My name is Tim Praskins and I am a long time, well known music educator and digital piano expert. I Love Playing Piano & How It Makes Me Feel, and I do it as often as possible! The #1 reason most people play piano is because of how that experience makes them “feel.” There are definitely health benefits to playing piano, but It’s really all about experiencing deep personal feelings, personal expression, and musical satisfaction. I am happy playing any good piano, whether it is an acoustic piano or digital piano. If it plays good and sounds good, then I am happy to play it. However, generally speaking, unless I am playing a larger, beautiful acoustic grand piano with a responsive key action and full piano sound, I am happier playing on a good digital piano.
The many reasons for me and others wanting to play on good digital pianos is #1…the experience playing on a good digital piano is that it makes you “feel good.” Other good reasons include that most digital pianos are permanently in tune and do not need tuning. I personally don’t enjoy playing piano on an instrument that is out of tune, and acoustic pianos go out of tune quite often and are expensive to have tuned by a piano tuner. Also, I can more easily control the volume of a good digital piano, whereas a normal size acoustic upright or grand piano is naturally loud and can easily be too loud, depending on the room that it is in. A digital piano has a “volume control” feature. An acoustic piano does not have that.
Also, on a good digital piano you can mix in beautiful string violin sounds with the piano sound, or access brass sounds, or harpsichord sounds, etc, depending on the digital piano. Being able to “orchestrate” the instrumental sounds in “real time” gives you more musical flexibility and an even more exciting musical experience. There are also other benefits of playing a good digital piano such as being able to use stereo headphones for private practice and playing the piano without anyone else hearing you. That means you can play at any time day or night without disturbing others in the home.
If a person wants to play more contemporary rhythmic music then they can use drum tracks or full accompaniment chord arrangements on certain digital pianos to add more background music to their playing. There are many good reasons why someone would enjoy playing a good digital piano more than a good acoustic piano. But regardless of all that, I personally Love Playing Piano & How It Makes Me Feel! It really is all about how it makes you “feel” when playing the piano. When you become a better, more accomplished piano player, then you feel even better because your music is better! A person’s feelings matter a lot.
There are a number of different types of personal hobbies and outlets that can allow you to express your feelings in some amazing ways. So playing piano is not the only way to emotionally express yourself. But…playing music, especially on a good piano, is something that few other things can touch when it comes to expressing your deepest feelings in a tangible, personal way. If you love listening to and being around good music, then learning to play piano and then playing piano well is like nothing else out there, and you can do it.
Then there are the many “health benefits” of playing piano. Being able to “express yourself” and have good feelings is something that most people want to do. But did you know that playing the piano has many health benefits? Yes, it’s true. There are physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health benefits to playing music on a good piano. When you play piano you use and move your fingers, hands, and other parts of your body…so you get physical exercise. You use your mind to play music because your mind is directing your hands, other parts of your body, and your thoughts, and improves brain function, so you you get mental exercise.
You also wake up your inner emotions in a personal way when playing the piano…so you get emotional exercise and an amazing outlet for your emotions. Finally, you get a deep spiritual release for your soul so that you can commune with nature, with God, and dwell within the spiritual side of you, assuming you have one.
For many people, like me, Music is Life, and Life is Music! Imagine movies without their music, amusement parks like Disneyland without music, a vehicle without access to hearing music, shopping centers, stores, malls, etc without music playing. Dancing without music, no musical instruments existing, no one playing music, no one singing music, no one writing music…no music anywhere. Music brings people together, cultures together, it gives people and places specific identities, and there would be no musical concerts or plays, or music related activities. Imagine a world without music. What would that be like? Most people would not be happy without access to music, although some people don’t have music in their lives and perhaps rarely think about it.
But most people truly enjoy the music that is around them, and the ones who play music and do it well would have a difficult time living and operating without music in their lives. As far as the musical instruments go, the instrument which provides the most beautiful immediate feedback for a complete song or musical piece would be the piano. This is primarily because the piano player, whether they are a child or an adult, can relatively easily play the melody and harmony at the same time.
To get a full song you need both melody & harmony played simultaneously with multiple keys by the left hand and right hand on a piano. Few other instruments in the world are capable of doing that. Mostly they can provide either melody or harmony when you play those other instruments, but seldom can you play both parts simultaneously on those other instruments. Guitar, harpsichord, and a few other musical instruments allow for people to play both parts simultaneously, but the majority of instruments cannot do that. Anyone can make good music if they try, especially with all the learning technology available today using iPad and Android tablets, etc.
Playing the piano can be extremely satisfying because you can potentially play any song and get all of it, not just one part. Orchestral instruments such as trumpets, flutes, violins, etc are great instruments in orchestras for either melody or harmony, as I already mentioned. You can hear many of those instruments together where one player does the melody and the other player does harmony and you get a full song. But with the piano you get to play and listen to both melody & harmony accompaniment parts together from one piano. On a good digital piano you can do what a regular acoustic piano can do, but you have more control over that piano in many helpful musical ways. I love playing any good piano, but a good digital piano can make me and other people even happier when playing it! It’s how it makes me “feel” that really counts.
It’s like seeing many beautiful colors all at one time, and not just a few colors. “Musical Colors” coming from a good acoustic or digital piano create a huge pallet of resonating sound which can easily fill a room as well as fill the hearts of those people who are listening to it. Piano has been a “central instrument” for many decades and centuries in many parts of the world. It is a universal instrument for kids and adults and in many cultures. Whether it is a more basic acoustic upright piano, a full acoustic grand piano, or a portable or furniture cabinet digital piano, you will experience personal musical feelings that few other things can give to you.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not just good digital pianos that I like. I love playing on top quality Kawai, Yamaha, Steinway, Bosendorfer, and other impressive acoustic pianos. I rarely pass up an opportunity to do so. But playing an amazing top brand and model digital piano is something I typically enjoy doing even more for many reasons. I Love Playing Piano & How It Makes Me Feel! It’s an amazing feeling to play and it allows me to express my inner emotions in personal musical ways. Would you like to do that, or maybe you are already doing that, or you want to do that? It is never to late to begin and if you love music, especially piano music, then you should do it. Playing piano is not “Rocket Science” and it can be done as long as you love music and wish to express yourself in a musical way. Music is Life, and Life is Music! Want to know more? Ask us!
