Study music with me
My background and teaching philosophy:
Hello! My name is Jake Richter, and I’m a drummer, composer, and educator who recently moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. If you’ve found this page, it probably means you or someone you know is considering studying music with me!
For the past decade I have taught Piano, Drums, Composition, Improvisation, and Music Theory, to students ages 4 through 70. I also hold degrees from two of the world’s top music schools: the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and The Manhattan School of Music. It’s my life’s mission to share the joy of music with people in every way I can, both as a performer and as a teacher.
My students excel because of my fun-centric and creativity-forward approach to music education. All too often in typical music lessons, students are expected to behave like robots: they’re given a sheet of music (often from the 18th or 19th century) and are expected to spit it out perfectly, without any mistakes. If they make an error, they’re immediately scolded: “That should have been an A flat! You used the wrong finger in measure 7!” Students often have the joy taken out of music-making because their goal isn’t to make something beautiful, fun, or creative; it’s simply to avoid making mistakes so they won’t get yelled at! With so much negative reinforcement, it’s no wonder about 90% of beginning band students quit their instrument by the time they graduate high school. Furthermore, students are presented with shockingly few opportunities to make their own music from scratch. Songwriting, Improvisation, and Music Composition are all too often missing from today’s standard music curriculum.
My lessons aim to change that. Besides receiving a fantastic music education that includes fundamentals like reading and developing good technique, my students also receive the skills they need to become composers, songwriters, improvisers, and artists. Most importantly, they benefit from a warm-hearted, encouraging, and fun atmosphere in every lesson.
Pricing and contact info:
Special promotions:
Book a 1-hour trial lesson with me for $25!
Refer a new student to me and receive your next lesson for half-off.
My rates:
Lessons at your home (Chapel Hill/Triangle Area):
$80 for 1 hour.
$70 for 45 minutes.
$60 for 30 minutes.
Lessons at my home:
$70 for 1 hour.
$60 for 45 minutes.
$50 for 30 minutes.
Lessons online (Zoom or FaceTime): $70/hr
Sliding scale rates (based on income, etc.) may be available in some circumstances.
Please e-mail me using the form on this page, and I will get back to you within a day or two. Include your name, age (or the age of your child who will be taking lessons), instrument you’d like to study, your preferred method of contact, and feel free to tell me about your musical experience so far! I’m looking forward to meeting you!
Here is one of my (very talented!) 6 year old students playing Bach's Prelude in C.
Here is one of my students learning "happy birthday"
Student Testimonials:
Hear what my former students say about studying with me!
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Reviews from private students:
Elisha M:
Jake is currently teaching my 12 y.o. son to play the piano. He comes weekly for an hour and my son loves working with him. After only a few lessons, my son is already playing little tunes for me with pride. Jake is patient, encouraging, and so knowledgeable. His style of teaching is amazing for kids- he knows how to make learning fun and enjoyable. If you are looking for a piano teacher, I would definitely recommend him!
Dan C:
Jake's a great drummer and a great teacher. Not only does he know his stuff, he has a method and manner of conveying information that really works. No question, he made me a better drummer.
Strucky Y:
I've been helping Jake translate his drum lessons. He's absolutely one of the most mindful teachers I've met with rich knowledge and fresh concepts. He's teaching how to play kits as a composer rather than as a drummer, creating new sound and real music.
Milion S:
Piano Lessons
Mr. Richter is an amazing teacher! I don’t know where to begin from work quality, value or productivity! 1 hour lesson from him felt like 10 minutes and 10 hours worth of information! Overall 5/5.
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Students of my 8-week online course “Music Composition for the Young Artist” (an introduction to composition for high schoolers):
Angela B -
This class is an amazing opportunity for musicians or aspiring composers of any level and musical style. Each week covers a different musical subject/element pertaining to composition with varying optional activities for homework that illuminates the work for said week. Even if a lesson is missed by a learner, it is easy to catch up with the notes left in the classroom section from each session by the instructor. The instructor offers examples of a diverse range of musical styles and is very encouraging of musical diversity and appreciation for non-western music as well. An hour in this class brightened my whole day and encouraged me to want to learn more the next week.
Julie B -
This class was very helpful and informative. It really opened my eyes to all the possibilities in composition, and taught me a lot about different methods and structures and how to compose within and outside of typical structure. I'd strongly recommend the class to anyone who wants to learn more about expanding creativity in composition and getting started with formulating good compositional ideas.
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Reviews of a recent composition class (for advanced and professional composers):
Gabe Wichser:
Jake Richter’s Contrast in Music lecture was an absolute joy to attend. The content was cerebral and truly inspiring, and I left the class geared-up and ready to put the topics to use. So many talking points were “aha!” moments for me as both a musician and creative professional, and I wish the class had gone on longer. When the class was done, everyone flipped their mics back on and we had a unanimous “Can we do this again sometime?” moment.
I was particularly drawn in by the ways I could apply Jake’s techniques as escape ropes out of creative ruts. The “Encyclopedia of Contrast” group exercise and list of improvisational constraints he provided were philosophically-rooted and inspiring ways to get “unstuck” — I felt immediately encouraged to revisit back-burnered musical projects with a freshly refilled tank of creative juice.
Though the content was stellar, the best part of the class was Jake’s evident passion for the topic at hand. I feel like his excitement for music radiated into his teaching and cultivated a genuine sense of connection throughout the class. Jake also displayed a true learner’s mindset throughout, getting fired up about student comments and questions, and distilling those new ideas directly into the course’s content in real time.
When a teacher shares the same level of passion and curiosity as the students in the class, it fosters an open and safe creative environment where students feel empowered to share without fear of judgment. It was truly one of my favorite classes I’ve ever attended, and I’d bet the group of people that gathered to learn from Jake would all say the same.
Eliana Fishbeyn:
As a student of Jake’s class, I felt taken into a deeply knowledgeable, articulate, creative masterclass on music composition and high-level theoretical concepts of music. Overall, Jake’s ability to both take on the role of lecturing on complex musical thoughts in a tangible, articulate and implementable way for musicians as well as engage the whole class on zoom into meaningful group activity and discussion, helped me fully understand the complex concepts he was sharing. I felt like Jake’s incredibly in-depth knowledge of music theory allowed him to go way beyond that practical knowledge to teach more creative theoretical concepts that he’s conceived on his own through experience, imagination, and intuition. It helped me, as a composer and musician, feel welcomed and invited into his world of thought and inspired to figure out how it may apply to my own practice.
I felt that Jake was communicating his ideas clearly and organized the lecture in a way that kept momentum and inspiration flowing throughout and helped me maintain focus, presence, and attentiveness. It felt like his creative concepts are not just living in abstract thought, but rather that he both implements them into his own musicianship while helping other musicians and composers understand how they can implement these ideas into their own particular creative practice. I felt like the tangible practice of his conceived concepts can easily stretch across instrumental, compositional and research practices, as well as across various genres and frameworks of music.
Chris Jenkins:
I recently attended Jake's music composition class, which I found incredibly informative and valuable for my own compositions. I had never attended a composition class before, and was not sure what to expect. The class proved to be quite a surprise since I learned so much throughout the course, starting with Jake's welcome introduction, outline for the class, and easy-to-follow music compositional theory techniques (such as contrast, melody, and structure). The group brainstorming portion of the class was also beneficial, in that we (the class members), discussed our different techniques in composing music. At the end of the class, I asked Jake if there would be more additional classes in the future, since his first one turned out wonderful. Overall, I learned so many techniques that I'm going to use when composing music, and I look forward to future classes with Jake.
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