Piano Lessons

Page: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

I just wanted to say thankyou. We have On Demand, and I stumbled across your show. It really helped me understand music so much more. I played the guitar for about 5 years. I put it down because after 2 years I was not progressing. Lately I have been playing the violin. I like to use the piano to help me when I get stuck on a song because you can sit down and just try to pick out the melody. I tried to understand how the layout of the piano worked, and your show just made all the difference in the world, even for my violin study! It may sound stupid or wierd, but your way of teaching really works! Thankyou So Much!!!
T. Wells, Penn Valley, CA

Dear Scott, thanks for the Jingle Bells hopped up version. I printed it out and am having a ball with it. So good to hear from you again. My playing is really improving because I’ve had time to sit and play lately with no interruptions. I’m learning a lot of new chords and songs. Your DVD is just fantastic. I’m so glad I’ve found you and your company when I did. I JUST CANT BELIEVE THAT I CAN ACTULLY PLAY A SONG ON A KEYBOARD NOW WHEN I COULDNOT PLAY A TUNE OF ANY KIND BEFORE. THANKS A BUNCH!
Joe

Dear scott, I have to tell you that I really am doing well playing tunes now. Thanks to your video, teaching me to play was really awsome. I never thought that I could do what I’m doing because to just look at a piano and seeing all those keys just freaked me out until I got your dvd set. Now I know what it’s all about. Im finding so many songs that were popular when I was a kid 62 years ago that I can now find the melody and chords. I can make music with a little practice. It just freaks me out man. I’m into the blues run that you showed on your video and found so many songs that are played in that style, unbelievable. Thanks so much for being there and the great way you teach. God bless.
J. Boggio

Thanks so much for your program. I’m a piano lesson droppout (taking traditional piano lessons) and so are my children, who now have children. Music is important to us, and our conclusion is why couldn’t our traditional teachers teach chords like you do. Your system has given us the WHY for memorizing the chords in the theory part of the traditional lessons.I’ve enjoyed making up tunes with my grandchildren, based on your instruction. I’m involved right now in teaching Watercolor and other art media, but as soon as I have summer break, I’ll be reviewing and purchasing your books and programs. I’m excited about your new programs.
Lynn

I saw you recently on my local PBS station. Ever since then, I have not been able to stay away from my keyboard! Years ago I took a piano class at our local community college. I learned to play the right hand but it was just too difficult to read both lines of music. I bought several EZ Play books and played the melodies but it just wasn’t enough. Now I know how to read the chord symbols, and I am working on several songs. It’s only been a couple of weeks, and I can play something that sounds like a song. Thank you so much!
Anonymous

I caught the end of your show on PBS one day. I had already taken a few lessons and felt I had began to get good through reading many good books. I am pretty good these days, I think. I have lots of books and sheet music to have fun with. But, I think your method is the best, condensed method I’ve come accross. It is extremely helpful for adults (I am 45.) I few weeks ago I saw most of your program on PBS. I really enjoyed it, even though I felt I had learned quite a bit about playing piano on my own. But, after seeing you on tv, I put down the other book I was reading and read yours again. I really enjoyed and paid attention to it this time. It was truly a pleasure reading your “Play Piano in a Flash” again. I want to thank you for your enthusiasm for this instrument, and the way you spread that enthusiasm. I am planning on seeing you in Atlanta in September. I think it will be well worth the cost. Thank you.
Marvin, Ellenwood Ga

Scott, I have seen your shows during pledge week on our local (L.A. and O.C.) public stations, and I always watch. I think yours is a refreshing way to encourage people to actually “play” piano. It is similar to a book I used years ago.The point being, what classical teachers never instill in their students even if they teach “theory” is the basic knowledge of how a song is constructed. I too have sat down with piano students and said “would you like to really learn to play piano? I can teach you in ten minutes.” I then show them triads going up a C scale… C major D minor etc. Your famous three finger technique. And they are amazed! Suddenly the dark secret world of music arranging is clear to them and their ears open up. If I have an extra five minutes I’ll pont out that A minor is relative to C, D minor is relative to F and so on. And God help me if I add in that fourth finger to make minor 7th and Major 7th and Dominant 7th chords! Then they’re really off and running. And they have to LISTEN and PAY ATTENTION to what they’re playing. And be CREATIVE! So keep it up. Long before lessons and teachers and universities and recording and concerts there were players who played for the joy of it. We need that today. And a quick anecdote. I play guitar and I always go to a certain Christmas party with my guitar to play carols in the background during the party– not as a gig but just for my recreation and to entertain everyone. This year I was halfway to the party when I realized that I had forgotten my guitar. When I got there I noticed they had a small forgotten console piano in the family room. So I sat down and started playing the carols on the piano. I created the melodies from memory and the chords I picked out by ear. After about an hour of this my daughter walked by and said “I didn’t know you could play piano like that!” to which I replied “Actually neither did I!” So your method does work. By the way, I like the weekly show format. The simple lesson give me good ideas. And the section with the pros gives me something to stretch for. I TIVO the show and wear out the remote rewind button. Good luck and keep up the good work.
W. Williams

