From Scratch To Stage: The Benefits and Challenges of Learning The Piano

Starting your piano journey can be daunting, but we all have to start somewhere, right?

Learning any instrument is hard. You know what is harder? Living with the fact of what could have been.

Why live a life of regret where you have the daily opportunity to tame the unknown.

Learning the piano will take time, but will be one of the best decisions you ll ever make.

Here are some benefits as well as challenges you most probably will come across in your piano journey.

The Unwanted Challenges of Learning the Piano

Putting Limitations on Age

Many people’s excuse as to why they can not learn a new instrument is because they are “too old”.

While the majority of professional pianists start taking lessons between the ages 4 and 6, many have only discovered their talents at a later stage in their lives.

Albert Frantz is one of them, where he only started at 17 and went on to become a world class pianist.

Age should not be the reason to limit yourself, no matter how young or old!

The Demand of Discipline

Learning the piano takes time. It will take self-discipline to schedule some time out for practise each day.

This is also where many beginners fall off. They take learning the piano seriously for a few weeks, months, or even a year, but then give up when it becomes too hard.

This is exactly why you need discipline to persevere through seasons where it might not even feel like you are doing anything.

Fear of Mistakes

If you’re a perfectionist or someone who is extremely competitive, another challenge of learning the piano is the mistakes you will inevitably make.

Unfortunately, many see mistakes as failures – which is just not true. Making mistakes is a part of the process.

No professional pianist can earnestly say they have never made mistakes before.

You have to deal with the fact that you will be making a lot of mistakes, especially in the start.

It might be uncomfortable, but not forever! In the end it will be so worth it and you will be happy you embrace your mistakes.

Mentally and Physically Overwhelming

Starting your piano journey can be overwhelming at first. Questions might seem to cloud your mind; like where do you start, what do you do now and so on.

Learning the piano is a goal that keeps on being put off for another time to break the ice.

This is a recurring factor for why people give up before even trying. The best time to start is now. The way you do it is just as simple.

You can start with lessons – whether online or in person – or even use youtube videos as your guide.

There are a lot of resources on media platforms to help you get started.

The Blissful Benefits of Learning The Piano

Boosts Creativity

When learning piano, you are literally teaching your brain to see patterns which helps you to think creatively to solve problems.

It builds verbal memory and increases the number of ideas. This is due to the fact that music activates various parts of the brain that are responsible for creativity.

Learning a new instrument will also help with other aspects of your life where innovative ideas and problem-solving is needed.

Stress Reliever

Playing the piano can do wonders to your anxiety. It lowers the cortisol levels which decreases a person’s anxiety levels.

The piano is an excellent way of ‘venting’ your emotions since it makes it possible to express yourself through the notes you’re playing.

It is scientifically found that practising piano can boost your mood because your brain is releasing serotonin and dopamine, the “feel-good” hormone.

Enhances Self-Esteem

Don’t you love that feeling after accomplishing something that took you so long to achieve because of its difficulty?

Just like that, learning the piano boosts your morale and enhances your self esteem whenever you achieve something.

They can be milestones or even weekly goals. There is no greater feeling than overcoming a difficult piano piece or looking back on your journey and seeing how far you have come.

Opens Up Opportunities

Learning the piano opens up so many doors. If you take your skill to a professional level, you can get paid to play the instrument you love!

People can hire you for weddings and events or you can even become a piano teacher.

Having connections do help, so do not be afraid to slip your hobby into the conversation.

Strengthen Hand Muscles

Pianists tend to develop pronounced muscles at the base of their thumb and pinky.

This is due to balancing their weight in their fingers when playing. Playing piano can even strengthen and build muscles in your arms.

Learning the piano will increase your grip strength too and help maintain stamina over time to keep preciseness without sloppy movements.

Belong To Community

The start of your piano journey can be the start of forming lifelong friendships.

Learning the piano can open up opportunities to connect with other music lovers and musicians.

You get to belong to a community filled with people who share the same love for piano like you and even learn from them!

Having friends that also play the piano helps with staying determined and disciplined to continue learning and improving.

Conclusion

I am pretty sure there are a bunch more benefits I could mention, or do not even know about!

Clearly the benefits exceed the challenges. With nowadays’ resources, there really is no excuse to learn the piano if you already have one.

Here at London Piano Institute, we have the option of online lessons – a great way to kickstart your journey no matter where you live.

Put in the work and see how the fruit will grow!

Time goes by anyway. Why not “waste” it well and learn the piano!