Posts Tagged ‘playing piano’
How Piano Lessons Benefit Children
It`s a rare parent who wouldn’t love their child to take piano lessons. We`ve all heard of child geniuses like Mozart who began playing and composing at a very tender age, and who wouldn`t want their little one to have that same opportunity?
While you may be thinking about investing in a piano and lessons for your children, it`s also a big expense. Most people want to be sure they are doing the right thing if they are going to spend the money and that is precisely the point of this article. Here you`ll find a number of reasons piano lessons are beneficial for children.
Boost coordination: In order to make music sound like it should, children will need to have full control over where their fingers go and how they move. As the piano lessons get more complex, they will need to coordinate both hands to play a piece, something that is very useful in other areas of daily living.
Increase math skills: It`s no secret that music and math are connected, but did you know that many children find it easier to tune into music . . . and then end up being better at math because of it? Piano lessons could easily help your child who is struggling with math in school, though this shouldn`t be the only reason to take lessons.
Language and thinking skills: Music is basically a foreign language. Kids have to translate the strange marks on those bars of music and turn them into a smooth-flowing song. This can actually enhance the area of the brain that processes new languages . . . also easing the way for your little one to pick up another language like French or Spanish in the future.
Sense of pride: Too many children these days have a low self-esteem, so anything you can do to encourage them is great. When a child participates in a piano recital or graduates to the next level of piano books, his self-esteem will also improve. There`s nothing better than seeing a thrilled youngster, with his eyes glowing as he recounts how he won a ribbon for his piano playing.
Develop a lifelong skill: Playing piano is much like riding a bike. When children take lessons while young, they develop musical skills that will last them a lifetime. They may not stick to the piano . . . in fact, many kids end up moving on to other musical instruments with piano as their base instrument. However, you`ll be setting your child up to be successful in musical endeavors forever. Even if he doesn`t become a rock star or a famous pianist, it`s always good to have a skill like this where you can sit down at a party and entertain!
Enhance concentration: With kids these days being diagnosed with ADHD left and right, an activity that not only enhances concentration ability but makes it interesting and a challenge is an activity you want your kids in.
Piano lessons will provide that option and while small children might start out with just 15-20 minute lessons and practice times, they will soon be able to practice for longer and longer periods of time, as their attention span lengthens. This obviously has benefits in many areas, not just on the piano.
Piano lessons are an excellent investment. Your child doesn`t have to be a musical prodigy for you to get your money`s worth, though you could end up surprised by his aptitude for piano. There are so many different benefits that make this a worthwhile thing to do for your children that it would be a shame to miss out on it because you don`t think your little one will do well enough.
Author Bio: Music School offering piano, voice and guitar lessons Mississauga and the GTA area. Visit our music store to find new and used pianos.
What Type of Piano is the Easiest to Start Off On?
It’s extremely difficult for anyone to determine exactly what piano will be the easiest for any beginner to start off playing. A beginning piano player will play any variety of piano exactly how he or she is taught to play it.
With that in mind – each brand, type and style of piano can sound differently and the sound and feel of each instrument may appeal differently to different players.
When considering purchasing a piano, especially when you don’t have a whole lot of experience with the instrument, there are several things that you should do before making your decision. A piano is a very large investment, so it isn’t something that should be taken lightly.
Some Valuable Tech Talk
One of the best possible things that you can do when looking for a piano is to talk to a good technician. A good piano technician can be worth his weight in gold when it comes to helping you decide what type of piano will be the best for you. They will know just about everything there is to know about many varieties of pianos – which ones hold their sound best, which are the easiest to repair, which may have recurring problems. Most techs are also players as well, so you’ll likely be able to get some good personal recommendations from this valuable source.
Visit Every Showroom in Your Area
This will give you the opportunity to sit down at all different types of pianos to plunk away, giving you a good feel for what type of piano you’ll most likely feel comfortable at. It will also allow you the opportunity to compare pricing between the different dealers and different brands.
Talk to Sales People
Though some sales people may be pretty biased towards one brand or another based on what they are selling at their particular showroom, piano sales people can often provide you with some pretty good information as to the quality of certain brands or the difference in quality between different models of the same brand. They should also be able to provide you with different manufacturer’s warranty information without necessarily being too one sided with their commentary.
Talk to Teachers and Students
Sign up for a free introductory lesson, and while you’re there, pick the teacher’s brain about what type of piano they feel best suits a beginner. A teacher will often be totally unbiased in their opinion and have the student’s best interests at heart.
If you’re lucky there will be other students there that you can ask some questions of as well. Find out what different types of pianos they have played and what they feel would be the most comfortable and appropriate piano for someone who was just starting out. Who is better to ask than someone who was just recently in your position and had to go through the same things themselves?
The best piano to start out with is definitely the one that you will happily play and that you will find yourself wanting to play often. That’s why it’s so important to do a lot of research before jumping into a decision. In addition to following the aforementioned advice, there are several good books available that will give solid advice when considering purchasing a piano, and today there are an abundance of internet communities that have sections devoted to providing advice to beginning piano players. If you don’t happen to see a line of questioning that you think will help your situation, pose the question yourself and let the advice of experienced piano players come to you.
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