I took standard "classical" piano lessons as a child up to about age 12, and became somewhat proficient at reading music and playing from sheet music. At the time, I felt it was drudgery since I wasn't learning to play the type of music that I wanted. It was a learning system that I felt was too regimented, as I never really learned about chord progressions and playing "freely". It was just "play the music as written and don't deviate" - repeat, so I gave it up.

Now that I'm retired and have time, I want to learn to play the music I like (pop, ballads, blues) improvisationally. I still have a good understanding of the keyboard and basic chords but need guidance to move forward. I've discovered "Fake Books" and can basically play using them, but it still sounds stilted and stiff, since I'm only basically playing the root chords with my left hand.

An internet search yielded a number of online courses for purchase, and I'd like to make an intelligent choice. Among the choices I've found have been playPianoToday.com, pianomagic.com, and (of course) Scott Houston's DVD courses. I should quickly add that I feel that I learn better from watching/listening than from a book. I feel that the smartest way to progress is to learn chord progressions/modifications to play improvisationally thru one of these courses (or similar). I may need to "unlearn" a few things, and I definitely don't want to get locked into the same regiment of just "playing it as it's written" again. I then want to get back into BIAB (which I've purchased a year ago, but only dabbled with by playing melodies with the right hand), using it as an accompanying backup band.

I have a Yamaha keyboard, but recently inherited my mother's piano (which I just had tuned). Getting the old piano is really what's motivated me to start back in this direction. Now I need recommendations on a good, effective online course which would help me towards my goal.

I hope this all makes sense. Can anyone help me out with a recommendation for an online or video course on DVD?

Thanks!

Kawai VPC1 MIDI Controller; Asus A53E Laptop running Windows 7 - 64 bit; BIAB 2017 UltraPlusPak (upgraded from 2014 EverythingPak), running from Laptop's Hard Drive.