The main benefits of playing the piano
There are a host of benefits associated with playing the piano. Whether you dream of one day becoming a professional or simply regard it as a hobby, piano-playing can improve your mental and physical health in a variety of ways. If you’re looking for new ways to unwind and relieve stress, boost your concentration and improve the performance of your brain, playing the piano can deliver the results that you require.
The piano is widely thought to have been invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Italy around 1689-1701. He was a professional harpsichord maker employed as the Keeper of the Instruments by Ferdinando de’ Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany. Three of the pianos that he made are still in existence today and were manufactured in the 1720s. The accidental keys were white and the natural ones were black until his friend Sebastian LeBlanc suggested that the colours should be swapped around.
The Broadwood firm played a pivotal role in the evolution of the instrument. In 1777, the firm designed a piano in a harpsichord case. As the years went by, the instruments produced by Broadwood became bigger, more powerful and better constructed. The upright piano as we know it today was first invented in the 1780s by Johann Schmidt before Thomas Loud adapted its design, making the strings diagonal. Let’s take a look at some of the main benefits of playing the piano right now.
One great reason for playing the piano is to relieve stress. Playing the piano can help you reduce your blood pressure and lift your mood substantially. Mastering new compositions on the piano can give you a valuable sense of well-being, and even just a few moments with your instrument can help you feel more relaxed.
When you play the piano, you use both of your hands. This can seem tricky initially, but split concentration can become second nature to you once you have been playing for some time. The more adept you become at co-ordinating your hands and your eyes, the better your concentration becomes. This means piano-playing is ideal for those wishing to become mentally sharper. Music is known for stimulating the brain, and playing a musical instrument can help you vastly improve your neural connections, leading to better mental performance in other areas of your life.
Piano-playing is also associated with boosting language skills. It’s said that piano-players have excellent abilities when it comes to making sense of the sound patterns of other languages. Playing the piano will also help you boost the strength of your hand muscles and improve dexterity. The activity offers enormous benefits to children, helping them improve their vocabulary due to the way they hear more words than kids that do not learn music.
Many studies have suggested that children who undergo piano lessons excel in the classroom, particularly in subjects such as mathematics. Playing the piano can even boost the production of human growth hormones. HGH can help reduce aches and pains, which is why piano-playing is often taken up by older people. A University of Miami study showed that people taking keyboard lessons had substantially higher HGH levels than people not taking them.
Playing the piano can also help us become more creative. One study showed that musicians use divergent thinking, which means using both sides of the brain. Those who play the piano tend to have excellent problem-solving and creative-thinking abilities. Learning to play can also help you react better to successes and disappointments, helping you to cope with and respond to criticism and enabling you to remain focused and determined even when things aren’t going too well. You will almost certainly experience some disappointment as you master the instrument, but the positive outlook you’ll be encouraged to maintain by your teacher can be incredibly useful in other parts of your day-to-day life.
Learning to play the piano can also help you boost your social skills, especially when you play with others. You may get the chance to meet like-minded people that you would have never encountered otherwise if you learn the piano, and you can improve your skills by sharing your experiences with others. You may go on to make connections that turn into lifelong friendships and relationships.