Better Concerts and Music

Parents normally want their children to be creative and disciplined. Because of this, they encourage their children to learn an instrument. One popular instrument to achieve these desired traits is the piano. Piano, or any other musical instrument, are useful for the brain development of a child.

Teaching a child how to play the piano can be done in several ways. There are now many ways of teaching piano in addition to the traditional teacher-student set-up. You can get help from online piano lessons or have your child learn by ear through listening regularly to piano recordings.

If you have doubts as to the attention span of your child when it comes to long term teaching, then know that there are ways for you to increase it. You can boost your child’s imagination by bringing him/her to piano musical events, or by regularly playing piano games and music. This way, you can help your kid build that motivation to learn piano.

The basic techniques your child should know when playing the piano are having proper hand positioning, correct posture, and having the ability to read music. They all help in the development of a child’s brain towards creativity and higher intellect. Learning piano is quite hard, so make sure your child is truly interested to commit.

When getting started, try to familiarize the child with the keys. Explain to your child that the black keys are special and the white keys are ordinary notes. Since the black keys won’t be frequently used, start your piano lessons with simple instructions and proper hand position and posture.

Sitting up straight while slightly leaning forward is the proper playing posture. You should also show your child how to relax the fingers by curling up the thumb to be in line with the rest of the fingers.

The next technique is teaching the child the basic scales. The first scale you should teach is the C, which is located at the left portion of two black keys. After which, you can teach your child proper hand positioning. Start with the thumb position on the white keys, then the index finger position, followed by the middle finger position. Repeat until the next C is reached. This is found to be the most effective way to practice finger positioning. Do not do music sheets at this time. Instead, let your child play the piano by ear by listening to some popular TV show theme songs.

Reading music sheets is not easy to a child so careful planning of lessons is called for. It is good that there are many piano lessons recorded on DVDs which are designed to hold the attention of children. The child will progress from the basics to more advanced piano lessons in no time at all.

Always be involved when teaching your child. Consider it as your bonding moment and make it a scheduled home activity. If you seriously want your child to learn to play the piano, then take an active part in the teaching process. This way, as your child grows, he will remember all your sacrifices and give his best all the way.

Today, you would see kids playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band or maybe listening to Justin Bieber. When they become teens they either become fans of metal rock or hip-hop. As parents, we consider contemporary music as noise and we begin to ask, “What happened to classical music?”

All the finger work kids do these days land on their computer keyboard or console joysticks. Their eyes are deteriorating because of immense bright lights and sound effects that bust ear drums. In the 50′s and 60′s, kids survived without the Nintendo Wii’s or the X-Box 360′s. They are either into sports or indoors playing a musical instrument.

What you might be surprised to know is that a household usually has one piano stowed somewhere. If you have an antique piano lying in the garage, we can put it to good use and let our kids play during their piano lessons. You don’t have to spend that much in restoring a piano or even buying a new one. Gaming consoles lose value once a new one comes out, so consider buying a piano as a lifetime investment.

Sophistication is not inborn, it is usually influenced. Beethoven exhibited his genius by composing complex musical pieces when he was still very young. His gift was apparent but was developed more because of his father’s encouragement. Even if you are a parent who does not know how to play the piano but want your kid to play one; you can point your child in the right direction by hiring a good piano teacher. Piano instructors are good mentors who could rub-off a little elegance to your children.

After one summer, you can see yourself watching a talent show that would put your child on the spotlight. Your child might not get the chance to play in front of royalty, but if he can play on any stage, that is already a great achievement for him.

When your kids become teens, they could probably end up liking contemporary music. Rock music or even hip-hop can sometimes played in the piano. Look at Alicia Keys, an R&B sensation who used the piano as a platform to demonstrate feel-good music. Teenagers can also learn how to release stress and anxiety by venting all their frustrations through piano lessons. Piano pieces express feelings through harmonies and soaring notes.

Stage fright is another that seems to disappear when kids can play the piano. In the future, when they make other presentations aside from playing the piano, they will exude confidence. Self respect and appreciation are just two of the valuable things your kids will learn while playing the piano. Gaming devices come and go. Technology becomes obsolete in only a short period of time. But the benchmark of classical music will be embedded in the child for a lifetime.

Use an old piano or buy a new one. With their skills as pianists, children will have a big psychological advantage over other kids. Getting children piano lessons is the perfect long term investment that can be passed from generation to generation.

Children, though they may look fragile and vulnerable, are also very adaptive to new skills and talents taught to them. This is why many parents have their children learn different talents while they are still young. Some parents enroll their kids to ballet, music, art and martial arts classes among others. Moreover, aside from acquiring the particular talent children learn in their classes, they also get a bunch of other advantages they can use with other activities. For example, in children piano lesson, children do not just learn how to play the instrument; they even obtain positive characteristics and abilities as well.

The primary, and probably the most important benefit children can get from learning children piano lessons is helping the kids to achieve more in their academic skills. Many researches prove that children who are engaged in learning at least one musical instrument, do very well with spatial cognitive and standard tests. They can also comprehend mathematics better, especially those problems and operations that relate to ratios and fractions.

Furthermore, a study by Dr. Frances Rauscher of University of Wisconsin and Gordon Shaw of University of California found out that preschoolers who were engaged in piano lessons got 34% higher scores in spatial-temporal reasoning exams, compared to their classmates who were not engaged in any musical lessons.

Aside from being better in academic performances, learning the piano also helps kids gain self-esteem. Mastering a song takes a lot of dedication and hard work, so if a child masters a song and is able to perform it in front of a crowd, he would feel a sense of accomplishment. This results in increased self-esteem and better people skills and relationships. Piano lessons somehow also give the children a proper perspective in life.

Body coordination, especially with the eye and hand, is another skill that kids acquire with the continuous learning of the musical instrument. There is more to that because children who play the piano have increased motor skills since they utilize both hands in playing the instrument. Accumulation of these skills results in the child’s improved body dexterity and complex mind processes.

Plus, they obtain a much more well developed mind concentration powers. This is acquired through music reading done by kids as they learn to memorize the piece and continue with their practice. Music reading is a good way to teach these kids how to think artistically and decisively.

Another important advantage that children get from learning and playing the piano is that they become well- rounded. They will acquire more knowledge beyond those they learn in school. Learning about the masters like Bach and Mozart, is one good example of this. Moreover, they learn to appreciate these things as they go on with their children piano lessons and might even apply their learning in real life.