Do you dream of starting piano lessons, but worry that you’re too old, or too busy, or lack the discipline to focus and learn to play? These are some of the common excuses that might keep you from learning piano. In this month’s article, Elena Stabile, one our awesome piano instructors, helps us debunk a few of these excuses and myths.
Most everyone has thought about taking piano lessons at one point or another, but there are some pervasive myths and excuses out there that keep new students from taking the first step to actually doing it. We’re going to address these five myths and help you make an informed decision about taking piano lessons.
Myth #1 – “Piano lessons are boring.”
If you’re unfamiliar with piano lessons, you may imagine sitting at the piano with a mean teacher who keeps yelling at you to play the same scale over and over. The truth is, most of us are far from scary! Learning an instrument can be a challenge, but it’s an extremely rewarding challenge. As piano instructors, it’s our job to make that journey as fun as possible! Different instructors have different techniques for accomplishing this, so it’s important to find someone who is a good fit for you and your learning style — and who also understands your goals. At North Main Music, we encourage you to take an introductory lesson as a way to get a sense for an instructor’s teaching style.
Yes, there are some things that everyone needs to learn — such as theory and scales. But learning these things doesn’t have to be boring! What if there’s a way to show you how scales fit into your favorite rock or pop songs? And how knowing music theory will empower you to quickly learn the songs that you love? Even when you’re learning things that seem difficult and less fun, work with your instructor to find creative and practical ways to incorporate this new knowledge. You’ll be amazed at how easy it becomes to learn — and how much fun you’ll have doing it!
Myth #2 – “If you don’t start piano lessons by age 11, it’s too late.”
Over the years, we’ve heard this myth attached to several different ages, and many variations of thought, such as, “You can learn the instrument, but you will never be able to reach your full potential” or “It will be much more difficult to learn if you start after a certain age.”
Age really doesn’t matter. It’s about your passion for music, desire to learn, and your dedication to investing time in practicing and honing your craft. So if you’re an adult or teen who wants to take piano lessons--do it! It’s never too late to start learning the piano.
Myth #3 – “I don’t have time for piano lessons.”
In the 21st century we don’t *have* time, we *make* time for the things that matter most to us. “‘The excuse of ‘not having time to practice’ falls in a similar vein,” said Elena Stabile, North Main Music piano and voice instructor. “People sometimes expect that being a musician means practicing for hours a day. Sure, that's what you'll do if you're a full time concert pianist, but we don't expect that from our students, especially if they do multiple activities or work full time. Teachers help their students find ways to best and most efficiently practice, given the demands of their lives and what they're currently working on. The approach is totally individualized.” Many North Main Music instructors also encourage their students to record their lessons on their smartphone. Doing this provides a great resource for practicing at home because it reinforces what you learned during your lesson.
At North Main Music, we have daytime, evening, and weekend lesson times available and we’re open on most holidays, too. In addition to having a variety of lesson times, many North Main Music instructors also encourage their students to record their lessons on their phone. Doing this provides a great resource to take home and use to reinforce what you learned during your lessons.
Give us a call or send us an email to discuss your schedule and how we can work with you to find a lesson time that fits your life.
Myth #4 – “I can’t start piano lessons because I don’t own a piano.”
The piano is an impressive instrument to behold both visually and musically--especially a baby grand! Although nothing may compare to playing a well-tuned, full-sized piano, the truth is, you don’t have to own a piano to start learning. There are many different types of affordable keyboards that are great to start with, especially for beginners. If the student is a child, we actually recommend taking this route if you don’t already own the piano. Even kids who love music will often want to try a few different instruments before settling on one. Starting with a keyboard will allow them to try piano without having to make a serious financial commitment.
There are many great websites where you can find amazing deals on lightly-used keyboards. If you decide you would rather buy new, most music stores offer these options as well. The bottom line is, no matter what you start learning on, the most important thing is to get started!
Myth #5 – “Trying to play ‘by ear’ can actually hinder your progress in learning piano.”
We’ve heard stories of students being told not to use their “musical ear” to assist them while reading notes. And for some reason, many students feel like they need to choose to be either a “note reader” or an “ear/chord chart player.”
