It’s no secret that we absolutely love the piano, not only from a musical sense, but also from a people perspective. It’s an instrument that brings with it a plethora of both achievement and reward and as such, when you learn the piano, you learn more than just music.
Today we’re going to explore skills that learning the piano can bring as well as a number of life lessons that it helps teach so whether you, your children or even your family or friends are looking to learn the piano, you are aware of the kinds of skills that are also developing in the background.
So without any more delay, let’s jump into the kinds of skills that learning the piano can teach you!
Appreciation For Music
Let’s start with the most apparent skills, a deeper appreciation and understanding of music theory and composition. Musicality is inherently a huge part of learning the piano and as your skills develop, so too does your understanding of technique, expression and musical theory.
When you come across a particularly difficult passage or perhaps listen to a new piece for the first time your trained ears and fingers will be able to appreciate the complexity of the piece and understand the requirements that make the piece special, building a far deeper connection with music in all its forms as well as artist appreciation.
This connection also helps many pianists build a deeper connection with the music they play, we’ve written about this before in our guide to adding more expression into your play and also what to think about when playing the piano, but for some, learning the piano leads to a far more emotional and in some cases, even spiritual connection to the music.
Sharpens Concentration & Improves Memory Capacity
Being able to understand and appreciate the complexities and subtleties of music is something that makes the piano such a great instrument. These subtleties and the ability to interpret a plethora of information and play it as it’s read is what helps the piano be a fantastic tool for increasing concentration. From the slightest, tiniest touch to the most powerful of fortissimo playing, pianists are able to use their enhanced concentration to accurately portray intention into the instrument.
This increased concentration of course extends outside the realm of just piano and can be applied to both work and personal living in other hobbies or activities. Many parents also use the piano as a tool for helping increase concentration for their children during education, making revising as well as understanding of abstract theoretical concepts such as mathematics or physics a little easier to comprehend for some.
The same can be said for improving your memory capacity, as the processing and retaining of information of new music, technique and theoretical understanding increases, so too does your ability to memorise and retain complex information not only in music, but also in education or work.
Offers A New Approach To Problem Solving
Piano is renowned for being an activity that uses both sides of the brain and allows the brain to work in unique ways. As such, this is something that can be extremely useful when it comes to problem solving and being able to visualise less obvious solutions.
In the same way that overcoming a particularly difficult passage of music can be achieved by changing your approach, piano teaches you the same skills of being able to adapt to most situations and create new approaches and ideas for solutions.
This is a brilliantly desired skill for almost any line of works as it allows you to offer new, unique solutions that others might not see as well as being a fantastically useful creative tool when it comes to either composing your own pieces or working with others.
Dedication And Perseverance
Another skill that parents love their children to learn is dedication, perseverance and commitment to anything they throw themselves into. The piano is a fantastic tool for exactly this as it will, without fail, lead to times where the pianist struggles with a particular piece of theory, expression or technique and the only way to overcome this is dedication and the adage of try, try, try again!
Apply this outside the piano and pretty soon you’ll realise that your attitude towards perseverance might be completely changed in both your personal and professional life!
Hand-Eye Coordination
Another skill that many of us want to improve, particularly with age is hand eye coordination and also finger strength. We’ve written before about how piano can impact the likes of arthritis or other conditions many of us struggle with, but the same can also be said for developing hand eye coordination skills of younger learners too.
Being able to play something without having to look at it is a fantastic skill that also extends into the likes of touch typing, crafting and other parts of your daily life.
Social Skills
Perhaps our personal favourite of the entire list! The piano is a beautifully social activity that needs not be an isolated hobby that many feel it is.
There are entire communities out there dedicated to the piano and it is a sensational skill to be able to talk passionately about with other players and musical lovers!
Did we miss a skill? We’d love to hear from you! Get in touch on social media using the #MillersMusic, or if you are looking for more piano advice for buying your first piano, or upgrading your current instrument, contact our experts today!