Discover 3 Ways that Playing the Piano Improves Your Relationships!

​We are learning more and more how playing the piano increases intellectual activity in our brains. It makes us better at problem solving, organizational tasks, and gives us stronger analytical skills. 

But...did you realize that playing the piano also affects the way you relate to people, and that it in fact improves relationships of all kinds! 

Playing the Piano Makes You a Better Listener

Pianists learn to listen, and learn to be better listeners. 

We have to actively listen to our own playing in order to hear what we are playing.

Sometimes, we "hear" what is in our minds, instead of what we're actually playing on the piano. We improve our listening skills as we hear and observe what notes and rhythms we're playing on the piano. This is how we correct any mistakes and learn what needs to be practiced on more. Our playing improves from good listening skills. 

So do our relationships. Good communication is one of the most important aspects of strength in any relationship. Good communication starts with good listening on the part of each person in the relationship. 

When we really listen to what another person is saying instead of what we think they're saying in our minds, we come to understand their point of view more.

Playing the Piano Makes Us More Compassionate 

There is so much about and in music, that has to do with emotional expression and inspiring passionate and deeply felt responses in its listeners. 

Pianists learn to feel more emotions deeper and are able to more openly express them from playing the piano. 

Whenever we add in things like dynamics, accents, or say a change in key or meter: we're changing the emotional energy of the music.

The more musical expression we allow ourselves to weave into a piece of music, the deeper our own emotional experience of that music is.

The neat thing is, that this "opening" we experience through playing the piano remains even after we stop playing. It then ends up making us more sensitive to others and their own needs and enables us to actually feel more in the way of empathy.  

This increase in emotional connection and empathy for others brings much love into our friendships, partnerships, marriages, and friendships. 

Playing the Piano Makes Us Better Team Players 

Pianists learn to collaborate with others to create something larger than themselves. 

Many pianists perform either in jazz ensembles, symphony orchestras, rock bands, or accompany other musicians in solo performances. 

Even for a solo pianist, there is collaboration with either a formal teacher, other musicians that serve as mentors, digital sources of performances and studies, symphony orchestras and choruses, and a lot of other people that work together, to create music. 

Working with others for pianists and most other musicians, becomes a natural skill out of necessity, with wonderful surprises as a result. 

In any relationship, all parties must be willing to compromise self sometimes for the good of the team, or the partnership, or the family, or the club.

Two can accomplish more than one. Four can accomplish more than two. 

This connectivity that comes from creating music together carries-over into our relationships as we automatically start putting others needs before our own more, caring about how our choices and decisions will affect those in our relationships, and what we can do to strengthen our connections. 

These three elements...

• Being a good listener
• Feeling compassion and empathy for those that we love
• Being a good team-player 

...are three of the most important elements in any successful relationship. 

Did you realize that your piano playing was enhancing these relationship skills all along?

It would be neat to observe your relationships and try to see if any of these areas have changed since you started playing the piano.

For those that have always been playing, it would then be interesting to observe these areas and see how strong you are in them, and even which of them could use some practice. 

Just focus on this: the better you become at these skills on your piano, the better you will be with them in your relationships.

And if you're stuck on something or some issue with someone you care about, try playing your piano a bit and see if you end up getting some ideas of how to resolve the issue with some good listening, a caring attitude, and being supportive and nurturing. 

Stay Tuned to LessonsOnTheWeb to learn much more and achieve your dreams of playing the piano!