How playing the piano can help your child’s development

Have you ever wondered why it’s easier to remember the lyrics to a song than the words to a poem? Neuroscientists think it’s most likely because music activates a lot more of our brain compared to speech. Multiple cortices light up whenever we listen to music. And the brain’s like any other muscle—if you exercise it properly, it gets stronger. But if you think that listening to music is a good mental workout, playing an instrument is more intense.

Playing an instrument is a full-brain workout—it needs you to remember how music looks, sounds, feels, and weirdly enough, how it’s shaped. That’s so many parts of the brain, all working and improving at the same time!

These improvements don’t just benefit your child’s piano-playing skills. Children who play an instrument have better hearing and pattern recognition, more efficient fine motor skills, improved executive functions—which involves planning, self-inhibition, and memory. Musical training also has positive effects on children who have difficulty with processing speech. With all these long-term benefits, having your child learn the piano sets them up to do great things, even in areas where you would never think music would come in handy, like mathematics.

But before you enroll your child into music school, you have a lot of things to consider, like their readiness and their piano teacher. But the one thing you needn’t worry about is whether they’re ‘talented’ enough. Music is a universal human skill. Not everyone can claim to know all the notes to Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2, but everyone can nod their head to it by instinct.

When you think your child is ready to learn the piano, upright pianos are perfect for beginners. Not only do they take up less room in a house, some of them also produce the same resonance as baby grand pianos and are offered at a more reasonable price. Explore the Steinway-designed upright pianos, Boston and Essex at the Steinway Manila Boutique, located in the East Wing of Shangri-La Plaza.