Essay: Learn Piano: Improve Mental Health, Focus, and Cognitive Function



Learning/Playing the Piano

    Piano, and music in general, tends to be an underappreciated advocate for many neurological and physiological benefits. Not only does piano allow a person to express themselves without words, it allows for psychological betterment. The study and practice of piano grants the opportunity to increase discipline and concentration skills, improve hand-eye coordination, and reduce anxiety, stress and depression.

Students have shown that playing piano can significantly increase mental health. A recent study carried out by Michigan State University revealed a clear connection between piano lessons and reduced anxiety and depression. Many musicians use their musical talent as a release from the struggles of daily life. While learning an instrument may be stressful in and of itself, the act of learning and practicing piano increase cognitive function. Studies have shown, as outlined by Steinway and Sons, that people who play music tend to experience less anxiety, loneliness and depression. Self esteem has also benefited from the practice of piano. When a person feels like they have a way to express themselve and feel that they have talent in one aspect of their lives, their self esteem benefits. This self esteem boost can help a person that struggles daily from mental disorders and disabilities. Piano has also been used as an outlet for stress and a form of therapy for Attention Deficit Disorder. The act of learning piano has been shown to help children that suffer from ADD or ADHD. In general, Music has been known to strengthen areas of the brain that are significantly weaker in children with ADD. More specifically, the practice of music helps with areas of the brain tied to speech and language, reading, reading comprehension, math, problem solving, brain organization, focusing, concentration, and attention issues. According to multiple studies that have been carried out, when a child with ADHD, ADDm or any variance of a learning disability, the areas previously outlined have significantly improved. Piano has been found to particularly have a major effect on not only mental health and disorders, but cognitive function in general.

Learning piano has shown to affect cognitive function and combat many neurological disease like alzheimer's and dementia. A study researching the correlation between alzheimer’s and piano discovered that while the subject continuously deteriorated in many physical aspects, their piano skills and ability to recall familiar tunes never dissipated, This discovery backed the conclusion that music in one od the most effective sources of stimulation for the brain. Listening to music generated widespread cortical activity, but playing music, specifically piano, has shown to have very specific effects on neurological and physiological functions. Brain imaging has shown that there are significant differences in brain structure between musicians and nonmusicians. Musicians have been found to have an above average amount of gray matter in many portions of the brain, for example, motor, auditory, and visuospatial areas. A study carried out by Agnes Chan from the Chinese University in Hong Kong reported that adults that received piano lessons before the age of twelve have better spoken word memory that those that had never take part in musical training. Frances Rauscher from the University of Wisconsin and studies done by the University of California Irvine discovered that the reason music transfers to other abilities is because similar neural-pathways are shared. In a different study, children that received piano or keyboard lessons showed a significant improvement in spatial-temporal reasoning that the the control group did not experience. The changes are dues to the fact that a pianist’s brain is different than the average persons. Their brains even differ from drummers and guitarists. Because of the piano’s demands for dexterity in both hands and the differences in chords and pitches, the ability to play multiple notes at once has allowed science to reveal that the brain capacity of a pianist is unique to that person. Playing the piano requires one to become ambidextrous and without that ability, mastery of the piano would be impossible. The trend that one hand is typically dominant must be abandoned by the brain in order for a pianist to master a piece. Hand dominance is a direct result of a deep depth on the right or left side of the center sulcus that, in pianist, is noticeably more symmetrical. Researchers have concluded that a pianists brain was not like that at birth, but rather the weaker side of the brain was strengthened in response to the demand to play with both hands. Piano has appeared to be extremely taxing on the brain as a whole. Research has shown that blood flow in the brain is changed in order for a pianist’s brain to focus of the matters that are unique to them. A direct correlation has also been found between high, musical activity and the preservation of non-verbal memory. Playing the piano and reading musical notation has shown to prolong the effects of alzheimer’s and dementia, it has also been found to improve concentration skills, discipline, and has even been shown to increase a child's IQ.

Music lessons at a young age have been found to boost children’s IQ and academic performance. The duration of the lessons also affects a students academic performances, revealing that the longer a child is in lessons, the higher their IQ’s and the benefit to their grades become more apparent. According to a study carried out in 2004, six year old’s were given a year of voice or piano lessons experienced a significant increase in IQ and performance than a control group that waited a year before the beginning of musical instruction. The same organization began another study comparing the effect of musical lessons between 6-11 year old and college freshman. Of these two groups, the majority had taken consistent music lessons, specifically piano. Of the 6-11 year olds, it was discovers that every additional month of musical training revealed an increase in IQ by one sixth of a point and 7.5 points after six years. Of the college freshman, those involved in musical training experienced an IQ that was higher than non musical students by two points, This study allowed for the positive correlation between piano lessons and IQ and academic performance. However, the reason for the direct association is unknown, but the positive correlation is still present. Schellenberg, the lead of this study, concludes that the demands of high cognitive function alongside the immense amount of physical function allowed for the students to excel within the classroom and mage those demands. Piano lessons also show an improvement in multitasking skills because of the learning curve present when learning to play misc with both hands. On top of playing with both hands, however, there is also the demand that comes with sight reading sheet music alongside playing the piano. Piano lessons and the consistent practice of the instrument has shown an increase in a child's IQ and academic performance within the classroom alongside the benefits to mental health and prevention of mental diseases and disabilities.

In conclusion, the learning and playing of piano has shown to has significant effects of the neurological and physiological aspects of the brain. Once a child begins true piano lesson, that child quickly experiences that benefits of higher academic performance that accompanies piano instruction. Despite that benefit being unknown to the child, the result are still highly apparent to those on the outside looking in. Also, the piano has been shown to help slow the effects of disease like alzheimer’s and dementia. Patients that has already experienced the deteriorating effects of disease like those had shown an increase in motor and verbal skill because of their piano playing abilities. They were able to recall familiar songs and play them with ease despite thari daily struggles with remembering everyday things. Piano has also been discovered to be a leader in assisting children struggling with ADD and ADHD. The concentration skills necessary to study the piano has been known to benefit those that have Attention deficit problems. Children that experience those mental disabilities everyday have benefitted from piano lessons that allow them to focus on their concentration skills and lessen their anxiety. On top of ADD and ADHD therapy, piano lessons have always been a source of stress relief for those that have experience in playing the piano. Piano has also been shown to help with a person's anxiety, depression and loneliness. Since the piano is a nonverbal outlet for a person, mental health has benefitted from the instrument. Overall, piano is a beneficial source for a person's brain. Instead of finding arbitrary ways of training the brain like certain apps or a daily exercise, piano along with other instruments comes at a high recommendation because the extreme workout the brain receives when playing the piano. The piano has allowed for pianists to be smarter in many aspects of their lives, become ambidextrous by practice rather than by birth, and allow for mental relief when it is necessary for a person. Despite only being an instrument, the piano has multiple health benefits that are unknown to many people that should know these benefits.