Rating: 
Summary: Great Value And Great Fun!
Review: I had always wanted to play piano but didn't have the opportunity as a child. As an adult I heard horror stories about how difficult it was for an adult to learn to play the piano.
When I saw Scott's PBS special I felt this was something I could understand. I purchased this book about 18 months ago and have been enjoying piano playing ever since.
It does take some practice but far less than what my kids were putting in to learn how to play nothing when they were taking traditional lessons.
If you always wanted to be able to just play a song you like this is well woth the cost. The book is less than half the cost of one 45 minute traditional lesson I was shelling out for on a weekly basis for my kids. The book and DVD together cost less than 2 lessons. Your only other costs would be for music (which you would be buying no matter what method you were using) and possibly for some type of chord finder book. (minimal cost)
There is more to learn after you master the material in the book but if you never bought any further materials to get you more advanced you would still always be able to play the music of your favorite non-classical tunes.
This is a great way to see if playing the piano is for you.
Rating:
Summary: What a great book to help playing songs I heard from the TV
Review: I had learned classical piano for 8 years when I was young. But I could never figure out how come some others can play any songs once they learn the Melody. With this book, now I know the trick and I can start playing any songs I like with the clord technique. However, I think you need to learn piano for 2 to 3 years in order to take advantage with this book's shortcut technique. But this book can't replace regular classic piano lessons since you need to learn all the different skill of playing a song.
Alex
Rating:
Summary: Best of the how-to
Review: I have read a couple of books that apply to not only the how-to genre, but to just making life simpler and more understandable in general. This book, and make every girl want you. Both are incredible how-to books, that take otherwise difficult tasks, and break them down into their elementary sub-parts to make them easier. This book tackles the piano, while the other book tackles dating. The great thing is that both books get to the point succinctly with no wasted time or material. I downed them both in under two hours. Up until now, Mary had a little lamb was the most I could play on the piano! While I'm not claiming to be able to play Chopin, I do now have a much better understanding of the basics of piano playing (sharps, flats, chords, scales, melodies). The key to this book is its explanation of chords and melodies to help you grasp the concepts, rather than just throwing you headfirst into seeing notes and playing them with your fingers. No more reading notes (sure most classical pianists probably scoff at this method), but for the rest of us - who just want to be able to play some fun songs, it's the best!
Rating: 
Summary: don't get this book
Review: i haven't myself read this book, but i don't suggest buying it. i've been playing piano for less than a year and i can play some pretty hard stuff. moonlight sonata, fur elise are some of the pieces i know. if you want to learn how to play piano...get lessons. its not very difficult to learn if you practice. don't expect to be playing like a pro if you buy some lame book from a lame guy. don't waste your money.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative
Review: I learned to play classical piano. This book is a breath of fresh air to those who just want to play for their own enjoyment.I found it fun and enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Great Help!
Review: I played an insturment in school, and always wanted to learn the piano. This book makes it simple for a total beginner (me!) If you always wanted to plink out a song, then try this. I find both the audio (CD) and visuals (book) helpful
Rating:
Summary: Course and materials outstanding
Review: I saw Scott Houston--"The Piano Guy"--on PBS and his message and enthusiasm was unshakable for me. His story is that playing the piano for fun is easy! This little book shows you how to do it. One reviewer said it's small and there are better materials out there; my take is the books is sized right. Scott keeps it simple (which is his whole approach) and gets you playing. Once you're playing (a little) you buy a "Fake Book" and learn from experience (playing tunes that you know and like). His approach is all about "Don't learn from practice, learn from playing!" and it works. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Simple to a point.....
Review: I saw the piano guy on pbs and since I had been dinking around with a casio keyboard, I thought maybe I should try his book and cd. I can read music since I had played trumpet in h.s. 45 yrs ago. I already knew that piano would not be easy. The best thing about Scott's book and talk is that it motivated me to try to play. Although he continually tries to simplify by pointing out lead sheets and learning a favorite song, you still have to learn those chords. So, you can only simplify to a point. I got a chord finder as suggested in his book and it's a big help. I also got 2 fake books and Hal Leonard's EKM Complete Instruction Course (It also has chord charts). Yeah, you can pick any song to try and learn, but I found it was much easier to pick one with 5 or fewer chords to start. That's a disadvantage of not learning to read the bass clef--You have to remember the chords to play at tempo. However, the piano guy does try to get you motivated and without that, you'll never even try.
Rating:
Summary: If you have struggled to play the piano, get this book.
Review: I took piano lessons for 9 years from a classical pianist, as an adult. I had advanced to a fairly high level and could play some hard stuff - pretty well I think. But I never could sit down and just play the piano like I wanted to. It became too much like work, and I quit taking lessons about 12 years ago. But I never lost my love of music, or the desire to play. I have been searching for the perfect sheet music for years and playing off and on without any great success. I watched his show on PBS a month ago. At first I thought "this is stupid - you are not telling me anything". But I started to think about it more and the next day I bought a fake book to give it a whirl. It has been almost a revelation for me. I was hung up on reading music and not playing it. Now I am having more fun playing piano than ever. The benefits of having played for years, or trying to play for years, are paying off. And suddenly, the "music theory" side of it is much more interesting and have started restudying some old theory books that I had from before (but were not interesting before). Maybe people who never played the piano before would benefit from taking some lessons at the same time. This might lead me to try to find a teacher who teaches using a similar approach. The book really reflects more of a philosophy or approach to playing the piano, which is the secret. I regret that I did not see this about 25 years ago.
Rating:
Summary: Never played piano but want to, buy this book
Review: I took some lessons in grade school in the 50's in violin. In two years of lessons I don't remember ever playing a song that sounded right. I bought this book and skimmed through the high lights and learned to play a song that sounded like a real song the same day. Unbelieveable, I still can't believe I am playing piano. I have learned about 5 songs now. It takes me two or three sessions of 15 to 20 minutes each to learn the melody of a new song and then a few minutes to learn the chords for the song and I am off to the races. It takes quite a few run throughs to get the timing down but when I do I can play the song and have fun doing it. If you don't have a clue how to play piano but would like to for your own enjoyment. You have to buy this book.
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