Jessica Fryer

There are many great reasons to learn the piano. Of course the main outcome of piano lessons is the ability to express oneself musically. This is an important life skill and I can’t emphasise enough how cathartic it is when the words don’t come but I can just sit at the piano and pour out my emotion through my hands! For me, it’s just part of being human and I hate to see people miss out on it.

Music is also a perfectly valid career path too! If your child shows a talent or inclination, why not give him or her the opportunity to try it out and see if it becomes a real passion?

But whatever you do in life, I firmly believe that learning the piano has something to offer to your mind and the way you process information.

Here are some examples.

People who study the piano learn complex mathematical relationships in order to develop an intuitive understanding of what sounds beautiful. This can influence mathematical awareness and ability.

Music is also a very subtle and precise form of communication and can influence the development of strong literacy and communication skills.

Music is also a highly academic field.  Playing a note is a purely physical and very precise action that can induce pleasure, excitement or a number of emotions in a listener.  Musicians are also called on to represent an absent composer through understanding the emotions and events that influenced the composer and determining the motivation for the piece.  Music can therefore strongly develop your reasoning abilities in a unique and powerful way.

The strongest evidence for music’s positive influence on our mental development has been developed in the areas of self-confidence and focus.

Self-confidence develops not just through success in public performance but also through the goal-oriented nature of learning. The classical method presents a challenge: an unknown piece of music. Through perserverence and careful attention to detail this piece is eventually mastered! This is a really wonderful feeling.

The increase in focus comes from the discipline of practice but is also influenced by the music itself. There is no secret that classical music is calming and helps one to focus for several hours after listening – psychologists call it the Mozart effect and musicians’ average examination results are consistent with the Mozart effect.

So I believe that piano lessons are a very powerful way to increase your entire family’s IQ but the most important reason I teach the piano is that it is so wonderful to learn a piece of music; I love to experience it and I love to share it with my students.