Customer Reviews

Play Piano in a Flash! Full Video Set VHS

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

After spending hundreds of dollars buying a keyboard and midi equipment as well as PC learning software to try to learn to play the piano and being frustrated with the program and process, I picked up Scotts dvd after seeing him on PBS and I have to say I've learned more in 1 day than I did in the months I tried fiddling with the PC learning software. Scott makes it so simple, breaking it down and not making it feel like a chore. I would also recommend people getting his book to accompany the dvd, the content in the dvd is great as is the quality, I just wish there was a chapter break down so I can skip easily to parts I want to see rather than fast fowarding or rewinding over and over. It's split up into 2 sections, the first section was show on PBS while the 2nd section is new, with a lot of more content as well as "cheap tricks" to make you sound like a pro, which I LOVE. It's been 3 days since I got the DVD and I can play 3 of my favorite songs.

I recommend it highly!

Ask yourself two questions:

Question One: Do you want to play classical piano on a world stage?

Question Two: Do you want to play piano in your own home for your own entertainment?

If your answer to the first question is "yes," then this book is not for you. And Mr. Houston says as much on several occasions in both the book and the video.

It seems that those reviews that express a strong negative opinion of this work, start with the assumption that one should only answer "yes" to the first question and one should never approach music in the spirit of the second.

People considering this work should ask themselves specifically what their goal is.

If your answer to the second question is "yes," then this work will spend half of its energy overcoming any reservation you might have about your ability to play the piano for personal enjoyment.

In this work, Mr. Houston has to battle in two directions.

One, he has to overcome the "piano anxiety" that people accrue as the result of years of taking lessons in a style of teaching that prepares the student to answer "yes" to question one.

Two, once he has cleared away assumptions learned from "classical" piano lessons, he demonstrates an approach to piano playing that is easier to implement then it is to explain. I don't think one should fault Mr. Houston simply because his method is easy to implement, once you understand it.

It is true that Mr. Houston does not outline a complicated and intricate regimen that explains the many aspects of music. That is not his goal. Rather he wishes to put the individual at a keyboard with music that can be learned as rapidly as possible. And if you diligently follow his advice you will soon find yourself making music at a keyboard that most people enjoy and find fulfilling.

However, it will take effort on your part, a fact which Mr. Houston underscores several times.

I found I was very satisfied with this program. In addition to the book, I purchased the VHS version of the video (and now wish I had purchased the DVD as I would be able to read the music better and digitally zoom in on Mr. Houstons fingers at the key board).

I also purchased the "Snarling Dogs" chord finder and found it to be very helpful in figuring out such arcane symbols as "D7dim" etc.

I purchased a fake book, "Your First Fake Book" and found that I needed to work at a piece about an hour per day for two weeks before I became proficient. But I would add that I did not know any of the chords. I've also found that the chords from the first song show up with a good deal of regularity in most of the others.

Mr. Houston asks a pertinent question, "would you rather learn hundreds of chords in the abstract or would you rather learn five or six chords and play your favorite song?"

I know that this system has worked for me, given my goals and I know which way I would prefer to learn chords.

I also have a high-speed Internet connection and did not purchase the CD (which has exapmles of blues styles and other examples), but rather I downloaded the Mp3 files that Mr. Houston provides at his web site, free of charge.

If one expects to work on a daily basis for one's own entertainment, this particular package will do very nicely.

I have played piano "by ear" for many many years, but have always found reading left hand notes difficult, and this has led me to be defensive about my playing. But Scott's video made me realize that what I am doing is not wrong. I play for my own enjoyment and for how I feel at the moment. He demonstrated many chord patterns that I have been playing by ear, but couldn't have explained why. The blues section is a totally new area for me, and his explanation of the 6 note blues scale is one I am finding fun to "noodle" around with. One of my sons, who has no piano experience, watched the video and he was able to play something right away. I do think it might take a novice a bit longer than Scott claims, but if someone really wants to have fun and forget about reading notes, this method should definitely get them off on the "right note"!

Well, the most I can say is that it will teach you a few tricks for playing chords along with a simple melody line, like found in fake books. Scott is a slick performer and he makes his examples sound good, but his method is adaptable to only a limited style and tempo of playing. This DVD is a companion to his book of the same title. Both the book and the DVD are overpriced for what they contain, in my opinion. A much better choice would be "How to Play the Piano Despite Years of Lessons", also available from Amazon.