I still check your show out every Sunday morning and man do you have some great guests. I sometimes do not get in until3:30AM yet I stay up to catch your show at 5:00AM. You’ve got me hooked brother!
Anonymous, USA

I just want to express my appreciation of the videos and other lessons that you have offered. I ordered “The Piano Guy’s Complete Video Bundle”. My favorite lesson is the boogie-woogie lesson with Happy Chichester. I like it because Happy didn’t mind stopping to explain the licks of Dr. John and Professor Longhair. Happy was the most explanatory of all the guests that you had. I have bought several other dvd’s of well-known boogie-woogie pianist only to be disappointed in them; there was very little explanation of licks, chords, and other important tricks. Would you please make more of those type or tell me how or where I can buy explanatory boogie-woogie licks, etc. I bought Dr. Johns’, Mitch Woods’, and David Cohen’s. They’re mostly entertaining rather than explanatory, however. -Thanks
Horace Copridge, Georgia , USA

Scott, Hi! Just wanted to let you know, my father ordered a second copy of your “Play Piano in a FLash” DVD to send to me here in the Middle East, and I received it today! I got one for him last year. He told me he is taking music lessons, and he and his instructor have used your DVD in their sessions! How’s that for product endorsement! Thanks for sending my DVD here to Kuwait. I’m really looking forward to getting on my keyboard!!!
J.T. Ramsey

Mister Scott Houston!!!!! THANK YOU!!!! I saw you again on PBS last night and YOU inspire me!!!! I only dreamed of playing an instrument in my DAYDREAMS……HA…I’m having real fun now!!! I have a 61 keyboard and the first time I saw you on PBS……was my fortunate day!!!!! I watch PBS closely …both my wife and I and the other night my wife called to me…”Bill! Scott’s on T.V!!!! I watch you to the end!!!!! I’m just a young kid who got a keyboard for xmas of 2006……after watching you and buying your book….I CAN PLAY SONGS!!!!! It took a week!!!! I have tried to call the PBS stations every chance I get to tell them NEVER CANCEL your show!!! Like I said…I’m just a young kid that celebrated his 77th birthday last friday!!!! Thank you and I will remain a supporter of yours forever!!!
Bill

Your class that I took at Stark Technical College in Canton, Ohio last year really changed my life! Seriously, it validated my tune picking for all of these years with very little music training since my clarinet playing days in school. I have always wanted to play the piano, and you made it possible for me. Thanks,
C. J. Burkes, Canton, Ohio

