Music. Since the beginning of time, music has been an important part of being human. We tell stories through music. We share ideas. We celebrate. We relax. Without music in our lives, life simply wouldn’t be as we know it today.
And while everyone seems to be enjoying their own style of music 24/7 as they walk around with earbuds in, there is something to be said about pulling the earbuds out and making music on your own. Nothing is more satisfying or more therapeutic than creating music all around you. And nothing makes it more possible than playing the piano.
Continuous studies show that playing the piano offers a wealth of benefits: from physical and intellectual, to social and emotional. It doesn’t matter if you are 5 or 95, anyone can sit down, put their hands on the keyboard, and instantly feel music as they play.
If you want to start your young child on the road to successful school years, before they hit the books, have them “hit” the piano instead. Piano lessons and piano practice helps develop our bodies and improves fine motor skills. It increases our creativity and can provide ways to stay calm and focused no matter what challenges lie before us. And it has also been shown that playing the piano regularly through childhood has been linked to better math scores and increased averages on tests like the SAT.
There is also increased evidence that psychological benefits continue no matter what age you play. A recent study has shown that piano practicing activates the cerebellum, and therefore can provide benefits to stroke victims as they are regaining language and fine motor skills. And studies on the elderly learning how to play for the first time show increases in levels of the human growth hormone, which causes slowing in aging characteristics such as osteoporosis, energy levels, wrinkling, muscle mass, and aches and pains.
And because piano playing has an almost meditative quality to it, piano practicing can also benefit in physical effects such as reducing anxiety, heart and respiratory rates, reducing cardiac complications, lowering blood pressure, and increased immune responses. When people play the piano on a regular basis, they experience less stress, loneliness and depression.
All great reasons to make playing the piano a part of your regular routine.
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