Testimonals
“I have been lucky enough to be able to take piano from Nick Willey since September 2024. I am a high school sophomore looking to study music in college and do music professionally. I have really expanded my knowledge under Mr. Willey’s tutelage. I find myself listening to music more analytically and understanding how and why it works. Mr. Willey is an excellent teacher. He is patient and passionate about his craft. He explains concepts clearly and, if I am struggling with something, he can always present the point in different ways until I understand. He is both an excellent teacher and musician, and a well rounded and pleasant individual. I am glad to be taking piano from him, and I wholeheartedly recommend him.” - Student Testimony, 2025.
“I was in Mr.Willey’s 5th grade music class and he is now my piano instructor. While I was in the classroom, Mr.Willey he created a fun and safe environment while creating different and effective ways to teach music to the whole class. An example of this is he created a Jeopardy game that covered all aspects of music from history to syncopations (distributions of the rhythm in music which can be hard to learn.) He also is persistent in finding ways to teach me in my piano lessons when a certain way does not work. For an example I was having quite difficult time mastering a rhythm in one of my piano pieces. Mr. Willey first tried to fix it by making me tap out the rhythm and when that was proving to be ineffective, he then made me play the line in smaller sections. Eventually I was able to play that one line and learned a new strategy. I thank Mr. Willey for making me a better musician and becoming a role model for me and many other students.” - Student Testimony, 2025.
“Mr. Willey has been an excellent music teacher in so many aspects from learning solfège to learning concert songs and the games we have experienced. Mr. Willey has been such a nice, kind and funny teacher. Mr. Willey’s teaching approach is so different and fun, especially how he taught solfège. I came in fifth grade and since then I have learned so much about not only solfège but other important aspects of music. He taught me the hand signals and the pronunciation of each solfège. Solfège is so important to teaching children how to sing and other things related to solfège. I recall that last year we played a jeopardy game on who knows the most about each aspect of music. I scored the highest out of the entire school without even studying due to Mr. Willeys great teaching skills. Concert songs are my favorite aspect that Mr. Willey taught me. One of my favorite songs I was taught was Galop by Ken Berg. It was all solfège. It was fast and difficult. All of the people in my grade were participating due to how fun and easy it was to learn and perform. The last fun song was at our spring concert this year. Not only did we sing, we danced and harmonized. It was definitely the hardest song I have ever performed. Mr. Willey is just such a loving person and cares for anyone he is the best music teacher anyone could ask for. Overall his teaching skills shows that he puts on and the social times we have with him. Mr. Willey is the best music teacher anywhere he goes and will always be a great music teacher.” - Student Testimony, 2025.
“My daughter has been a student of Mr. Willey’s since September 2024. When her previous teacher retired, we did not think we could ever find a teacher like her. We were wrong; we found an absolute gem in Mr. Willey. His cheerful demeanor makes lessons pleasant. My daughter looks forward to her lessons each week. He strikes a perfect balance between growing my daughter’s confidence in her playing and challenging her to reach beyond her ability and master new skills. He not only teaches her her piano but to musically play the pieces. His attention to the fine details has taken my daughter’s playing to the next level. He has exposed her to a wide variety of music, always explaining the nuances of the pieces based on the time period in which they were written. He also takes the time to teach music theory - not by lecturing, but by asking questions and guiding her to figure out the answers. Mr. Willey does a good job of complimenting what is done correctly, but he is discerning and strives for perfection. It is difficult to explain how he strikes a balance between complimenting and correcting, but it is amazing to watch. Because of his expectations, my daughter respects him greatly and strives to improve to meet the standards he has set. I have watched my daughter grow as a pianist and as a person under Mr. Willey’s guidance. As a parent, I would be thrilled if Mr. Willey was her music teacher in school.” - Parent Testimony, 2025.