chords on the piano?

Yup.  You read that right.
If you play any musical instrument (other than the guitar), you've probably learned to play in the same way I did - with music theory.  Bass clef, treble clef, time signatures, notes, and so on.  I pretty much taught myself most of what I know through learning to play the flute and oboe in the band.  It motivated me to learn how to read music enough to play the piano better.  And I was pretty satisfied with how I played considering I'd had no lessons.

In high school, I decided I wanted to learn to play the guitar.  I struggled at first because I didn't understand how you could play songs without knowing the music theory.  I was used to traditional methods, and learning the chords was complicated for me at first.  But I was determined to learn and finally, one day it clicked.  After that day, chords became so simple, and I felt like I could figure out how to play (with practice of course) just about anything I wanted.  Songwriting seemed less daunting also, and I even began to write a song.

I became addicted to playing this way, but missed the good ol' piano.  Since we recently purchased a piano, I decided I was going to learn to play the piano with chords, and then I was going to take some formal lessons and learn how to mesh both playing methods.  Get the best of both worlds, so to speak.

This is what I've been using for about two weeks now:

One word: fabulous.

It's so much fun that I can't seem to stop.  In just a couple weeks I am on the 26th lesson out of 72, and I am already able to apply what I'm learning to other songs.  I obviously haven't finished the whole thing yet, but so far I can tell that my knowledge of traditional methods is helping me learn faster, and also in applying what I'm learning to other songs.  I am excited and eager to see how well I am playing in another year.  I'd forgotten how fed my soul feels after a few minutes on the piano.

If you want to learn to play, and you want to sound like you play well fast, this is definitely the way to go.  The lessons are short, simple, and fun.  It's a great base for anyone, and I'm so grateful I came across it.  I bet I've saved hundreds of dollars just learning at home, on my own time.  It's fantastic!