Richard Kent

Richard's Musical Background

I grew up in a humble home in southeastern Texas that was frequently filled with southern gospel, country, and pop tunes on our radio. In the evenings our father filled the house with country and pop tunes he was rehearsing on guitar for gigs at the local clubs. When my brother and I were teenagers, we became interested in playing guitar and bass guitar for our church services. Occasionally, I would try my hand at the piano keyboard when no one was listening.

Upon my father’s retirement in 1985, he relocated to central Texas and shortly thereafter purchased a Yamaha PSR 6300 Portatone. When my brother or I visited him, we were duly impressed by the “one-man-band” capabilities the instrument offered. Then, in the late 1990’s, I acquired a PSR 510 Keyboard. I was amazed at the advancements that Yamaha had made over the previous decade. I used this instrument and headphones to learn how to play my favorite songs for relaxation.

In 2010, I retired from teaching secondary mathematics for the state of Texas. In the fall of that year I purchased a Yamaha PSR S710 and spent about a year experimenting with the impressive array of realistic voices and accompaniment styles onboard. While I learned about the performance and recording capabilities the instrument afforded, I found the PSR Tutorial website and downloaded some Style Files and instructional pages.

In the fall of 2014, I acquired a PSR S950 and later, in the fall of 2017, I purchased a Tyros 5. I am a home keyboard player, and I enjoy many musical genres, but my favorites remain: southern gospel, country, R&B, boogie, pop, soft rock, swing, and jazz. I continue to strive to master arranging, improvisation, the nuances of mixing, the use of multipads, and step-recording.

The PSR Tutorial website has been a musical Mecca for me. Besides all the free downloadable resources available there, I have enjoyed the interaction with like-minded music-making friends from around the world.