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Piano lessons provide a wide range of benefits to young children. Here are my top five. “

1. Piano lessons help preserve and develop children’s natural creative abilities.

The best analogy for how children learn through music that I have come across is from Donald Kroodsma’s book “The Singing Life of Birds.” Each songbird can be identified by the unique song it sings, but its parents must teach a baby bird to sing the familiar song. Little birds, like humans, simply “babble” at first. The mother birds sing the familiar song over and over to the little birds as they try to repeat it. At first, the little birds can only sing one or two notes, but gradually they learn to sing the whole song. And the birds with two stringers even learn to sing their own harmony parts! Once the birds learn the family song, they can begin to develop their own songs. Similarly, I encourage students to compose their own music after developing the necessary skills. In my experience, toddlers at the piano look a lot like baby songbirds!

2. Piano lessons help children perfect their natural learning processes.

Music is a language and children are programmed to absorb languages. Studies have shown that children can learn new languages ​​more easily when they start at a young age. Piano lessons help children develop the same skills necessary to achieve language arts, such as reading. In piano, students learn to follow directions, scan written materials, think critically, create solutions, and translate writing into action. For example, students must look at each note, measure, and phrase and decide how to play each note to bring the music to life. Many children (including my own children) have become much better readers after starting piano lessons. Additionally, piano lessons involve an interplay of left and right brain activity that stimulates neural development.

3. Piano lessons help children learn how to stay focused and achieve their goals.

Piano lessons help children set specific goals and then work towards them. Each new piece of music a student learns requires a specific set of performance skills and habits. To achieve these goals, students must learn to stay focused and study each note, measure, and phrase to understand how to play the song. By doing this, students learn to think critically and creatively as they decide how to bring music to life. Staying focused over time develops good study habits that become natural. This is important because learning to practice good habits that match your goals shows children how to make their dreams come true.

4. Piano lessons help children develop courage.

It takes courage to face challenges without letting anxiety and worry take over. Piano lessons help students learn to accept challenges such as learning a difficult song, as well as to perform pieces in front of teachers, friends, and families in recitals. The lessons also help children learn the importance of maintaining a positive outlook despite difficulties. Learning to handle uncertainty and stress in a way that minimizes anxiety and maximizes creativity is a valuable life tool. We all need to practice on this!

5. Piano lessons teach children to persevere.

A key part of accomplishing something difficult is not giving up easily. As children get older, piano lessons teach them to try and then try again if they are initially unsuccessful. However, as Yoda explained to Luke Skywalker, the goal is not just to try himself, but to achieve the desired goal: “Do it or not, there is no attempt!” Piano lessons teach students how to adjust their expectations if they cannot initially master a difficult song or skills, and how to tackle these big goals by taking small incremental steps. In the end, like baby songbirds that eventually learn to sing, students learn that they can accomplish great things and achieve their dreams through careful and consistent effort.

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