This month we are featuring Conservatory Faculty, Angelyn Traylor. We asked her the following question: What are the benefits to learning piano?
“There is a poem by Bruce Adolphe that likens musical study to religious practice. Both need to happen every day, not once a week. Both require attention to detail, but much is lost if you lose sight of the bigger picture. Both have elements of work and elements of play, moments of inspiration and moments of frustration. In our 21st century “have what you want when you want it” world, few things require the patience and daily diligence of studying music. Piano is a great foundational instrument because it provides a solid music-reading foundation and trains the ear to hear both melody and harmony. There’s a decent amount of “instant success” — strike a key, and it sounds! But, there’s also so much more! As you practice, with patience and diligence, you find different ways to strike a key, shape a phrase, or convey a mood. Studying piano (or any instrument for that matter) is an invitation into a lifelong journey of learning, growing, expressing, and creating.”