Scott, Please pardon the long missive. I just saw your PBS special. I have yet to check out your site more thoroughly, but I just wanted to drop you a line. I’m sure you get many emails from happy students, and from bewildered classical teachers, but I just wanted to give you a “thumbs up” from a fellow jazz piano teacher. If I may say so, most of your lecture sounded like me! Most of what you covered is more or less “Lesson 1″ or maybe the first couple of lessons for many of my students. I’m a professional jazz pianist and the interests of my students range from jazz to blues to lounge to contemporary pop, contemporary Christian, Gospel,etc. If I may say so, I’m quite proud of the little concepts/”tricks” I have worked out myself for teaching students, and although I’ve not gotten to check out your books etc. I have a feeliing we both probably teach much of it the same way. Like I’m sure you are, I am often told things like “this one tidbit is better than my last 10 years of classical lessons” or “why didn’t anyone tell me this is how to improvise?” etc. I just wanted to applaud you, from the teacher point of view, for having the insight to make that rare connection between the mindset of the typical new student of today and the application of more-or-less jazz pedagogy into popular playing, by way of small, easily digested bites. If I may be so bold, I think this is probably the secret to your success, as it has been for me. I have known so many great players who, as teachers, simply lacked the understanding of their own playing to the degree necessary to present it to a new student. They could talk heavy theory to an intermediate student, but a beginner would be lost, and the strictest of them wouldn’t “lower” themselves to apply their knowledge to playing “pop” anyway. Such a waste! You were very articulate and had, in my opinion, a wonderfully effective pace, in your presentation. I further applaud the fact that you have had the insight to go much further than myself business-wise, applying the techniques to build what appears to be an empire of products and services. I often think about how I might do something similar, though I haven’t decided if it should be books, videos, or what. In all humility I believe I have the vision and sense of organization to concieve of a viable program (I have lists of “tricks” up my sleeve), and the same connection wth the “common guy,” that you have, that would allow me to make it all palatable. Oh, well, we’ll see. In the mean time I have my performing career, and my own studio of loyal students, (albeit not one highlighted on TV specials!), and my schooling (I’m near the home stretch of my doctorate). Anyway, long story short, I just wanted to say congrats, and let you know that it was reaffirming to see you do your thing on TV. (I think my wife thought I was crazy, watching a show for beginners, but I found myself fascinated with your approach, and was nodding the whole time!). Even though it was just the beginning, I felt I could see where it was all going. Like I said, I’m sure you hear plenty of compliments from students and classical teachers constantly, but chalk one up from a fellow jazz/pop guy. I wonder, if I may ask, what your backgroud is? Your LH voicings obviously gave away your jazz background, but is there more? And finally, if I may take a little more of your time, do you have any thoughts/suggestions for someone like me? I can’t stress enough, though I can’t seem to word it in a way that doesn’t sound like simply kissing up to you– that I really think I _know_ where you’re coming from, and that I basically teach the same way. I wonder how far do you go, and in what direction? I have taken the same basic approach into fairly heavy jazz territory, and even my pop students wind up with a notebook full of items that take them from triads to Yanni, Brickman, Billy Joel, and the like. I would love to compare notes with you someday, via email or otherwise. I’m sorry for the long email. Thanks for your time, and again, congrats!
J. Dering

Once again you have a winner. Love your turn around mini lesson. I hope you make this a regular item for all your fans to look forward to each month. GREAT & Thanks B Wales
B Wales,

Bless your heart, sitting down to construct a newsletter is akin to doing one’s taxes. I was responsible for the quarterly newsletter for a non-profit for several years, so I appreciate your sentiments. Reading this newsletter was like watching and listening to you the two times I’ve been able to catch your show. Good job! I’m planning to call my local public TV station here in Boise, ID and see if they carry you regularly. Your approach is fresh air to me after seven years of classical training (many years ago.) I long to play with the right side of my brain; your method will help me do that. Thanks!
P. Keyes, Boise, ID

Dear Scott, It has always been my DREAM to play piano but until now it took too long to just to learn to play “Hot Cross Buns” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Neither tune were impressive enough to play for friends. My husband bought me your DVD for my birthday, and I LOVE IT!!! I just wanted to say thank you for making my dream come true. I have been watching you for 2 days, and I already learned more than I did in 3 weeks worth of lessons. Now I can play music I enjoy and not be embarrassed when someone asks me to play, and all I can come up with is a choppy nursery rhyme tune (that I’d been pratcing forever!) -Greatfully in tune
I. Jones

In 1943, I took what was then called Frank Phelps Modern Method for Piano. It was a case of either that or lessons from an old nun on life support. The method was the chord method..breaking chords up depending on the time signature, using octaves, picking up any sheet music and playing. People were amazed. In Grade School, I was the only one in the school who could play most things from sight. Soon I knew so many chords, it scared people. I was in demand in grade 8 to play for other classes. My mother, a classically trained musician, almost got a complex. My brother, who studied with a dear old nun, hated it and never finished anything. I had all the chord books the teacher used. I was a 97 lbs. weakling in a football school, but they did not laugh when I sat down to play. In High School I entertained all the time at house parties. People would play one Sonatina. I would play everything that was popular. I leaned to read the bass line which is boring in most sheet music. I took organ lessons and soon as I learned to turn the thing on, I quit. I made lots of money at weddings playing melodies with chords. People would weep. In the church I went to they did not believe in paying organists, so they were usually classically trained pianists. I never got used to the touch of an electronic organ or a pipe organ. Man, I wonder what would have happened had I tried to study with any nun. Those chords made me able to play everything. I learned to write my own arrangements. One day I overheard the music teacher in the University refer to me as…the guy who plays 3 or 4 chords. Her students could play 3 pieces! At 71 I still play. There’s never been a time when playing that someone doesn’t say that they wished they could play piano. A surgeon I knew started studying after he graduated medical school. He died young. Don’t know if it was the piano or acute…Refreshing to know people will continue to learn from your method. Oh in my youth girls loved me, a man playing piano. As a “young” senior, matrons with pursed lips are still amazed…!
Terry M., Walerville, Ontario, Canada

