Mark Almond, learning through harmonies

I tried a search of "Almond" to see if Mark Almond's ideas have been discussed at all. He has two videos, "Piano for Quitters" and "Piano for Life", in which he advocates that beginning play is typically lacking in an improvisational component. He believes that students must experience chords and harmony or harmonies, and suggests that the great keyboardists of history, such as Mozart and Haydn, would have had this kind of experience. Through his videos he tries to give students a way of doing the same thing. I haven't stuck with it myself, having my own little way, but I think he is basically correct. Has anyone encountered Almond's material?

It was on Almond's web site that I came across the reference to the James Francis Cooke book, Great Pianists on Piano Playing, which, happily, can be downloaded from archive.org, being a rather old book.