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How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children

I'm Cynthia Marie VanLandingham, piano teacher and author of Piano Bears Musical Storybooks.  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 of how children learn through music that I’ve found is from Donald Kroodsma’s book "The Singing Life of Birds." Every songbird can be identified by the unique song it sings, but a baby bird has to be taught by its parents to sing the family song. Baby birds, like humans, just ‘babble’ at first. Mother birds sing the family song over and over to the baby birds as they try to repeat it back. At first, the baby birds are only able to sing back one or two notes, but they gradually learn to sing the whole song. And birds with two voice boxes even learn to sing their own harmony parts! Once baby birds learn the family song, they can start developing their very own songs. Similarly, I encourage students to compose their own music after developing needed skills. In my experience, young children in piano are 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 show that kids can most easily learn new languages when they start at a young age. When children begin piano lessons at a young age, they're developing the very same learning processes needed to accomplish language arts skills, like reading.  At lessons, students learn to follow directions, scan written materials, think critically, create solutions and translate writing into action. As they play, children look at each note, measure and phrase to interpret the music, so that it makes sense.  Many children (including my own sons) have become much better readers after starting piano lessons, as they enjoyed reading the lyrics.  Just like the baby songbirds, they wanted to sing the new songs they were learning to play.  Further more, playing the piano involves an interplay of both right and left brain activity that stimulates neural development in children.

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

Piano lessons help children stay focused as they work to achieve new learning goals.  Each piece of music students are assigned requires a variation of specific skills and playing habits. To achieve their goals, students must stay focused on the music, studying each note, measure and phrase to learn how to play the song from beginning to end. In doing so, they're thinking critically and creatively as they consider how to make the music come to life. This effort aids children in developing effective focusing, thinking, and studying habits that become natural over time. This is important, because practicing good habits that match our goals is a model for bringing dreams life!

4. Piano lessons help children develop courage.

It takes courage to face challenges without letting our anxiety and worries get the best of us. Piano lessons help students become accustomed to accepting challenges such as learning a difficult song or performing in front of teachers, friends, and families at recitals. The challenge of learning to play the piano helps kids understand the importance of keeping a positive perspective 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 practice at this!

5. Piano lessons teach children to persevere.

A key part of accomplishing anything difficult is to not give up easily. As children grow, playing piano teaches them to try and then try again if they don’t initially succeed. However, as Yoda explained to Luke Skywalker, the objective isn’t just trying itself, but accomplishing the desired goal -- "Do or do not, there is no try!" Piano lessons teach students how to adjust their expectations if they can’t initially master a tough song or skills, and to tackle these big goals by taking small incremental steps. In the end, just like the baby songbirds that eventually learn to sing, students learn that they can accomplish great things and reach their dreams through careful and consistent effort.

In addition to my top five, here is a Neurological Research Paper showing that piano lessons for young children significantly improves long-term spatial-reasoning skills needed for transforming mental images, as required for higher brain functions such as chess, mathematics and engineering.'

Also, new research by Northwestern University Professor Nina Kraus shows that children who study music for serveral years have improved language skills.  (See video on Youtube)

Best wishes,
Cynthia Marie VanLandingham

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Piano Lessons - Group or Private?

As well as building a fun life-long skill, piano lessons encourage creative thinking, develop math and reading skills, and improve students' overall educational progress. As a result, over six million children in the United States take piano lessons! One of the choices parents have when their children begin lessons is whether to enroll their son or daughter in private lessons or in group lessons. Below are some common questions parents ask when making this important decision.

QUESTION:
What is the difference between private and group lessons?

ANSWER:
Private lessons are usually thirty minutes in length. These individual lessons provide a high degree of one-on-one instruction. I recommend private lessons for young students ages 5 to 7. Group piano lessons are longer, generally 45-minutes to an hour in length, and consist of two to four students. During group lessons students play digital pianos or keyboards with headphones and receive both individual and group instruction. In group lessons students are introduced to new skills and given individual playing assignments. The teacher rotates among the students throughout the lesson to check on their progress and provide additional instruction.

QUESTION:
Don't children learn more in a private lesson?

ANSWER:
Not necessarily, and it depends very much on the student. Some children thrive with individual instruction and progress faster than the teacher can introduce new music. They even go on to learn other pieces and purchase additional music on their own. The challenge here is simply getting the student to incorporate the teacher's instructions on technique, etc. into their playing. Each week these independent learners come to class to show their teacher all the songs they have learned to play that week. Wouldn't it be great if all students were such independent learners? Can teachers and parents encourage students to become more independent learners? Absolutely!

Group lessons build confidence and help children in piano develop independent learning skills. Why? Because private lessons can often create a dependence on the teacher that students have a hard time overcoming, as many children grow to believe they cannot learn on their own without their piano teacher repeatedly showing them every new thing. Group lessons create a fun and supportive environment where students learn to take ownership of their progress and have confidence in their abilities. These lessons are a great way for children to learn, and many children learn much faster in a group setting than in individual lessons. Students in group lessons enjoy learning both from the teacher's instruction and from other students. It's beneficial for kids to know that all piano students have the same challenges to work through.

I encourage most beginning students who are eight years of age or older to start out in small-group lessons. However, I have found that private lessons typically work best for two groups of students. First, they can provide a solid learning foundation to very young students (ages 5 to 7) who need one-on-one instruction to get off to a great start. When children get a little older and have the basics, they can move into a group lesson. Second, private lessons are appropriate for late intermediate to advanced students who are looking to apply music theory and advanced playing techniques requiring intense instruction and dedicated home study.

QUESTION:
Can't group lessons be intimidating for students due to peer pressure and competition?

ANSWER:
While parents may understandably be concerned that group lessons create peer pressure and competition, group lessons actually help students feel more independent and more confident in piano. In group lessons students play the pieces they've just had instruction on before they leave the lesson, which helps them feel secure about playing their songs at home. As students often play their songs for each other during lessons, it also helps avoid the performance anxiety students can experience at recitals. Plus, students generally find that working together with other students increases creativity and fun. Over time, experience has shown that most children learn more in small-group lessons because they encourage independence and build confidence, which is not only a strong foundation for success in piano lessons but in many other areas of their lives as well.

Now you have all the information you need to make this important decision.  For information on the benefits of piano lessons, read my earlier post, How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children.

Best Wishes,
Cynthia Marie VanLandingham