While most people are naturally inclined one way or the other, it’s equally important for a student to develop both skill sets. Some instructors like to incorporate ear training exercises for their students, in addition to note reading. This helps to create versatile, well-balanced musicians who can adapt to any situation. Your ability to hear what music should sound like will also prove extremely valuable in correcting mistakes as you are practicing on your own throughout the week. So to sum things up, playing by ear will definitely not hinder your progress in learning piano. In fact, quite the opposite!
Piano lessons can add great enjoyment to your life, regardless of whether or not you aspire to be a professional musician. If you’ve let piano lesson myths keep you from starting lessons in the past, maybe it’s time cast excuses aside and give it a try! Happy playing!
This article was inspired by and adapted from this article on takelessons.com.
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Meet Elena Stabile, piano and voice instructor at North Main Music
Elena is a professional singer, with a performance background in both voice and piano. She studied at Lawrence University and Conservatory of Music (BA and BM) and the University of Tennessee Knoxville (MM), and got her start teaching during undergrad as a music theory and aural skills teaching assistant and tutor before moving to private voice and piano. Elena's performance experience is primarily in opera and in contemporary classical music; and she also frequently sings in churches as a soloist or as a part of an ensemble. Elena is new to the area--she moved to Nashua in July 2018--and she's very happy to be working at North Main Music. "Working at NMM has provided me with a very positive and supportive teaching environment," said Elena. "I love seeing the growth my students have already experienced in such a short time, and I'm excited to continue working with them and to help them achieve the goals we set out for them when we first started."
Here at North Main Music, we get this question often from prospective students and their parents: should they first learn to strum sweet serenades on the guitar or tickle the ivories? The answer is anything but black and white (insert piano keys pun here.) Piano and guitar are both suitable to most music genres and are equally up to the challenge of accompanying a vocalist. Yet at the same time, these two instruments couldn’t be more different. So, which one is the best fit for you or your child? In an ideal situation, one would get a solid foundation in both piano and guitar in order to know for sure, but we can help make your guess an educated one.
Learning Curves—Guitar v. Piano
The guitar and piano learning curve are not the same. After your first piano lesson, you could very well walk away with a simple tune like ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ under your belt. By contrast, the only thing you’ll walk away with after your first guitar lesson is probably sore fingers. Guitar can be uncomfortable at first. Between the sorta wonky wrist position and the hard-to-press strings,it can take up to two weeks before you’re not shaking out your burning fingers every 5 minutes.
Jump to three months or so from your starting date: With practice, you will have made steady improvement on the piano. You can play a handful of simple songs, but coordinating both your hands is a little like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. It may be a little while before you can comfortably accompany yourself.
After three months on the guitar, your fingers haven’t been getting sore for a while, and you’re equipped with a handful of chords. You can strum, with some confidence, a huge repertoire of basic rock songs, and at least 10 Bob Dylan songs. You’re not shredding, but you could do a campfire proud.
After about a year-and-a-half of diligent practice, piano and guitar start to even out again. You can pound out enough chords in C and G Major to play some of your favorite pop songs on the piano. Maybe you’ve got a sonatina or two under your belt. More intricate passages are still tricky and require time and effort. They always will.
After a year-and-a-half of furious practice on the guitar, you’re kind of bored with strumming, and you’ve moved on to lead guitar passages and fingerstyle. That can keep you busy for, oh, the next ten years! Intermediate to advanced guitar progresses in much the same way as intermediate to advanced piano.
Portability and Space
This pro v. con is a no-brainer. Hands down, a guitar is more portable and space-effective than a piano. Get an acoustic guitar, and you can take it almost anywhere. Get a piano, and you can barely take it up the stairs (with an army of burly gym rats). You can, of course, remedy the portability problem by getting a keyboard, but you’ll still always need a power source. This one goes to the guitars.
Start-up Costs
While it may be true that guitars are less expensive than pianos, a beginner guitar costs about as much as a beginner keyboard, and really, a keyboard is all you need when you first start piano lessons. Since there’s no need to break the bank buying the best equipment in the beginning, both instruments get a point for this topic.
