Music Information |
|
How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children
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 have shown that kids can most easily learn new languages when they start at a young age. Piano lessons help children develop the very same skills needed to accomplish language arts, like reading. In piano, students learn how 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 make the music come to life. Many children (including my own sons) have become much better readers after starting piano lessons. Further, piano lessons involves an interplay of both right and left brain activity that stimulates neural development. 3. Piano lessons help children learn how to stay focused and achieve goals. Piano lessons help children set specific goals and then work towards reaching these goals. Each new piece of music a student learns requires a specific set of skills and playing 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. In doing this students learn to think critically and creatively as they decide how to make the music come to life. Staying focused over time develops good study habits that become natural. This is important because learning to practice good habits that match their goals shows children how to make their dreams come to 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 learn to accept challenges such as learning a difficult song, as well as to perform pieces in front of teachers, friends, and families at recitals. Lessons also help kids learn 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 not to give up easily. As children grow, piano lessons teach kids 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. Copyright 2005, Cynthia Marie VanLandingham Cynthia VanLandingham is the owner of TallyPiano & Keyboard Studio in Tallahassee, Florida where she has been teaching piano for 20 years. She is a member of the American College of Musicians, the National Guild of Piano Teachers, a graduate of the Florida State University College of Education, and President of TallyPiano Enterprises, LLC. You can visit her website and download her original compositions free at http://www.tallypiano.com Cynthia is also an author of a series of exciting books for children, with the mission of Using Music, Art, Science and Literature to Help Children Achieve their Dreams. Her illustrated series for piano students is called, Little Bear's Piano Adventures!TM These stories take young piano students on a Musical Adventure to find out what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that children can easily understand. For more information about these wonderful books E-mail Cynthia at cindy@tallypiano.com, where you can also subscribe to her free internet newsletter, Piano Matters! TallyPiano Studio: (850) 386-2425
MORE RESOURCES: Will Country Welcome Beyoncé? That's the Wrong Question. The New York Times KORN Is 'Passionately And Intensely Working On New Music': 'It's The Heaviest Stuff' We've Done 'In Years' BLABBERMOUTH.NET Review | At two historically informed concerts, refreshing takes on early music The Washington Post The Retro Music Genre That Will Change Your Life The New York Times Opinion | See music heroes before they die The Washington Post The Record Review Logs On: YouTubers as Music Critics | Arts Harvard Crimson Music Tonight: Thursday, March 28 North Coast Journal Summertime vibes begin in Spartanburg with Music on Main in April Spartanburg Herald Journal Big Ears 2024: Getting Lost in the Music artsknoxville.com Country Music Legend Dead at 80 Men's Journal “When it Comes to Music in Ads, There's no Substitute for the Real Deal” | LBBOnline Little Black Book - LBBonline 5 Classical Music Albums You Can Listen to Right Now The New York Times The Music That Made Us The New York Times Woodland’s Electronic Music Man gets ready to tour with Homegrown Festival performance Northern News Now 'Bach in the Subways:' Psychology professor offers classical music tribute through public performance The Daily Texan Sara Evans Recruits Daughter Audrey for Powerful New 'Pride' Music Video — Watch Now! (Exclusive) PEOPLE Biden's Radio City fundraiser expected to draw $25 million Spectrum News NY1 Music at the Museum in Rindge kicks off March 30 Monadnock Ledger Transcript Movie Review: 'Love at First Sight' has plenty of music about love Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel New music from Beyonce, Taylor Swift among 15 must-hear spring albums Columbia Daily Tribune As The Burney Sisters prepare to leave Columbia, here's how their sound shaped our town Columbia Daily Tribune Album Review – Pat Reedy's “Make It Back Home” - Saving Country Music Limited Entertainment Permit would ease process