Harold Rhodes

Who was Harold Rhodes?

Harold Burroughs Rhodes was the inventor of the Army Air Corps Piano, the Pre-piano and the Rhodes piano. Rhodes started his career by running piano schools around the United States.

Mr. Rhodes was born in the San Fernando Valley and became interested in music and architecture. He received a scholarship to study architecture at the University of Southern California but in 1929, as the Depression began, he dropped out to support his family. He began teaching piano when he was 19, and developed his own method that was designed to bridge classical piano instruction, with its reliance on written music, and jazz improvisation. The Rhodes Method was picked up across the United States.