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In school I never participated in band. I never played a musical instrument. I was too busy with sports (playing four different ones will keep you busy). But I always had a yearning to play an instrument. My mom was always partial to piano although she never learned to play. Early on I was more interested in drums, but over time I started to get interested in piano. When I lived in California I bought a nice digital upright Yamaha piano. I even took a few lessons, but since it was during the Internet boom, work consumed all of my free time. This summer, I dusted the piano off and promised myself I’d have another go at it.

This morning I attended a class by Scott Houston - The Piano Guy at UNC-TV. Scott is well known for his PBS special a couple of years ago. Scott’s method is different from most traditional piano teachers. He teaches you to play like professional players do, not the classical style. Turns out there is a big difference. Long story short (too late), Scott teaches the chord style of piano where you play chords with your left hand and a melody with your right. He also showed us how to read lead sheets which are MUCH easier to read than traditional music notation. I bought a Fake Book so I’m ready to roll. Scott did a great job dispelling the myth that piano playing is like rocket science or requires years of agnozing classes. It is all about playing music you like not fingering the keys perfectly. His class was great and he was very entertaining.