for live music at smaller Sacramento venues. Business owners ... KCRA Sacramento Stephen Adams, Who Made Yale Music School Tuition-Free, Dies at 86 The New York Times Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas celebrates 10 years as a live music mecca Las Vegas Weekly Cocoa's picks: Poetry, plays and the music of Mali Cascadia Daily News 15 April concerts in Lancaster County, from Carousel Kings to LAUNCH's music festival LNP | LancasterOnline 'X' opera combines music, dancing and tragedy to honor Black history Real Change News The rocking story of how religion crept into popular music – where it remains even today The Conversation Eastertime music Illinois Times Movement and Music for Seniors sponsored by 'To Your Health' Lewiston Sun Journal Brothers In Arms: The Libertines Interviewed | Features Clash Magazine Music column: Remembering the life and music of Vincent Colgan Utica Observer Dispatch Woodland's Electronic Music Man gets ready to tour with Homegrown Festival performance Northern News Now Tzippori Festival to mark stream restoration with music and more The Times of Israel Broadway Nights: A Tribute to the Music of Broadway with the Gulf Coast Symphony is Thursday Cape Coral Breeze Beyoncé Is Bigger Than the Country Music Establishment Texas Monthly The history and future of pop music Daily Nebraskan Reviews | Seán Clancy The Quietus Anticipating 'Cowboy Carter': Country music and exclusion Observer Online Growth of the Terre Haute music scene | Opinion | isustudentmedia.com Indiana Statesman Movement, music for seniors program offered in Bethel Lewiston Sun Journal Primary Wave Music bolsters sync team with new hire and promotions Music Business Worldwide Renowned Musician, Jono Ma, from Sonar Music Hosts SPACE IS THE PLACE at Paramount House | LBBOnline Little Black Book Commentary: Diversity is essential to an effective music history curriculum Ithaca College The Ithacan GC graduate making name for herself in country music News- Graphic Q & A with Sr. Maeve Heaney on her book examining music, theology, doubt Global Sisters Report Musical toy startup Playtime Engineering wants to simplify electronic music making for kids TechCrunch March 28-31 Entertainment Report: Lively arts, music, shows in and around Manchester Manchester Ink Link Trump endorses country music singer's $59.99 'God Bless the USA' Bible with U.S. Constitution WPLG Local 10 P-R Music Review: Musgraves delivers springtime hope with 'Well' Plattsburgh Press Republican Despite friction with neighbors, Cayce electronic music festival grows, this year with Shaq The State What is YouTube Music? Everything you need to know Digital Trends Forget GarageBand — new Google AI tool lets you make music with any instrument you describe and I tried it Tom's Guide Universal Music invests in 'superfan' platform Weverse, as it strikes new 10-year agreement with HYBE Music Business Worldwide Stink Films' Felix Brady Directs Dystopian AI 'Breathe' Music Video for Yeat | LBBOnline Little Black Book - LBBonline |
RELATED ARTICLES
1973 Interview with Paul McCartney - Forming Wings July 6, 1973 Birmingham EnglandSteven: Has it been difficult for you putting together a new band? There would seem to be an extraordinary amount of pressure on you to come up with a group of musicians that could compete with the Beatles.Paul: It was a bit touch and go at the beginning because it was a bit difficult for me to just suddenly develop a new band. Art of the Recording Engineer: From Michael Jackson to Mutant Radio, Matt Forger Speaks Out Interviewed by Scott G (The G-Man)G-Man: When people think of Matt Forger, they usually think of your work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Glen Ballard, and Bruce Swedien, yet when you hand out a CD with examples of your producing, engineering or mixing, it almost always has new and emerging artists, people like Mutant Radio, Laughing With Lulu, The Dharma Bomb, or Fjaere. What's your thinking behind the choice of avoiding the big names?Forger: While my association with those big names was a wonderful experience, it's also in the past. How to Get Past Creative Blocks When I first began playing the piano and improvising, there were times when the music just wouldn't flow. No matter what I did, I couldn't make it go any further. How To Play The Violin This article gives the essential basics for how to play the violin. Generally violins are quite commonly available instruments and it is reasonably easy to rent or buy a violin. Is the Record Album Dead? Not by a Long Shot In 1982, Sony and Philips introduced the compact disc, a digital music playback format that used a laser to read the disc. The compact disc was expected to quickly replace the long play