Scott, I am REALLY enjoying employing your method to playing the piano – yesrs ago in school I tried to learn the traditional way reading the sheet music and it typically took a month to learn a song! Even when I DID learn it, it never really sounded very good – lots of starts and stops. So, I finally gave up after trying for 6 months. I took up the guitar instead shortly after that and have been playing for almost 30 years. When you mentioned playing chords it was a revelation to me – I am now very familiar with chords and thanks to your method I can now create them on the keyboard I finally invested in. I’m AMAZED at how fast I am learning these chords on the keyboard and my sight reading is slowly getting better. Thanks Scott!
Anonymous,

First let me say you have rekindled my desire to play the piano, I had given up on the goal to play but when I saw your special on public television in Washington I started “playing the piano in a flash” just like you demonstrated. Thank you.
Troy, Marysville, WA

Oh my gosh, I have had so much fun since I got your books. I took piano lessons 25 years ago but never enjoyed it. I just wanted to play the way that you teach instead of sitting down to practice. I just wanted to play, and now I can! I bought my grandmother’s piano when she died, and it has sat there even after I took lessonsn. Now, all I want to do it sit down and play! Just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Reatha, Al, USA

I thank you for what you have done for me. I bought two of the ‘fake’ books and am having a ball playing gospel music from the books. No one else might enjoy my playing, but my husband and I are loving it. I am 57 years old and never had the chance to take music lessons as a child. I, like many other adults, have always wished I could play the piano. Thanks for giving me the chance to do something I love. I play every day that I can. Thank you, Scott. We love you for what you are doing. God Bless!
E. Ball, Columbus, Oh

I saw you on PBS, and It was like an answer to my prayers. I am a singer/songwriter, that plays piano by ear. I was looking for something to help me with the rythmic patterns. After that one evening, I started practicing the examples you used on TV. It really helped. I bought the e-book, and now I want to hear the examples. This is great. If you ever come to California, let me know I would love to go to one of your seminars.
E. L Abston, Vallejo, CA

Thank You SOOOOOOOOOO much… I really appreciate all that you do and especially the questions you ask your guest. It really helps tremendously… I’m glad you stop them when you see something or have a question and have them explain what it is they are doing.
Ben & Jeana

You are amazing! Thank you so much! That chord finder is incredible. What a great tool! I hope you can take your ideas far! What you have here is something that the majority of people need and want. Thank you for taking the time to put this together. It took a lot of effort on your part and, you can only imagine how it will affect lives. Thank you again, Scott.
M. Gorun

You are the best!! I watched one of your PBS television shows about a year ago. I could not play but always wanted to. Like many, I thought I could never learn because I had no musical talent. After I watched you, I purchased an electronic keyboard. Within a few weeks, I was able to play enough that I contacted a nearby nursing home and offered to be a volunteer and play music for the residents.I have gone on many occasions and it is the greatest thing! To see the look on their faces when I play a familiar song is an incredible feeling. I am not a great player but I can play for my family, friends and even play in public. Two weeks ago, I played keyboard during the Social Hour for my church’s silent auction dinner. I attended a workshop of yours a few months ago and while there, met another attendee who told me she always wanted to play but had no idea if she could. If you can believe this, she is now my piano student. She plays pretty well and is thrilled that she can play for herself and her family. I owe all this to you. You are wonderful. Please keep doing what you are doing, you have brought so much joy to so many. God bless you.
Bill

I am so excited about playing… It is insanely easy! Thank you so much for making this an instrument I can sound good on…. FINALLY!
Anonymous

