Ridley Academy Reviews 

Amazing, fun course with quick, little successes that make learning a great experience and give a better, easier digestible understanding and feeling for the instrument and even music in general.

The Ridley Academy is the best way I've ever encountered to learn piano. I had piano lessons when I was younger, and I got to the point where I could learn "harder songs", but it took me forever. Every note was a struggle. I picked up piano again after college. I learned one song and half of another over several years. Still so slow. Then I started this program.

Results: after less than two years of the Ridley Academy mentorship (after doing their masterclass), I can write my own music. I'm covering popular songs and creating my own songs, and I don't need sheet music anymore. I can improvise on the spot and play in any key. I can hear a song, pick out its chords, and start playing it in a few minutes. I've even started performing at events! I used the same teaching methods with my kid, and in a couple of weeks he was improvising blues songs (these are real songs you can't help but bounce to, not simple or boring few finger affairs -- note: he had diligently practiced finger gym drills from the program for a while before this). Before any of this, I had to relearn how to learn music. Once I truly dove in to the process, it was incredible.

Conclusion: An entire new world of music has opened up, and it wasn't as inaccessible as it seemed. If you do what this program teaches and are consistent, it will cut through the mystique of music and give you practical skills that actually work.

The Ridley Academy Nashville experience has changed my life forever. The support and encouragement I received from the Ridley Coaching Team and the other participants allowed me to move forward with my music in a way that I did not know was possible. I have pushed past lifelong fears and doubts in myself involving performing and writing music. I so look forward to many years to come where I will share my creativity with the world. I am very grateful that I was given this opportunity and that I was brave enough to step up to the challenge.

I started the Academy about a year ago after taking live lessons from a local teacher. He is a great guy, but his focus is on teaching children. I'm 68. In the year at the academy, I have learned to play the piano with both hands and to read music (improving my bass clef immensely). I have gone back to the first songs I had tried to learn with my original teacher, and can now play them.

Last week was the most life changing, impactful, emotionally charged 4 days with Stephen Ridley & my Ridley Academy classmates in Nashville! They had coaching sessions, practice sessions, music tours working up to the Grand Finale of our piano recital on the piano that many greats (like Billy Joel) played on! Hallowed ground for any musician!
My piano learning journey began with the Ridley Academy! Having been classically trained (ho hum🥱), Stephen had the most refreshing way of teaching sprinkled with humor 😃 & encouragement 😇! Don’t get me wrong, I still needed to practice, & would take time out for life’s important interruptions, BUT, I persisted! Now I’m inspired & going the distance!🥰🤩🎹⭐️
Try the Ridley Piano Academy Masterclass. Give it your TRUE BEST SHOT/EFFORT!
Every staff I met including Stephen REALLY wants you to succeed & are very helpful!
Love, J. & Tim

Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend the Nashville experience, hosted by Stephen Ridley and his wonderful team. This was the first live teaching event of its kind by Ridley Academy, so I think everyone was a little uncertain about what to really expect. However, what happened in Nashville was nothing short of magical. We all had a brief agenda of what would happen each of the four days – concerts, studio tours, food, small coaching sessions, our own performances, songwriting showcases, and a general good time. What I didn’t expect was that this experience would result in incredible emotional connections among 30 students, the coaches, and the whole team at Ridley Academy, that would bring us all together as life-long friends. We listened to music together and played together, we cheered each other on, even through mistakes and tears, and we not only became better musicians together, but better friends.

One of the most emotional experiences was held on the last day, when everyone played a song at the piano in Ocean Way Studios. The performances weren’t technically perfect – but they were emotionally perfect. It’s an art that I find is sometimes lost in today’s culture – listening with our hearts. Each person had a story to share through music, and it was beautiful!! We also wrote about each other’s performances and then gave our positive messages to each other, so this treasured experience could be remembered forever.

I find it difficult to express everything I feel after last week, but I know that I was moved beyond words to share in this experience. During this trip, Stephen taught us how to communicate emotions through our music more expressively, and now I find that I need music even more, because there are no words great enough to express how this experience has shaped my life. What I do know is that both my music and my heart have changed for the better after those magical days in Nashville. My expectations were far exceeded, and I’m forever grateful to Stephen Ridley for creating such a magical experience for everyone there.

For me, there are 5 things that really set this Piano music Academy apart and any other online music program.
#1- The teacher….. Stephen Ridley makes it FUN! His Piano playing is very inspiring and motivating. He can change your mood 7 times in 2 minutes by playing the piano. It’s powerful!

#2-Very Short teaching videos break it down into doable assignments, so you can still make progress even if you only have 5-10 minutes. I also love the levels of progression. You can see what you’re accomplished.

#3- The Academy is loving community. It starts with Stephen himself and goes right to the mentorship program coaches and onto the other students. A truly supportive family.

#4-Confidence-Learning piano here has been about so much more than just music. I have gained a confidence that I have wanted all my life. A real confidence, not just pretense.

#5- Music Theory…. For years I have wanted to understand how music is put together. I wanted to be able to just sit down and play for my own enjoyment and to write songs. Now, I can.

