Playing piano is a lot of fun for many people. However, this is more than just a great hobby. Practicing your instrument encourages your brain to run at full speed. It also activates many areas of your brain, bringing about positive long-term effects. These are only a few of the many reasons why you should consider playing piano. There are many other great reasons as well.
It Enhances Coordination
Pianists have better independent coordination because they’ve trained their hands to execute completely different movements. This requires your brain to tell each hand what to do independently, which helps stimulate the different areas of your brain too. Additionally, by reading sheet music you’re improving your hand-eye coordination.
It Increases Your Listening Skills
You must listen carefully if you want to play a song correctly. By remembering how it should sound you can then correct any mistakes you make. Since you probably weren’t born with an absolute pitch, you must practice honing this skill. Initially you should do so by humming before playing piano. As you work on these listening skills your verbal memory will improve, which is why many pianists find it easy to recognize different voices in a noisy environment.
It Improves Your Reading Skills
Notes on sheet music are similar to letters in words since both must be “decoded” and strung together to create something sensical. This is why pianists are known to have better language-reading skills – something proven by the Psychology of Music journal.
It Enhances Your Language Skills
Learning a foreign language is also similar to reading sheet music. Both must be translated. The only difference is you’re translating sheet music into hand movements. Nevertheless, studies have shown that children who learn to read sheet music do better when they’re learning a foreign language. This is something that even adults can benefit from – maybe not by nearly as much though.
Some believe that these enhanced language skills are closely related to a musician’s improved listening skills. This is because when you’re playing piano makes it easier for you to pick up a foreign language’s melody and distinguish where something begins and where it ends.
It Improves Your Math Abilities
Many people don’t realize that things like reading music, understanding notes, counting rhythms, and making sense of music theory are all based on math. With this in mind some researchers have conducted studies through which they’ve been able to demonstrate that students who learn how to play the piano will also do better on math tests than students who don’t learn to play any instrument at all. Of course, having your child learn to play an instrument will be much more fun for them than if you were to try to entertain them with a math quiz.
Conclusion
While you may not become the next Albert Einstein, your brain will definitely benefit from learning to play the piano. If you’re interested in adding these benefits to your life, maybe it’s time you start playing piano. To select the perfect piano for you, make sure you visit Dave’s Piano Showroom today.
Picture Credit: RoAll