• Improved social interaction skills: playing the piano alone is unlikely to make you the most popular guy or gal at your school, university, or in your town, but it has been proven that people who play musical instruments are more open to social interaction; playing a musical instrument makes people more open and helps them meet new people, which in turn positively stimulates the brain.
• Ability to multitask: regular piano exercises can teach the brain to be alert and active. How? When you play the piano, your brain has to work on several tasks simultaneously: keeping the beat, watching the pitch, forming chords, maintaining posture and controlling breathing, coordinating the work of the right and left hands when playing the 88 keys of a standard piano!
• Improving brain function: Over the past few years, researchers have discovered that people who play the piano have a different brain structure than people who don’t. For example, pianists are better at solving problems, learning foreign languages, being spontaneous, making decisions, and interacting with different groups of people.
• Relieving problems: playing the piano can sometimes be exhausting for the psyche, but it distracts the brain from problems, serves as a kind of therapy, and therefore can prevent the manifestation of diseases such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and stroke. In addition, those who play the piano every day feel independent and build self-esteem, which makes the brain happier.
• Help with goal setting: When learning to play the piano, a pianist sets short-term and long-term goals. For example, to learn a new piece. Setting goals is essential for the human brain and the habit of setting them is very useful. Scientists have found that having goals and striving to achieve them reorganizes the brain. In addition, when pianists are goal-oriented and have a specific goal in mind, they suffer less from mental health problems such as depression.

The above suggests that piano playing is more than just a hobby. The ability to play the piano is a treasure!

The post Are there any benefits for the brain when playing the piano? appeared first on Poorvanga.

The first step in learning to play the piano is to choose an instrument. It can be any type of piano, from traditional to electronic. It is important to choose an instrument that suits your needs and budget. After choosing an instrument, you should pay attention to the placement of the piano in the room. The ideal place for a piano is a room with low humidity and a stable temperature.

To begin learning to play the piano, you should start with an exercise to develop hand motor skills and focus on the notes. It is important to develop hand motor skills, starting with simple exercises and then gradually moving on to more complex compositions.

The next step is to learn rhythm. To do this, you can use a metronome to keep the rhythm. As you gradually feel the rhythm, you can add new notes and chords, expanding your knowledge and skills.

Learning piano can be combined with the use of modern technologies, such as smartphone and tablet apps, to help you learn.Modern piano learning methods include not only the use of conventional music books and textbooks, but also a variety of electronic resources and apps for smartphones and tablets.

Learning the piano is a process that has its own logic and sequence. You shouldn’t rush and try to learn everything in one day. You need to take each element separately and systematically improve your skills.

It is better to start with the basics – learning the notes, the correct hand position and posture. Then add new elements – playing with two hands, tempo, dynamics, etc. Don’t forget to regularly perform various exercises to develop your piano technique and dynamics.

Learning the piano can be a challenging process, so it’s important to stay motivated and practice regularly. To do this, you can set yourself minimum goals to achieve on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

In addition, it is important not to forget about the technical training of your fingers. Exercises to develop finger motor skills help you achieve a higher level of piano playing. For example, exercises to develop the speed and accuracy of finger movements, exercises to develop the coordination of left and right hand movements, exercises to develop the ability to improvise, and others.

It is also important to develop musical hearing and musical understanding. Understanding music notation, music theory, and styles will help you understand and enjoy music more deeply. Exercises to develop your ear for music, studying music theory, and analyzing music will help you do this.

There are many different methods of teaching piano in the world today, but the choice of method depends on the specific needs and desires of the student. The most important thing is the interaction between the teacher and the student, based on trust, mutual understanding, and a mutual desire to succeed.

Learning to play the piano is a responsible and interesting process that requires time, patience, and hard work. However, if you have the desire and effort, you can succeed and enjoy playing the piano.

For children under 6 years old, you can use special pedagogical methods such as Suzuki, Kindermusik, and Orff. They are based on the principle of “learning through play” and ear development. The main goal is to teach young musicians to feel rhythm, melody, and harmony, as well as to teach them how to perform basic musical movements correctly.

For children and adults who are learning to play the piano for the first time, it is recommended to start by learning the basics of keyboarding and music theory. It is important that the teacher be experienced and able to answer the questions of their students correctly. Depending on the purpose of the training (playing with fingers or playing with hand movements), the teacher can choose the appropriate teaching method.

For adults, you can use special teaching methods that allow you to learn piano with minimal memory load and while you are busy. Methods such as Simply Music are sometimes called the “unknown” method because they differ from traditional piano teaching methods. They are based on the principle of teaching music as a language, with the aim of learning various genres of music, from popular music to classical music.

An important step in learning to play the piano is to understand music theories and terms such as melody, rhythm, dynamics, arpeggios, chords, etc. Learning music theory can help students better understand the music they play and improve their technique. Music theory is usually studied at the same time as piano practice so that students can see how different theoretical concepts are used in practice.

The next stage in learning to play the piano is the selection of repertoire. The teacher should choose songs and compositions that are appropriate for the student’s level and will help them improve their playing. The repertoire can be very diverse – from classical music to popular songs. It is important to find repertoire that will interest the student and make learning enjoyable and interesting.

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If you’ve tried to learn how to play the guitar on your own, used open sources of online learning, and failed miserably at achieving your goal, that’s okay. Don’t worry, this article is for you.

The main problem of beginner guitarists is disorganization in time and not knowing where to start. The ideal option is to give the role of managing the learning process to a qualified guitar teacher, rather than looking for a guide yourself, thus fulfilling two tasks – methodological and learning.

