Playing music is fun. Anyone who likes listening to music can probably increase their enjoyment of it by having a go at playing it too. The satisfaction of being able to perform a piece of music and the great feeling of self-expression that goes with it cannot be over-stated.
Music is all about communication and the social opportunities can be many and varied. With a good teacher, lessons can be stimulating and absorbing. And the music learned can be shared with friends and family or with other musicians. Pianists are always in demand to play for singers and instrumentalists.
For children, there are many educational benefits which can supplement the learning that children are doing during their day to day work at school. In particular, playing a musical instrument is good for:
- Coordination Piano playing requires the ability to simultaneously do different things with each hand, and sometimes to also coordinate hands with feet and breathing.
- Communication skills, especially with adults, will improve. Many children and teenagers have very little one to one contact with their teachers (or any other adults) during an average school week but often this is what they enjoy most about music lessons. (Obviously, the character of the teacher is very important if this is to work well.)
- Improvement in all school work Research has shown that the study of music leads to a significant improvement in the standards children achieve in their other subjects. Psychologists acknowledge that people who play musical instruments are smarter. Among Nobel Prize winners there are a disproportionately high number of musicians (although whether their music lessons made them smarter or vice versa is not proven).
- Self-discipline The concentration needed to practice regularly (even if it has to be strongly encouraged by parents) will stand them in good stead in many areas of life.
- Self-esteem is boosted, especially in younger children who get great satisfaction out of playing their first few tunes.
For adults, many of the benefits can be similar to those seen by children with the added bonus that a good teacher can become an interesting and close friend through your shared interest.
The list could go on and on. But even though there are all these great benefits to be gained from studying the piano, it is probably not really because of these that you or your child want to take music lessons. Usually, it is very simply the desire to make music that is the motivating factor.
Need some inspiration? Just watch this youngster, Jacob Velasquez, as he plays a Sonatina by Beethoven…..