The Power of Community in Music
I want to tell you about something I didn’t fully understand when I first started Ridley Academy.
At the beginning, I thought my job was to teach people how to play piano — how to move their hands, how to understand harmony, how to feel confident expressing themselves. And yes, all of that matters. But what I didn’t expect was that the real magic would come from the people themselves.
It’s the community that changes people.
Every week in our Mentorship Program, I watch students from every corner of the world show up for each other. They listen, they clap, they encourage, they give feedback, they lift one another up. It’s a small miracle that happens quietly, over and over again — a reminder that even though piano seems like a solo instrument, music has always been a shared experience.
One of our students, Frode, reminded me of this recently. He’s from Norway, and he joined the Mentorship Program after a long break from music — nearly twenty years without really playing. He told me he joined just to “get his mojo back.” But somewhere along the way, he found something much bigger.
He found community.
He found friendship, accountability, and connection. He started showing up not just for himself, but for others. And as he put it, “everyone gives each other feedback and raises each other up.”
That’s the heart of it, really. It’s what I’ve wanted Ridley Academy to become all along — a place where people don’t just learn notes, they learn to belong.
Frode said the Mentorship Program improved his “life quality overall.” I smiled when I read that, because I’ve seen it happen again and again. When people rediscover their creativity, they don’t just play better — they live better.
The lessons, the coaching, the structure — they’re all tools. But the transformation comes from connection. From realizing that on the other side of the world, someone else is practicing too, and cheering for you.
That’s the power of community in music.
You can read Frode’s full story here. It’s a reminder that when we grow together, we grow further than we ever could alone.
With love,
Stephen