An experienced teacher leads us through a methodological program that invisibly sets the vector of learning to play the guitar in the right direction from hand placement and seating, guitar structure, instrument tuning, the use of accessories in teaching, notes and strings, step-by-step development, without stopping and stopping for vain attempts to reinvent the wheel.

Tips for organizing independent homework

Tip 1: Building one lesson

Practicing your homework in a time context should be within 45 minutes to 2 hours to start with. For reference, world-class guitarists practice 10-12 hours a day, doing so with ease and at ease. Our home practice should consist of:

Warm-up exercise – 10 minutes.
Work on learning the fretboard – 15 minutes.
Reading notes from the sheet – 5 minutes.
Analyzing a song or piece – from 15-90 minutes.

Tip 2. Record the results

For example, yesterday we played a chromatic exercise at 80 bpm with eighths, and today we played 85 bpm, be sure to write this fact down. And yesterday we failed to play the introduction to the song, but today we managed to play the first 2 bars – you need to record it! We do this because the next time we practice the guitar, we will start with the bars that didn’t work out, and so on.

We take notebooks and write the date and a description of the results. We write briefly and clearly with interest, a slight anticipation of achieving a new goal. It is very important to monitor your own development and not to fall into the psychological trap of playing the guitar and constantly “practicing” the moments that we already have. This is not practicing, it’s a mistake and a pause in development.

Tip 3. Keep track of time

Time is not enough for those who do not know how to manage it. It is easier for an adult to concentrate and focus on one important task – to sit down and practice the guitar – than for children. Guitar lessons for children are the fruitful work of all three parties (parents, student, teacher). At first, it is the parents who organize the homework, then the child does it regularly and independently.

Music’s task is to create a favorable mood. After all, music is a contagious emotion. And if you haven’t learned to play the guitar yet, go to practice with a teacher. It’s best to start from scratch and pretend to be a child who is open to everything new.

The post How to organize guitar lessons appeared first on Poorvanga.

In my work teaching guitar, I observe the following picture: children are strangely focused on playing the guitar. In a natural environment, they are engaged in the lesson and don’t even play around during the lesson. Teenagers in class are even more focused on one thing than the average adult in class. Talking to the parents of children and being a father myself, watching my wife, I found the following.

Parents, mostly wives, take care of children, they plan the working day, regulate the time spent on the computer, tablet, and phone. They enroll them in various clubs, music, drawing, sports – this is good development. Children have more useful information than adults. Adults are often left to their own devices and do not always monitor their leisure time. Sometimes there is useful information, but often it is just “noise”, for example, like playing on the phone, which is better to replace with pleasant peace and quiet. This way, you can give yourself a moral rest.

Nowadays, when a person has access to a large flow of continuous information, trying to do everything yourself is considered the norm, which leads to a reflex, a quick change of focus. Let’s think about what guitar practice and concentration have to do with each other. What is concentration is how much a person is able to immerse themselves in one activity.

My interesting observations are as follows. When a student comes to the first guitar lesson, learning begins with simple exercises. Gradually gaining experience, our guitarist can already learn a 1-2 page piece. But it is not always possible to play from start to finish.

Often you can hear the following words from a guitar student: “hmm… I was playing and started thinking about something… something confused me… I was playing and abruptly lost track of it… I’m thinking about work… etc.”

A good teacher will always have advice on how to work on a piece, and with this advice, concentration, a sense of the integrity of the piece, etc. will develop.

Although I am devoted to pedagogy in general, I also practice guitar every day. I will describe my thoughts to you. At first glance, playing an instrument can be somewhat comparable to meditation. But playing the guitar or any other instrument is a bit more complicated. You need to learn the text well, teach your fingers to press the strings properly. And only then do you play the guitar, memorize the melody, and think ahead of your fingers while playing. And to add flexibility and beauty to the piece, think about the dynamics and naturally peek at the guitar neck.

Nowadays, when a person has access to a large flow of continuous information, trying to do everything yourself is considered the norm, which leads to a reflex, a quick change of focus. Let’s think about what guitar practice and concentration have to do with each other. What is concentration is how much a person is able to immerse themselves in one activity.

My interesting observations are as follows. When a student comes to the first guitar lesson, learning begins with simple exercises. Gradually gaining experience, our guitarist can already learn a 1-2 page piece. But it is not always possible to play from start to finish.

Often you can hear the following words from a guitar student: “hmm… I was playing and started thinking about something… something confused me… I was playing and abruptly lost track of it… I’m thinking about work… etc.”

A good teacher will always have advice on how to work on a piece, and with this advice, concentration, a sense of the integrity of the piece, etc. will develop.

Although I am devoted to pedagogy in general, I also practice guitar every day. I will describe my thoughts to you. At first glance, playing an instrument can be somewhat comparable to meditation. But playing the guitar or any other instrument is a bit more complicated. You need to learn the text well, teach your fingers to press the strings properly. And only then do you play the guitar, memorize the melody, and think ahead of your fingers while playing. And to add flexibility and beauty to the piece, think about the dynamics and naturally peek at the guitar neck.

At the moment when a musician plays the guitar, the musician’s concentration on the performance must be at the highest level, otherwise we will not be able to concentrate and will hear the familiar: “…I was playing and it suddenly slipped my mind…”

When you play several pieces from start to finish, you will learn how to work on them properly. This develops a noble habit, namely to finish everything to the end. Understanding the process of creating a result and the main reward is not only concentration, but also the ability to play the guitar, to understand music more at concerts, and to expand your musical and stylistic horizons. And a pleasant and favorite hobby of a lifetime will serve as a small highlight.

The post Playing music helps you focus appeared first on Poorvanga.