpful, patient, and kind in his approach to teaching and helping his students learn. Always felt very motivated and inspired coming out of our lesson together.

Richard has been a great teacher, meeting me where I'm at and what my personal goals are and helping me specifically to achieve them.

Great lesson - walking through playing chords on a rock song, and proper practice in sight reading classical grade 2&3 pieces. Richard is very patient and helpful in explaining the key skills I need to develop.


My grandson was really nervous before his first lesson but Richard was great! By the end of the lesson, my grandson was asking when his next lesson was because he couldn't wait. Thanks Richard!


Richard is a great teacher. He really helps me improve my listening skills. I would recommend him to anyone.

He loved it!

Online lesson worked well. Son is more motivated now to practice. Looking forward to the next.

My son enjoys his online classes with him. Instructor is very nice patient person.

Excellent lesson ........ Looking forward to the next ...

Richard is great! He works well with adults and is as flexible as can reasonably be expected. He has the kind of personality that would allow him to be patient and work well with children as well.

Richard is very patient and encouraging. He thinks beyond the standard scope to help the student enjoy learning. He is extremely talented as well.

Richard was great. Teaching a six year old that has never played before is challenging. He handled it great and she was playing Mary Had a Little Lamb ten minutes after the first lesson!

Richard is helpful, flexible and available.

I had the opportunity last week to take a piano lesson from Richard. Growing up I took piano lessons, but never really practiced. I did the bare-minimum to get by, so that my teacher wouldn't be upset with me. After I stopped taking piano lessons, I lost a lot of my ability to play. I went to Richard hoping that he could help me grasp the basics again including: chords, major and minor positions, chord inversions, and a little about composing my own music. First off, Richard didn't make me feel stupid for not knowing how to play. He patiently explained concepts to me, and then showed me through examples. Then he let me practice and offered encouragement as I played. He also did a great job simplifying the teaching. It was very easy for me to follow and understand what he was teaching. I would highly recommend Richard to anyone who wants to either learn or improve their piano skills.
Growing up we both took lessons together. He has always been into music since he was small and has learned to play several instruments. He has had lots of experience playing piano in concerts, weddings and other outlets. I've seen him play beautifully lots of music by just knowing the chords of the songs without seeing the sheet music. Because of these experiences and lessons, he knows what works and what makes a great music education.He's passionate about teaching and wants to give a more effective learning experience. He is an excellent teacher . The reason why I am giving 4 stars is because he has only taught a few years and 5 stars is reserved for best teacher ever. I think he will be the best teacher ever with a few more years of experience.

Very pleased with Richard. My kids learned a lot since they've started lessons. They love to go to their lessons, and they started to practice since then. They enjoy learning process and I am so happy to see them progressing so well. Richard's personality, high professional and communication

Richard knows his music. If you want to know the why's and how's and patterns of music, Richard is your guy.
I enjoy and love to listen to Richard's piano playing. He has some piano talents that are attractive to people. His first piano teacher said that he has strong fingers, and predicted that he would be a great pianist. I think she was right. Now he can play so many songs for a long time without any rest. Also, many people were enjoying his music because he learned more techniques later from many other teachers. I am glad that he is sharing his talents to all kinds of people. I wish that I could play like him.
I've watched Richard's love of music and the piano develop like a rosebud matures into its fragrant, colorful burst of glory. At family functions, he would find his way to the piano to amaze us all with his complicated chords and ability to transform notes on a page into an emotional experience. He seems to be equally at ease with Beethoven or composing a jazz piece on the fly. We have been amazed at his compositions for orchestra and film, but we know his first love is piano. His gentle manner and understanding of how he learned, is primary in his success for transferring his love of music and ability to play the piano directly to his students.

excellent piano teacher! if you're looking for a piano teacher who is not only knowledgeable but cares about his students, look no further.

Richard has a brilliant mind for seeing things in different ways and for breaking things down into simple, easy to understand chunks.

Richard is very clear and efficient in the way he instructs. He's like a musical surgeon in that he can dissect complicated concepts to my level so I understand the music more easily. I think what makes Richard unique is that he mixes conventional with unconventional methods in his teaching style and that makes learning and playing music more fun in my opinion. He's a balanced, easy-going, and forward-thinking instructor. I'm happy to recommend Richard!

Richard's a great teacher. He's the only teacher I've been able to find that is helping me and teaching me in the areas I want to be taught. As a teacher he's really patient and he challenges me in the best way. Great experience overall, I can feel myself progressing and I'm enjoying it, which is the most important to me

Richard is very patient and helpful with unfamiliar terminology. Flexible with schedules.

Enjoyed his easy relaxed manner while teaching. Explanations and instructions were clear and easy to understand.

Richard was very easy-going and helpful to us. Did a great job instructing and clarifying terms.

Richard was very easy-going and helpful to us. Did a great job instructing and clarifying terms.

My 13-year old son has been taking lessons since he was 7 and has had six other teachers during that time. I feel that Richard has been the best fit for him, because he allows my son to play songs that interest him, as well as encouraging him to build his repertoire in other areas. Richard has an ability to listen to students, identify their needs and their skill level appropriately, and design a music approach that is unique for them, utilizing a variety of techniques to help kids progress.

Richard is amazing. He is creative and fun. My three children love his piano lesson. He is also so talented. What a great opportunity to learn from amazing composer.

This is the 2nd time that I have taken piano lessons. I'm learning more and enjoying it much more than before. I think that is because of Richard's approach to teaching. He allows students a lot of freedom to create their own methods of learning while providing just enough structure. He has an incredible amount of knowledge and expertise and is an easy person to learn from.
Photos & Videos
13 Photos & VideosExperience
Piano teacher
Aug 2010 - PresentRichard W. Music
I've had up to 30 students, mostly local, with about a third being online.
BYU Modern Dance Accompanist
Jan 2009 - Dec 2014Brigham Young University Dance Department
I played piano for modern dance classes in which all I did was play piano without any music on the spot for the dancers. They would change styles often and using my music theory knowledge I would come up with things to play on the spot. I also played drum set for those classes.
BYU Ballet Pianist
Jan 2007 - Jan 2009Brigham Young University Dance Department
I played and sight read piano music for Ballet Classes from large binders full of classical music like grand waltzes, polkas, or ragtime pieces. It was great opportunity because I got a lot of experience playing in front of people in a high pressure situation where I couldn't stop playing or drop the beat because I had dancers that needed me to keep playing and playing well. I had to communicate with various teachers and their different communication styles when many of them didn't know how to express the musical ideas they wanted me to implement. In other words, I had to learn to "read their minds" to a certain extent.
Education
Commercial Music & Japanese Double Major
Jun 2002 - Dec 2014Brigham Young University
Languages
English
Fluent / Native Proficiency
Japanese
Professional Proficiency
Awards
College Television Awards (Student Emmy) Winner 2014
Apr 2014Television Academy Foundation
College Television Awards (Student Emmy) Winner 2010
Apr 2010Television Academy Foundation
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