Theory and Ear Training
It can be easier to conceptualize melodies on the linear piano than on the nonlinear guitar. What does linear vs. non-linear mean? There is only one way to play each unique note or frequency on a piano. There’s only one middle-C, one C above middle C, etc. On the other hand, the guitar has around six ways of playing the very same pitch. When playing by ear on a piano, if pitch in a melody increases, your hand necessarily moves to the right. When playing by ear on a guitar, if the pitch in a melody increases, your hand might move toward the body of the guitar or to an entirely different string.
Now one for the guitars: Some people find it somewhat easier to conceptualize harmonies and chords on a guitar than on a piano. This is because the piano is divided in a somewhat arbitrary way with black keys. It is fairly easy to understand music theory in the context of one key (C-Major) on the piano, but the way the keys are arranged obfuscates the fact that harmonic progressions are simply distances and relationships between chords. It’s easier to demonstrate these relationships with chord shapes on the guitar.
Accompaniment and Vocal Type
Piano and guitar are both quintessential for vocal accompaniment, but they lend themselves to different types of voices. Because they are loud and bright, pianos can sometimes drown out the beautiful mellower types of voices. Pianos sound great with voices that might be described as soulful, clear, salient, bright, or virtuosic. Guitars can accompany any type of voice, but acoustic guitars complement voices that might be described as darker, soothing, airy, or “folksy.”
So, there you have it. We hope that this Guitar v. Piano list gives you some food for thought as to which instrument might be suit your musical interests and current lifestyle. If you have further questions, you are always welcome to contact us at 603-505-4282 or email us at northmainmusic@gmail.com.
Inspired by and adapted from this article on mollymusic.org.
Are you considering enrolling your child in piano lessons? In this month’s blog post, we’ve put together a list of 10 benefits to starting piano lessons for kids. Here at North Main Music, it never ceases to amaze us when we see the positive impact that piano lessons have on kids.
If you’re considering piano lessons for your child, here are 10 great things that you can expect to see as your child moves forward on his or her musical journey.
1. Your child will do better in school
Research shows that children who study music do better on standardized testing and in school overall. After all, music and math are very much intertwined.
2. Your child will become more disciplined
Practicing everyday teaches kids discipline as well as patience. Oftentimes, the discipline it takes to learn the piano carries over into other areas of life, such as school or sports activities.
3. Your child will gain confidence
Learning to accept constructive criticism from a music instructor will help your child build self-confidence. What’s more, being able to do something special, like playing the piano, helps kids feel good about themselves.
4. Your child will become more outgoing
Of course, participating in student concerts and group programs, such as being in one of our bands, helps kids feel less self-conscious. However, talking one-on-one with a teacher also helps children feel more comfortable speaking with others.
5. Your child will make new friends
At North Main Music, we pride ourselves on having a true music community, where many of our students become friends with one another within and outside of our music studio. At NMM, your child can make friends with other music students by participating in one of our group programs, accompanying another student in a semi-annual concert performance, or by attending one of our other many activities and classes throughout the year.
6. Your child will develop a “Musical Ear”
Studying music makes kids into musicians. This applies to all areas of music, not just the piano. Many of our students also participate in their school’s or town’s band, orchestra, chorus, or musical theater.
7. Your child will learn to read music
Reading music is a skill most people don’t have. People who can read the treble and bass clefs required for piano playing can read music for almost any instrument.
8. Your child will gain a new hobby
Social media, TV, and video games are fun for kids, but playing the piano is much better for young minds.
9. Your child will improve concentration
Concentration is something one must build. At first, your child may only be able to concentrate for 10 minutes, but as he or she advances and the music becomes more difficult he or she will learn to concentrate for an hour or more at a time.
10. Your child will learn to handle stress better
It is a well-known fact that playing music reduces stress. Today’s kids have higher stress levels than previous generations--playing an instrument can be a positive way to deal with life’s difficult moments.
The bottom line is that piano lessons are great for children. There are so many benefits to learning the piano--from developing life skills to creating a lifetime of memories. If you’re a piano parent congratulations, you are giving your child a wonderful gift! If your child is interested in taking piano lessons, give us a call at 603-505-4282 or email us at NorthMainMusic@gmail.com.
This article was inspired by and adapted from this article on takelessons.com.
