Scott The Piano Guy Houston

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Putting Fun Back into Learning Piano

  Scott "The Piano Guy" Houston says he can teach anyone how to play piano like a professional in a matter of hours - not years!  As a phenomenon of our world today, I find this man and what he is doing exciting in bringing piano music back to life in this era.

 As a piano teacher and piano player, the method that Scott uses is the same one I use today to play in jazz, rock and blues bands, the worship team at my church and for solo gigs.

 Scott teaches a chordal approach, i.e., learning to play from lead sheets and fake books.  While it's not unique, it's a great way to learn, as you're playing music you want to play while you learn. In essence, you learn the rudiments of how music works on the piano, and the details come along as you go, instead of learning the details before you start to play music.

 

About Scott Houston 

The guy behind the plan...

Houston is an experienced music professional with more than 20 years in the business. A trained percussionist, Houston studied jazz at the Indiana University School of Music. Houston then spent five years as president of a music publishing business, and played keyboards and percussion in rock, funk and jazz ensembles. He began exploring effective means to teach adult, non-musicians how to simply have fun playing piano in 1997.

In 2003, Houston began showing public television viewers how to "play piano in a flash" through his wildly successful pledge special of the same name.
Seen by millions of viewers nationwide since debuting in March 2003, Play Piano In A Flash has been a terrific fundraising vehicle for stations
carrying the program. Among the highest-grossing pledge specials in public television history, stations to date have raised more than $14 million.

The Piano Guy with Scott Houston weekly television series is now in its third year airing on public television stations. The series covers over 90% of the TV households in the country on a weekly basis. Shot in high definition, the show continues to delight, inform and entertain thousands of viewers nationwide. Brand new Season 7 episodes will be released in March of 2007. Currently sponsored by Pearl River, Roland, NAMM and Pianobench.com, The Piano Guy show has also been supported by Steinway, Yamaha, QRS, BOSE, and The American Music Conference in the recent past.

The Piano Guy Link List 

Scott Houston in Cyberspace

Official Website
Learn all there is to know about The Piano Guy!
When He's on TV
This link will help you find a public TV station near you. Once you get there, you can check the broadcast schedule to see when The Piano Guy is on the air!
Piano In Flash Workshops
If you want to attend one of The Piano Guy's Workshops, here's where you can find the when and where!
Teacher Certification for Piano in a Flash
Scott offers a certification program for piano teachers to learn how to teach lead sheet based improvisational piano. Here's where you can learn more about what it can do for you and your students.
Find a Teacher
If you want a teacher to help you through learning Piano in a Flash, here's where to look. (I'm in there, but not taking any more students at the moment!)

Scott The Piano Guy on YouTube! 

Here's some of the things Scott has done on his television show!

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Scott Houston The Piano Guy Ta...

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Doug Miles interviews TV's Sco...

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American Idol vs. The Piano Gu...

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The Piano Guy's Beach Home Vid...

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Oksana and Scott Houston (www....

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Piano Guy TV YouTube Guru Chan...

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So, Does this Piano in a Flash Method Work? 

Here's my official lowdown on the Piano Guy's Method of Teaching Piano

Scott Houston's method is not new...in fact, there's several online and offline sources that teach chordal piano, such as Robert McLaughlin, Hear and Play, Rocket Piano and others. They are just different.

Besides, learning piano is perpetual. Even after playing piano since 1974, I still learn new things every day. Just not as fast or as many as I did in 1974. (Age is a cruel companion!) The secret is you play piano -- not practice it.

I took formal, traditional, classical music lessons through junior high and high school. I took two semesters in college. I practiced about 15 minutes to one hour a day, depending upon the demand of the teacher. BUT...I played about 2 to 4 hours a day after that. I was playing pop, jazz, country, dixieland, stride, blues, broadway...the tunes I wanted to play, not my assignments. This is the secret to The Piano Guy's method. You will be learning the tunes you know and love already, just not as a pianist -- yet!

In my opinion, his method is good. It is primarily setup for people to be lifetime music makers, not lifetime students of a piano teacher.

If you're looking for a "coach" or "tutor" to help you through the course work, that's okay, but like all things musical, it will be up to you to get down the basic skills you need to get. All a teacher can do is present what they know to you, make sure you understand it, the do what they can to help keep you headed the way you want to go.

So the answer to the question is yes, it will work. There's loads of material, in books, videos, on TV and in workshops to help you gain the knowledge.

You simply need to invest the money and time.

The Piano Guy at Amazon 

Books, Videos and CD's by Scott Houston

Scott Houston has put together loads of material to help people along in their quest to playing piano. Here's a sampling you can find at Amazon.

Roland Digital Pianos on Ebay 

An Official Sponsor of Scott the Piano Guy

Here's some auctions for Roland Digital pianos -- even as they are a "sponsor," of the Piano Guy, Roland is my digital piano of choice. I play a Roland RD-150 -- its durable, the key action is as good as it gets, and the sounds work great in the studio or on the road.

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