The connection between playing the piano and innovation runs deeper than you may realize.
Beyond simply producing music as a pianist, the act of playing this instrument actually engages your brain in ways that not only foster creativity, they also lead to new ideas.
Making Music Engages Multiple Areas of Your Brain
When you sit down at a piano, you’re not just making music—you’re engaging multiple areas of your brain in a way that can spark creativity and innovation. The coordination required to use both hands independently, while simultaneously reading sheet music and maintaining rhythm, forces your brain to work in harmony.
I do this (engaging multiple areas of my brain) all the time because it's been my approach to playing the piano for most of my career. My goal as a teacher is to help my students achieve this same combination of skills (the coordination required to use both hands independently, while simultaneously reading sheet music and maintaining rhythm). The discovery of the benefit for our brains from this way of playing the piano wasn't even publicized when I first began teaching. For that matter there was no internet either. But it is now!
So let's recognize the benefits of playing the piano this way:
This complex process strengthens neural pathways, enhancing your problem-solving and critical thinking abilities, which are both essential components of creativity and innovation.
Multitasking-Not Recommended EXCEPT for Playing the Piano
How many times have you read or heard that multitasking is harmful for our productivity? When we multitask, we do several things at the same time and think that we are accomplishing more with our time that if we did one thing at a time.
Apparently, this is not true because when we are multitasking, we are dividing our attention in a way that NOTHING gets our full attention. So although you can accomplish two things by talking on the phone while answering email, neither one gets your full attention and you can also miss something in the call or not express yourself clearly with the email.
Now here is the contrast:
Playing the piano involves multitasking: your left and right hands perform different actions, your eyes follow the sheet music, and your brain translates the visual information into sound while keeping time.
I never thought about playing the piano as multitasking, but I think multitasking for pianists is more about synergy. In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. So, although we are multitasking when we play the piano, each aspect of our piano playing is working together to create an overall musical experience. This working together to create an overall musical experience is much more synergistic than mulititasking (talking on the phone while writing an email.)
So whether you call what we pianists do multitasking or synergy, the benefits are the same:
This level of mental activity stimulates cognitive function, sharpening focus, improving memory, and boosting your ability to solve complex problems.
Innovative Thinking
As you practice over time, your brain becomes more adept at thinking in creative, non-linear ways—skills that are key to innovative thinking.
I've been playing the piano for my entire life, and as a result, have been able to use innovative thinking for many years as I teach my students. Every adult student is special, comes to me with a unique background and has a different level of ability.
As a result, I have to think in creative and non-linear ways using innovative thinking to provide each student with the best individual teaching style and structure that will make for an enjoyable and effective learning experience. As a matter of fact, it was innovative thinking that helped me come up with my TAP System (Transformational Approach to Piano). I use aspects of TAP in unique ways to teach students.
Piano Playing Opens Up Opportunities for Exploration and Experimentation.
Whether you’re improvising a melody, reinterpreting a classical piece, or experimenting with new chord progressions, you’re making constant creative decisions.
When you practice the piano you build discipline and accept mistakes as part of the learning process. This process fosters persistence as well as problem-solving skills.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I'd like to share some of my observations from my many years of teaching,
Playing the piano as an adult offers the practical skill of learning something new, keeping the mind sharp and improving one's quality of life with the gift of music. Piano practice also offers a break from everyday pressures (I've has more than a few adult students tell me how wonderful it is to tune out everything else when practicing). When you combine the individual personalized practice time with a sense of accomplishment, you'll find more joy in life whether you play the piano for yourself or for friends and family.
About Diana Mascari
Diana Mascari-Piano Teacher for Adults
Diana Mascari has taught piano to hundreds of adults and children for more than 46 years. She holds two Masters of Music degrees from New England Conservatory and taught keyboard harmony to music majors while pursuing doctoral studies at Boston University. She was the music director for a multi-cultural Presbyterian Church for four decades, and her jazz and classical compositions have been performed worldwide. Diana has been performing for more than 50 years. From solo jazz piano to commercial groups touring the East Coast to leading her own jazz ensembles at colleges and jazz clubs throughout New England.
To Get Her FREE Course: 5 Accompaniment Styles for Pianists, click here
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