A Brief History of NSAM

The New School of American Music is the brainchild of Robert Laughlin. Himself a formal piano lesson dropout by age 10, Laughlin decided to relearn the piano starting at age 23. He found a local professional pianist whose playing he admired, and set out to learn his secrets.

After a few months of pleasant study, playing only music he wanted to play, Laughlin was confident enough to play in front of people. A year or so later he was playing with other musicians in informal get-togethers. A year or so after that, he was playing professionally.

Laughlin’s teaching method is successful in part, because it’s patterned after the process by which he himself learned. Over the years Laughlin has studied with many other successful pianists. But he always refused to take weekly lessons. Instead, he would tape a one-hour lesson with the teacher, then study with the tape at home for the ensuing weeks. Only after he digested the material on tape would he schedule another lesson.

Laughlin remembers his learning process well, and it’s that exact same process he has captured in his workshops and on his tapes and CD's. Thus there will be no more weekly lessons for you. In fact, you won’t even have to go looking for (or paying for) a piano teacher.

In 1982 he created the One Day Workshop. Starting at a local college extension program, Laughlin soon found himself teaching the One Day Workshop at over 80 locations.

Other workshops and prerecorded audio programs soon followed. Today there are scores of piano teachers teaching his unique system nationwide. Several of his programs are translated into German for the European market. And Laughlin continues to produce new material regularly.

So why not give it a try? Come on. What have you got to lose?

Click the topics below to discover more about our system.

• About Us
• Why We’re Different
• What Can You Learn in a Day?
• Why Audio Recordings?
• A Brief History of NSAM