record album (LP) that Columbia had introduced in 1949. How To Play Guitar Like a Pro! Having taught the guitar for many years, I see the majority of beginners experiencing the same problems and making the same mistakes over and over again in their quest to learn how to play guitar. It's my job to steer them through these problem areas. New Age Piano Tricks One of the things that makes New Age piano so enjoyable is that it's easy to get started.One of the "tricks" of the trade is to play an ostinato pattern in the left-hand while the right improvises a melody. Play Piano in the New Age Style It's not what you play, it's how you play it. These words summarize the art of piano playing in general and New Age piano playing in particular. Greg Koch Fender Guitar History The Greg Koch Fender guitar began to take shape all the way back when Greg Koch was in the third grade. Greg cut out cardboard Fender Stratocaster guitars, then Koch used his sisters sewing machine pedal as a wah-wah. Quick and Easy Violin Mute One of the reasons I picked up the violin was because it was easier to travel with than a guitar (not that I haven't found some nice travel guitars, but that's another story). It fits in an airplane overhead and is easy to carry!However, I want to be considerate of the folks in the rooms around me when I'm playing in my hotel room. Review: Coheed and Cambria - Second Stage Turbine Blade Ever wonder what would happen if you mixed the progressive showmanship of Rush with Dashboard Confessional's emotional escapism? Me neither, but Coheed and Cambria has been described as that exact mix-up more times that I'd like to recall. While it's easy to understand the Rush comparison, with lead singer Claudio Sanchez's high-pitched vocal delivery. The History Of Drums - A Journey Of Sound Music and musical instruments are an extremely important part of human history. The use of rhythm and song has long been used to express meaning, and feeling and accompany rituals. The Flower Garden and New Age Piano Music If you've ever looked at a flower garden, not only its beauty may have captivated you, but also its overall arrangement.There may have been some tulips or roses combined with other flowers or plants. Improvising On The Piano: Jazz Musicians Do It -- Why Not Other Styles? Why jazz piano improvisation?Why not gospel piano improvisation?Is it not possible to improvise classical music, or sacred music, or any other kind of music?Bach improvised many of his fugues and inventions while playing organ in church. Many others in all musical styles have improvised within the context of their own persuasion. The Three 8 Mile Battles Three battles at the end of the 8 Mile movie made Jimmy Smith aka B. Rabbit a reputation in the rap arena. How to Make $30,000 with Your Music Before Years End As an independent musician and/or recording artist, if you did *NOT* earn $30,000 (or more) with your music alone last year, let's jump right in and get you started with doing so this year.Again, bear in mind that the main necessary ingredient is "consistency" of every aspect, and on a weekly basis. Dierks Bentley Brings The Heat From Nashville To The North! Dierks Bentley is more than meets the eye, but what does meet the eye is pretty darn hard not to look at. His presence is warm, inviting and you feel like you just sat down with an old friend. Setting Up In-House Retail Sales Now, that you are familiar and likely connected with online music sales sites, such as CD Baby, or combination online/offline retail sites, such as The Orchard, you are probably comfortable in having your music distribution and sales fairly covered.But, what if you could get even more music sales, and even more profitable income?I'm speaking of consigning your product to retail stores, but, with one exception. Liberate your iPod When Akio Morita came up with the idea of the Sony Walkman all of his colleagues at the thought he was completely insane. The general consensus was that people wouldn't want to walk around the streets wearing headphones. Warner Music Executive Payments "In human life, art may arise from almost any activity, and once it does so, it is launched on a long road of exploration, invention, freedom to the limits of extravagance, interference to the point of frustration, finally discipline, controlling constant change and growth." Susanne Langer (1895-1985)CommentaryIn these times of major record label mergers, downsizing, the slashing of label rosters, and thousands of record company jobs being lost over the last three years--not to mention the enormous sea change and seismic shifts that technology has wrought--comes one of the most disturbing reports we have come across. |
home | site map |
© 2006 |