March 26th 2017, Mother's Day
Growing up in a family with a piano teacher (mum), world-class violinist (uncle) and orchestra manager (grand dad), it was obvious that taking music lessons as a young girl would be the most natural thing for me. At that time it didn’t dawn on me to say thank you to my mum for taking me to piano lessons. But I sure am grateful now! I’ll tell you why I’m thankful for my piano lessons, and why your child is too.
1. Piano lessons made me smarter, they really did
Because of my music lessons, I’ll probably did better in school and college, especially when it came to languages. Even though I was never good in maths or physics, when it came to languages, social studies and adapting into new environment (I lived in four different countries with three different languages between the age of 11-27), I learnt a new language with ease. It is proven that the fine musical pitch which musicians develop over the course of learning an instrument helps to improve their intonation in a spoken language and contributes to accent reduction.
2. Piano lessons taught me to stick with something
It takes a long time and a lot of work to learn to play well. I am learning to persevere. Thanks for not letting me quit even when I wanted to, mum. I remember those days in summer when other kids ran out to play on the street the whole day straight in the morning while I was practising piano. My parents and me had an agreement that for every hour of piano practise I could do one hour of whatever I wanted. By the end of summer holidays I was always prepared for the upcoming school concerts and exams first and had plenty of time to polish on my performance.
3. Playing piano makes me feel special
Many of my friends think it’s awesome that I can play. Having something unique I can do helps me feel confident. Being a pianist you always have your personal wedding gift in your fingers, and can use any hotel lobby to impress your friends.
4. Playing piano helps me feel better when I'm stressed
Some people do meditation to unwind from a stressful day, some read or watch TV. I play piano. Not only gives it my body some exercise (playing one hour piano burns ca 400 kcal), it is also food for my soul. Playing Bach is like meditation, playing Chopin and Rachmaninov is physically and emotionally demanding but rewarding. Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine I'm at the seaside when playing Reverie by Debussy, or I'm on Times Square when playing Gershwin. I can beam myself into my dream destinations by sitting at my piano at home - can it get any better?
5. Music helps me make friends
I can join in with other kids who love music. Going to music camps or workshops with my friends was always the highlight of my school year. Playing music with my friends is fun and knowing how to play the piano means that I can always find a music group to join. In fact, my friends who sing and play instruments usually seek me out to play along with them.
6. Being a pianist is a lifelong, marketable skill
Being able to play well, I always have the piano to fall back on. In fact, when I was a student, I earned some extra cash for playing piano in hotels or helping out our church organist. After college I started earning money by teaching, accompanying others and finally getting around the world by playing concerts on cruise ships. All that I would not be able to do was it not my parents encouraging me to practise when I was a child.
7. Playing an instrument diminishes the risk of getting dementia and Alzheimers
A study based on twins found that those who were able to make music had a one-third lower risk of developing the condition. Read the full article by clicking here.
8. My piano teacher has taught me so much about life
I send a birthday and Christmas card to my piano teacher every year. My teacher was my authority in my teens when I rebelled against my parents, had an open ear when I felt heart broken and genuinely cared about me. I will never forget the positive impact my teacher has had on me and my life. Thanks for making the right choice with my teacher Mum!
9. Being a pianist showed me how to deal with success of failure
Winning a music competition or receiving applause after a successful concert feels great, a bad performance and criticism from your teacher not so much. Showing gratitude and taking criticism and learn from it made me overall a stronger person.
10. Playing an instrument gave me more time with my parents
Going to piano lessons, driving together to music competitions, practise together, spending time before going on stage - thank you, Mum, for always taking time for me despite being a working mother yourself. All the hours of controlling my scales and arpeggios, helping with sight-reading, explaining the classical Sonata-form - it all paid off at the end! THANK YOU, MUM!
Growing up in a family with a piano teacher (mum), world-class violinist (uncle) and orchestra manager (grand dad), it was obvious that taking music lessons as a young girl would be the most natural thing for me. At that time it didn’t dawn on me to say thank you to my mum for taking me to piano lessons. But I sure am grateful now! I’ll tell you why I’m thankful for my piano lessons, and why your child is too.
1. Piano lessons made me smarter, they really did
Because of my music lessons, I’ll probably did better in school and college, especially when it came to languages. Even though I was never good in maths or physics, when it came to languages, social studies and adapting into new environment (I lived in four different countries with three different languages between the age of 11-27), I learnt a new language with ease. It is proven that the fine musical pitch which musicians develop over the course of learning an instrument helps to improve their intonation in a spoken language and contributes to accent reduction.
2. Piano lessons taught me to stick with something
It takes a long time and a lot of work to learn to play well. I am learning to persevere. Thanks for not letting me quit even when I wanted to, mum. I remember those days in summer when other kids ran out to play on the street the whole day straight in the morning while I was practising piano. My parents and me had an agreement that for every hour of piano practise I could do one hour of whatever I wanted. By the end of summer holidays I was always prepared for the upcoming school concerts and exams first and had plenty of time to polish on my performance.
3. Playing piano makes me feel special
Many of my friends think it’s awesome that I can play. Having something unique I can do helps me feel confident. Being a pianist you always have your personal wedding gift in your fingers, and can use any hotel lobby to impress your friends.
4. Playing piano helps me feel better when I'm stressed
Some people do meditation to unwind from a stressful day, some read or watch TV. I play piano. Not only gives it my body some exercise (playing one hour piano burns ca 400 kcal), it is also food for my soul. Playing Bach is like meditation, playing Chopin and Rachmaninov is physically and emotionally demanding but rewarding. Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine I'm at the seaside when playing Reverie by Debussy, or I'm on Times Square when playing Gershwin. I can beam myself into my dream destinations by sitting at my piano at home - can it get any better?
5. Music helps me make friends
I can join in with other kids who love music. Going to music camps or workshops with my friends was always the highlight of my school year. Playing music with my friends is fun and knowing how to play the piano means that I can always find a music group to join. In fact, my friends who sing and play instruments usually seek me out to play along with them.
6. Being a pianist is a lifelong, marketable skill
Being able to play well, I always have the piano to fall back on. In fact, when I was a student, I earned some extra cash for playing piano in hotels or helping out our church organist. After college I started earning money by teaching, accompanying others and finally getting around the world by playing concerts on cruise ships. All that I would not be able to do was it not my parents encouraging me to practise when I was a child.
7. Playing an instrument diminishes the risk of getting dementia and Alzheimers
A study based on twins found that those who were able to make music had a one-third lower risk of developing the condition. Read the full article by clicking here.
8. My piano teacher has taught me so much about life
I send a birthday and Christmas card to my piano teacher every year. My teacher was my authority in my teens when I rebelled against my parents, had an open ear when I felt heart broken and genuinely cared about me. I will never forget the positive impact my teacher has had on me and my life. Thanks for making the right choice with my teacher Mum!
9. Being a pianist showed me how to deal with success of failure
Winning a music competition or receiving applause after a successful concert feels great, a bad performance and criticism from your teacher not so much. Showing gratitude and taking criticism and learn from it made me overall a stronger person.
10. Playing an instrument gave me more time with my parents
Going to piano lessons, driving together to music competitions, practise together, spending time before going on stage - thank you, Mum, for always taking time for me despite being a working mother yourself. All the hours of controlling my scales and arpeggios, helping with sight-reading, explaining the classical Sonata-form - it all paid off at the end! THANK YOU, MUM!
RSS Feed