What do you think of the Scott Houston's play piano in a flash???

[memo19888]

Hello,
I would really like to learn Piano.
Can i ever sound "Advanced" with piano in a flash?
If not... whats the best way to learn piano other than... signing up for classes for the next 10 years!
                                                       Always,  Memo

[dlu]

That guy really annoys me...but if you want to play standards orvery simple jazz then he may work...but...it takes work to sound advanced...and you shouldn't want to just sound advanced...you should want to be advanced...what kind of music do you want to play?

DLu

[shoshin]

I watched his show twice on PBS. He is very misleading in my opinion. First he makes it appear that reading music notation is rocket science and impossible for any mortal. Then  he uses that fear, uncertainty, and doubt as a reason to drop the entire bass clef and instead use a chord to replace it.  So all your left hand is supposed to play chords.  For a beginner I think having to learn tons and tons of chords is actually hader than playing the notes in the bass clef.  I also don't enjoy the music that his technique produces.

[nicko124]

Is it too harsh to say that his program is geared towards 'Music for Lazy People'?

[lagin]

If you find the right teacher and work hard, you can become advanced way sooner than 10 years.  I personally know someone who practiced like an average of about 4 hours a day and had a good teacher.  They did theory on top of that though.  She will be writing her grade nine RCM exam in a few weeks and only started having real piano lessons in October of 2003.  So thats................a year and 8 months.  Hmmm....just in case you aren't a fellow Canadian and familiar with the RCM--grade 10 has stuff like Chopin nocturnes and Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata (two movements required).  Hope this encourages you.  BUT make sure you find a teacher that doesn't make you do every single grade so they can make more money.  If you are ready and they think you can technically handel it, they should let you work on harder stuff.  Mind you, doing the technical requirements for every grade is a good idea, so you don't hurt yourself!

[shoshin]

Is it too harsh to say that his program is geared towards 'Music for Lazy People'?

I'm not sure who is lazier: the students that buy Scott Houston's book/video under false promises or Scott himself, for not teaching piano technique and basic music theory.

[gee]

Now come on, you can't exactly call him lazy, his consumers.... maybe. Even though he annoys me to hell, he does make lots of money off this, and there is a market for this type of stuff, so you got to give him a lil respect for that.

Don't go for this type of stuff, good old fashioned hard work is required to be even some what good at piano. Hire a good teacher, he/she will give you much better advice, and you can work with them face to face on a weekly basis.