Why is Piano a Popular Instrument for Beginning Students to Learn?

little girl in yellow dress plays pianoMusicians of all instruments will often say that their first experience with musical education was taking piano lessons as a child.  What are some of the reasons that the piano is such a popular instrument for beginning students to learn?

  1. It’s easy to start playing right away.  Any student at any age can push a key on the piano and the note will sound.  Other instruments require more complicated finger, arm, or breathing patterns to make a sound.  Since the piano is easier to physically play, beginning students of piano will learn the fundamentals of music at a quicker pace than other instruments.
  2. It’s a fulfilling instrument for beginning students to learn.  Because you can play more than one note on the piano, the music that a student will practice on piano is satisfying even at the beginning level.  In addition, many pop and rock songs can be played on the piano.
  3. Musical concepts are visually apparent on a piano. The majority of fundamental concepts of music theory such half steps, scales, and chords are much easier understood on a piano than any other instrument.
  4. Piano students can successfully transition to any other instrument.  Music students who begin their studies on piano can transition to any other musical instrument that they would like to learn.  Since piano students will have learned how to read music in both bass clef and treble clef, the fundamentals of rhythm, as well as many other music basics, the transition will be smooth to learning the new instrument.

For information about piano lessons at the Altadena Academy of Music, please call (626) 296-0799 or use our email contact form.