Let's explore the amazing benefits of Piano Lessons for Children
Learning how to play an instrument has a very powerful influence in our lives that reaches far beyond the ability to perform selected songs. Along with the joy that creating music provides, learning to play an instrument such as the piano helps students develop important physical and social skills that will continue throughout their lives. Here are just a few of the many ways that piano lessons benefit the student.
1. Motor Skill Dexterity
Although most instruments teach a degree of dexterity in finger management, the keyboard helps students learn how to work both hands separately in very complex actions. The dual hand work required while playing piano is a difficult skill to perfect, and is much like learning how to rub the belly and patting the head at the same time. This supple handy-work practised during piano lessons makes learning other skills such as touch typing much easier later in life. While most instruments help students learn control over certain areas of their bodies, most notably finger movement, the piano is a demanding instrument that involves foot movement on the pedals, as well as hand-eye coordination as the notes are read and then played.
2. Long Term Cognitive Benefits
A study by Northwestern University shows that studying music for a few years in childhood has a lasting effect on brain function. Adults who took piano lessons had greater neural responses than those who never studied music.
Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory explained that this enhanced auditory response sharpened perception and communication as children grew and became adults.
3. Educational Value
Teachers who use positive methods when giving a piano lesson help create a heightened sense of self-esteem in children. The hard work of learning a complex instrument such as the piano also creates a sense of great accomplishment from the very first piano lesson. This positive self-image sets children up for greater success in school and life.
There are practical relations for the piano lesson in education as well. Students have a greater capacity for spatial cognition, and also score higher in math. They pick up on concepts such as fractions and ratios quicker due to the musical applications of those concepts already instilled by their music teacher.
4. Increased Concentration
Learning music improves the ability concentrate on complex tasks. It also requires the mind to make quick computations and translate them to hand movements. While most people automatically think of music as a creative art, and it is, playing an instrument is also a critical thinking skill.
5. Developed Music Appreciation
Young people who do not take piano lessons tend to gravitate to listening only to popular or cultural genres of the times. Music students have a much wider exposure thanks to teachers opening their minds to a wide variety of musical styles. They learn to appreciate all types of music from classical and jazz, to folk and rock.
6. Memory Function
Piano students develop many positive attributes from learning to read music from their teacher. However, students naturally begin to memorize favorite pieces, develop the ability to quickly see patterns in sheet music. These are all skills that improve both short and long-term memory function that will help them all through life.
7. Social Skills and Music Lessons
Taking a piano lessons is a practice in socialisation. The student and teacher must learn to communicate effectively. As a student progresses and joins other musicians to play ensemble pieces, they must learn to work together in a group and with their teacher at the same time. They learn to appreciate their roles in a joint production as well as to be appreciative of other musician’s parts in creating a successful performance.
8. The Discipline of Piano Lessons
People of all ages who study music gain a greater degree of patience. They learn to accept the time it takes to develop the skills necessary, and piano studies teach delayed gratification. In a world where we have all become accustomed to getting information and satisfaction quickly at our fingertips, the lessons music teaches in discipline are a true lesson in living.
Ready to book your piano lessons in Eastbourne? Give me a call on 01323 768755