The Power of Pianos in Schools
Life has never been more hectic for parents. We're juggling our careers and homelife, caring for our children and sometimes our parents too. Children's lives have never been more complex. And we're more involved, protective and aware of what affects their wellbeing and development than previous generations.
There's pressure to fill our child's time with enriching and meaningful activities and learning music is good for them. But when they decide on piano and it's time to buy one, there's so much to consider. We nervously step into a world of unknowns with an expensive pricetag.
Information overload: There's plenty of information out there on pianos and parents quickly realise that choosing one isn't going to be easy.
The information just seems to prompt more questions.. New or Second hand? what brand?, what size?, upright or grand? should we get a digital piano instead? Where do we get one?
Underneath all the practical questions about the pianos themselves, are the deeper worries - will my child lose interest in this? this is a big investment. How can I test the waters before we spend all this money? Will they need support from me and what will that even look like? Will they have time to practice? Will I have to nag them to practice? Is it worth it?
Will They lose interest?
Temptations
The free piano.
Besides not having a lot of space to deal with the worrying thoughts, parents want to be positive and supportive, so they push these thoughts aside. Being frazzled about buying a piano is not an option.
a Parent's gut feeling is usually a prompting towards something. A warning sometimes, or just a direction- guiding them to the information they really need - getting to know what their child sees in music and the piano: What fascinates them, watching them as they play one. Also a parent's willingness to participate a bit more deeply. This is a shared parent/child experience. Only the parent can purchase, house, care for and maintain this piano. The urge to explore the true value of the piano through a personal lense is to make sense of the choices and the finances.
In most usually a direct that they're pushing aside are actually directing them exactly where they need to look. To be able to make choices and decisions around a piano purchase with ease, the information most needs is about your child and you. All those confusing practical choices will then have a framework.
This isn't about getting a solid commitment from your child, but finding out what's drawing them towards music, what they think it will be like, what's inspiring them, how they might like your support. It might be even a good time to find a teacher and talk to them.
All the information in the world, but not the information you need
Two qualities of pianos that makes them so powerful
Accessibility: The piano is an instrument that anyone can play. It’s not exclusively owned and played by one person like most other musical instruments. Unlike digital pianos or keyboards, it doesn’t even have to be switched on or powered up, it’s always ready to be played.
Permanence: A piano has a feeling of permanence because it generally stays where it's put. Its size and weight make it difficult to move around and it takes up quite a bit of physical space. A piano's lifespan is long. It's hard to ignore, and not easily replaceable.
Just the presence of a piano in a school makes a statement: “We value music so much, that we’ve made a permanent space for making music that’s accessible to all”That's powerful and symbolic.
Because pianos in schools are effectively community property, their condition and care is a reflection of the true collective consciousness or culture and what's acceptable there.
On a deeper level, because pianos are an iconic symbol of music in our wider culture, the way they're cared for, talked about and treated is silently interpreted as an attitude towards music in general.
Extremely Powerful.
Let's Talk Pianos
Created with systeme.io