The masterclass is great. The mentorship is great. Great coaches. The zoom calls are good. Does not live up to the advertising of playing like a pro after I day, I week, 1 year. The constant spam for early renewals, hurry before the price jumps and last chance is relentless. Always changing the goal posts. I have asked numerous times to stop the spam to no avail. The marketing is less than truthful. When you mention it in emails it is ignored.

Very disappointing experience.

The Masterclass didn’t teach me anything revolutionary that I couldn’t have learned for free on YouTube. I completed the masterclass mainly to qualify for the refund policy, but after requesting it, I was ignored for WEEKS.

Their “Chargeback Waiver” also felt very misleading and discouraging toward contacting my bank. I eventually had to dispute the charge through my bank to get my refund.

Overall, the customer service and handling of the refund process felt very disrespectful and the course feels like a scam if you are actually trying to master the piano

Nashville Music Experience by
Ridley Piano Academy was amazing!!!
I would do this again!
A variety of music genres, delicious food, friends who quickly became a
family!
If you are a musical artist at any level you will benefit from this extremely fun intense musical learning experience!
As in his Piano Master Class Course
Stephen Ridley presents with excellence an authentic love of music and people! With a heart to teach and the skill to convey his message,
you will improve your craft! Be the Artist you are! Sincerely, Robyn W

In 2025 I joined Ridley Academy but I could not really go fully ahead with my course due to a life changing event that happened.
I am still a music student at Ridley Academy which I truly recommend to others due to the five star review I have experienced. This is because the management and staff always care about the progress of their students and this makes an individual's learning worthwhile. They are always encouraging me and offer their help when I need it. They make learning fun as well and I enjoy their Webinars. I am learning so much now about playing the piano by going through the Masterclass program which is a series of videos from beginners to advanced which looks at aspects of music. This is very helpful because you can go back to any section you want and look at it again if you were not too sure about something. It is also possible to email and telephone them for help if needed. They answer promptly as well. Customer service is at your fingertips when you have a query. You are never too old to be part of the Ridley Academy. I have always been treated with respect, kindness and encouragement. Management and staff work together to help everyone enjoy their musical experience. This is a wonderful and life-changing journey I am still experiencing. It will change my life.

I love the Ridley Academy's piano method, because it has an alternative teaching approach. I am new at playing the piano and I understand what is being taught to me. This gives me the confidence that I will play the piano one day. Thank you for making piano easy to understand for everyone.

Wish I’d known about Trust Pilot before I got suckered into this.

The Ridley Academy makes learning piano fun. The way it is taught, from step to step, is very helpful for me. I am working on scales now and the explanation of how to learn the major and minor scales is brilliant. Before, I thought I had to memorize each notes scale. Now I can consistently play them, slowly at first, but I am getting there. I truly enjoy learning the piano with Stephen.

I've been practicing scales, using both hands. It has been difficult for me, and with practice, it improves quickly.

What I learned from this course is to back up if I cannot do a later step, to an earlier step I did not fully master. This is incredibly useful and in each practice, I continue to have wins in playing.

As a result of this course, and continued winning (and I do enjoy practicing) I restored my love of playing music. I was not entirely cognizant of that until I walked into an empty music laboratory at a college recently. I was in heaven, smiling ear to ear. I played multiple keyboards. I played several guitars. I even played the drums! I could have stayed in there for centuries!

That showed me how much I gained from this course, and made me even more determined to study this instrument and master it.

I thank you all for that.

I love the Piano masterclass. It's well structured, the videos are well made and Stephen explains the topics really good. He has a very motivating attitude. And what is even better. All my questions are quickly answered, by knowledgeable staff and they are able to make me feel good, even if I feel stupid. It is helping me to understand music better and I just love it. I always thought it would be difficult to play with two hands, but somehow it is made easy and I make quicker progress than I ever thought would be possible.

ON LEVEL ONE: I went back MANY times... to clarify and make sure I had it in my head that each lesson is a building block.. it has taken me MONTHS to unblock my fears and complete...Jeez, I hope I get this right!

This is an amazing course! Stephen gave me the tools to achieve my goal to play piano in less than 6 months!

It worth it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Truly Life-Changing Win

I hurt my back over a year ago, and since then I haven’t been able to sit at my keyboard or practice the way I used to. It’s been a long, painful, and honestly discouraging journey. But after taking Stephen’s five-day class — feeling his energy in the live sessions and the passion he puts into every lesson — something inside me finally woke back up.

For the first time in over a year, I want to practice again. Even if I can only play for a few minutes at a time, it feels like I’m reconnecting with a part of myself I thought I’d lost. That alone is a huge win for me.

Because of my back, I might not be able to make the final video like we’re supposed to… but the progress I’ve made still feels incredible. Just having the desire and motivation to sit at my keyboard again means more to me than I can say.

Thank you, Stephen, for giving me hope, encouragement, and a path back to something I love.

The new Piano Teacher of Today. Very personable, great connection with his students, tremendous amount of Experience. Thank you Stephen and your Team for this creative and great Training Week!