I just have to tell you, that you have brought incredible joy into my life with your little book, Play Piano in a Flash. All my life (and that’s more than half a century now!) I’ve wanted to play the piano. About 25 years ago, I took “piano lessons” for 3-4 years because I had two young daughters, and I wanted to get a head start so I could help them when they began playing piano. However, I spent hours and hours (and lots of money) studying John Thompson’s Note Speller, Scale Speller and Chord Speller and practicing everything from Edna Mae Burnam, John Schaum and Michael Aaron to Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” and Burgmuller’s “Twenty-Five Easy and Progressive Studies for the Piano” (I never did find the “easy” part!)–yet never could I just sit down and play a “real song.” I could play the Hanon exercises backwards and forward though, but who cares?! Strangely enough, my daughters had the same outcome after their 6-7 years of piano lessons.So, for the past 15 years, my piano sat silent, just a pretty piece of furniture in my living room. Now I’m a rather intelligent woman, and I’ve known many people with lower IQ’s than mine who play the piano beautifully. I’ve always thought there must be some “secret” I was never told about how to play this beautiful instrument. Then one day last October, I saw you on my local PBS station. I must admit I was very skeptical about how easy you made it look but thought, “What do I have to lose? I can spend $15 on his book or just get rid of the piano and forget it.” After reading less than half of your book, a musician friend (he’s a drummer and guitar player–not a pianist) loaned me Hal Leonard’s “The Easy Fake Book.” (The one with a chord speller in the back.) Well, guess what? I took your advice and found some songs that I liked and just started playing them. (I did have to refer frequently to that chord speller in the back of the book, but the more I played, the more chords I learned.) And what do you know–I actually began to play real songs based solely on “the secrets” you shared in your book. Of course, the tunes were a little lop-sided at first, but I eventually got the rhythm going, and then I expanded to every song in the book. I progressed to “The Ultimate Fake Book” and even the “Broadway Fake Book.” What a thrill that after only a few months I can now sit down at my own piano and play hundreds of songs that I like! (I haven’t progressed into rolled chords and arpeggios yet, but I know I’ll get there before long.) I don’t ever aspire to being featured at Carnegie Hall or even playing with my local symphony. But I am thoroughly enjoying every moment I get to spend playing, rather than just practicing, my piano.Thank you so much for sharing your talent and wisdom and for making all of this so simple and so fun! Sincerely,
D. Mercer

Hi Scott,You don’t need to respond to this e-mail. I just wanted to thank you for your great ideas. I am a piano teacher who was looking for a more interesting and fun way to teach adults. I saw your show on PBS, and it really inspired me. I was trained to play only classical music, so I didn’t know about lead sheets and what sort of popular music people might like to learn. I now use a fake book with one of my adult students, and she was very excited that she could play with two hands after having had just a few lessons. The pieces that you played on TV also gave me the idea to try some jazzier tunes with my students. Thank you so much for improving my teaching.
Laura

I am completely amazed at your program. I had taken a few lessons when I was a child, never enough to play anything. I am now 67 and have always wanted to play the piano. What with raising five children and working outside the home as well as inside, I just never had the time. Now that I am retired, I decided to try. I was able to learn the keys and read the music from a book I brorrowed from the library, but it was taking much too long to learn to play anything. The book never gave you a complete song to learn. I decided I wanted to take some lessons. My new husband of just a few years didn’t want to discourage me, but advised that it was really too late in life for me to learn to play the piano. We just happened to see one of your programs on public TV and I located a copy of your book. I started practicing while my husband was out of town on a business trip. The first morning, he was back and was in the shower, I started playing a song from one of the “Fake” books that I had been practicing. I sensed someone standing just behind me; he was absolutely amazed that I was able to play a complete song after only a day-and-a-half. (So was I!) I can’t thank you enough for the joy this has brought me.
Anonymous

Scott, you are the man! I ordered the course from Public TV. One month after it arrived I came back from my daily jog and sat down to play. I played three selections then realized my buddy was in the living room waiting for me so I quit to greet him. I said I’m learning to play the piano. He said, (And this’ll ring in my ears for a long time.) I thought you had `been playing all you life. We had bought a baby grand piano about 15 years ago. I guess it was to decorate the living room. The family wanted it and we were hopeing the kids would learn to play. Since that time I have often said we should have bought a statue to decorate the living room instead of a piano. It was embarrassing when guests asked who played the piano. I guess I knew where middle C was but nothing more. I had played the flute in high school and I still get it out about once a year, often at Christmas, and play for a short time. After the fake book came and the cord finder I had a ball. I slowly began to play. (I never practice. I only play.) It was so pleasant–within a day or two I was playing a few simple songs with all the cords. From then on I couldn’t stop. I could hardly wait to get home and play. I now play about half of the songs in the fake book. I don’t enjoy the religious song, and I will play the Christmas songs at Christmas time. I estimate that I began a little more than two months ago. Some days I don’t get to play because I’m away on business trips but I’m just amazed at my progress. By the way I’m 74 years old. Thanks Scott, I want to encourage you publish another fake book. There are a whole bunch of songs which would be nice to play. I tried a few. I could pick out the melody but my choice of cords weren’t as good as yours.
Paul Straub, California, in the good old USA

Page: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

Incoming search terms for the article:

• how to play hammond b3
• how to play on accordion
• play keyboard
• teaching piano printouts
• teaching piano printouts