Does Playing the Piano Bring You Joy? Here's a 'Joy' Checklist - Injoy!

December is essentially supposed to be about Joy and festivity with our friends and family - if you can move past the stress of shopping, finishing up school and work projects, getting things ready for visitors, and decorating the house. 

So just where is that ellusive Joy in all of the "hustle and bustle"?  

It might seem buried sometimes under wrapping paper, deadlines, bills, and just general chaos; but it is there, especially if you are learning to play the piano!

How does playing the piano help you uncover some of the hidden joy in your life? Let's take a look. 

• How long have you been playing the piano? Has it been a few months so you've been able to actually learn a piece or two? If so, remember how good it felt when you got that piece learned after practicing on it? 
• Have you just started learning the piano after wanting to for some time and just wasn't able to get started? That has to feel great!
• How did you feel when you were able to read your first line of music? 
• Remember when your teacher complimented you on how well you were playing?
• Have you been able to improvise on your first piece yet? How did that feel after you did it? 

All of these questions are geared towards helping you to see where a greater amount self-confidence has develped in your thinking and even your heart. The boost you and we all feel from that experience always leads to greater joy in our lives. If you haven't noticed it before, start looking out for those feelings of "wow, I can do things better than I thought I could"...there's your Joy. 

Let's look at another way that Joy comes into our lives from playing the piano.

• Have you ever been able to play with another musician? This could be any number of ways, such as accompanying another soloist while they perform or practice, playing with your church choir, playing with other students or professionals, jamming with a local jazz group, messing around with other students in your school just trying out different sounds together, or performing for parties and other gigs with another musician. 

Playing with others and creating music with them is an incredible experience. The tangible benefits are growth in our playing as well as our social circles as we meet and network with other musicians. You may be nervous a bit at first, especially when just starting out playing with others, but that soon fades and the fun sets in. At this point, your piano playing has become a connector for you and a whole new world. When you're ready, reach out and start making music with others. There's a side of Joy here that you won't see outside of this special place. 

One other way that playing the piano brings Joy into our lives, is a rather mysterious and hidden way. Let's see what that is. 

• Have you started having more "conversations" with yourself since starting to learn the piano? 
• Are you "hearing" your own thoughts more than you were before you started playing?
• Are you feeling things more? Do you feel more for other people when they are going through a hard time?
• Are you thinking more about others now that you're learning the piano?

Playing the piano opens ourselves up to ourselves...so to say. We're having a conversation with ourself when we play the piano already. As a result, we start listening more, to the ongoing conversations we all have with ourselves every day. Music directly strikes our emotions before our rational thinking, and this makes us more aware of our own emotions as well as the feelings that others are experiencing. Not only do we connect more with ourselves, we also connect more with others. The deepening in our types of connections and the nature of them bring they're own special Joy to our lives as well. Look for that inner peace...and even a deeper breath, as you experience and observe how your connections to yourself and others change and grow. 

With so many different ways that playing the piano really does add Joy to our lives, it's the perfect time to take a little inventory in preparing for the new year soon to be here, and allow your awareness of these areas to grow. As you do, you'll notice our own Joy growing and it just might spread out to those around you!

Stay Tuned to LessonsOnTheWeb to learn much more and achieve your dream of Learning to Play the Piano!