I'm just responding to the reviewer from Kuwait who said the DVD doesn't pause or fast forward, etc. Mine does. It works just like all of my other DVD's... I've used it not only on my DVD player but also on my computer DVD drive and it works perfectly. No problems whatsoever...

I wanted to learn the basics of playing an electronic keyboard I recently acquired. I frequently watch Houston's TV show on satellite and subsequently purchased all three of his DVD's, (1) Play Piano in a Flash; (2) Tips and Tricks Volume I; (3) Tips and Trick Volume II. With the exception of his repeated focus on the chords of C, F, and G, there is very little to learn from these DVD's. I wasted $90 to watch something I learned on line for free. Don't waste your time and money buying these videos, they are horrible. Much of the video content is nothing more than video clips from various shows with featured guests. In my opinion, Houston should be ashamed of himself for selling these under the guise of a learning process.

I purchased the authors book, same title, and found it to be less than informative, so... after reading a review of the author's DVD, and how difficult it is to watch and play along, I decided the video set (doesn't "set" imply more than one of something?)would be better, as I could rewind and review easily. The information contained was available free on PBS, and the additional 80 minutes claimed seems to be a reselling of how his system teaches.
The video is a low quality recording and certainly not worth the money.

only play the piano to pick out notes for the song or aria and used a metronome for timing. I was thrilled to see how Houston could simplify the playing of a popular song and memorizing the chords for the left hand. I taped the program, and later bought the more complete VHS version of the TV program.

A niece, who was busy but made a half hearted attempt to learn to play the piano, gave me the book she had been using, "How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons" by Norman Monath. Using the theory that Houston taught, I used the Monath book as exercises for playing sample songs such as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" advancing to "Autumn Leaves." This gave me practice in learning new chords as I progressed.

By this time, I did buy Houston's book, "Play Piano in a Flash!" Was I disappointed? I have to say I was, because Ihad progressed beyond the book.

The next book I was to learn from was "How to play the piano despite years of lessons" by Ward Cannel and Fred Marx." From this book I was to learn much including how to choose chords (from progressions on the circle - elementary classical harmony) and arrange a song after picking out notes of a song I knew by ear.

I was shocked to realize, upon looking into old cartons in the cellar, I had purchased this Cannel and Marx book years and years before, and found it too difficult to understand. However, with what I had learned from Scott Houston, the Cannel and Marx book suddenly became clear. Without Scott Houston, I would never have been able to play popular music.

I have purchased Houston's many additional DVDs: four volumes of "Cheap Tricks and Professional Secrets", book examples of his Audio CD. Am I a talented pianist? Absolutely not! But the joy and pleasure of sitting down and playing tunes on the piano is something I shall always credit to Houston.

When I purchased the DVD, I had no clue on how to read music notes, I am an absolute beginner. I had my keyboard and several other music study books for over a year, but didn't seem to be able to get started because "I was too busy".

The DVD is great, in my opinion, for beginners. Scott's teaching style is fun and entertaining, and easy to follow. He made the music study and piano playing not at all as daunting as I thought. For me, the DVD is a great start, at least led me through the gate of the musical kingdom that I thought I'd never find time to accomplish.

BTW, I have no problem to rewind, pause, ffw the DVD as some previous users experienced.

This DVD would have been a good one if Scott Houston would have played more of the examples. He talks 98% of the time the other 2% he plays. He states on the DVD that He knows that everyone wants to sit down and play the piano, and they don't want to learn all the music theory and do piano excercises. His approach is to sit down at the piano and start playing songs from the very beginning. With him saying all that on the DVD, he never really plays. He spends all the time talking. I wouldn't recommend this DVD to anyone, unless they want to hear a long sermon (lots of talking). If you like hearing someone talk for a couple of hours Why not just go to church and listen to a preacher. I was thinking about ordering Tips, "Cheap tricks and professional secrets" another DVD by Scott houston, but I'm going to passs on that one, Why because I'm not going to spend another $40.00 just watching some one talk for 3hrs.