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ABOUT US
Piano with Kent is essentially a video and text blog, with piano, keyboard and music theory lessons, articles, full courses, course-based sheet music, and more.
Piano with Kent’s intended audience is anyone who wants to enhance their playing of songs and pieces, acquire improvisation and composing skills, increase their general understanding of music, and learn lots of practical music theory.
We sell exclusive, custom sheet music here.
ABOUT KENT – FOUNDER OF PIANO WITH KENT
Kent Smith is a professional piano and drum instructor (occasionally teaching guitar as well), and an experienced professional keyboardist and drummer based in Southern California.
He holds a degree in music and piano performance from Fullerton College, graduating with high honors. He is a lifetime member of the Fullerton College top honors society, Alpha Gamma Sigma.
At age seven, Kent began formal lessons in drums. By age fourteen he was a part-time professional drummer in a popular Philadelphia-based R&B band (It’s Time).
During that same “Philadelphia period,” he started classical piano studies, and was hooked for life!
After graduating from college with a degree in piano performance and general music (including jazz, formal and commercial composition, and more percussion), he made his living as a pianist, keyboardist and sometime drummer, working in various bands (most notably the OC-based progressive rock band Champion), and also has done a good amount of keyboard work in various Orange County and LA recording studios.
Kent began a parallel career in software development in his early twenties. Now, recently retired from his position as a technical architect at AT&T, he has returned to music full-time.
Kent has gained a wealth of professional experience through his decades of teaching, performing, composing, and studio work.
On the topic of gratitude, I’d like to mention my son here. I don’t share details, or even vague or general info about him in my online stuff, for the protection of his privacy, obviously. But let me tell you, that guy is the true light and love of my life.
Welcome to my site, and thanks for being here!
Couple of quick notes about why all contemporary musicians should know about keyboards and basic theory
To start, as any college music major can tell you, the piano keyboard is within reach of your music theory professor or teacher at all times. That’s gotta tell you something, right?
And we all know how pretty much all school-based music instruction – at any grade level – relies on the piano like crazy.
Now check this: every music major, no matter what their primary instrument, is required to play and learn a good amount of piano. That’s virtually a universal requirement across college-level and/or professional-level music programs worldwide. Check that out on the web, you’ll see what I mean.
POPULAR MUSIC, RECORDING and DIGITAL APPLICATIONS
Any digital studio engineer, professional beatmaker, modern composer, programmer, sequencer, record producer, you know, any of those cats, will tell you that they use that keyboard attached to the DAW or mixing board all the friggin time. Notice I said professional up there…feel me?
These examples are actually just the tip of a giant piano-shaped iceberg, but wait, it’s a good iceberg, I need a better metaphor. I’ll use that one for now, check back later?
Okay then! Thanks for stopping in, please check things out — there’s a lot of FREE content in my lessons blog.
