What about Piano?

What about Piano? Some ask whether their children would benefit from taking piano along with another instrument. For instance, would it benefit a violin player to have some piano experience? The immediate answer is yes. With piano or other keyboard, the structure of music can be more readily visualized. For instance, players can “see” multiple notes at the same time and hear what they sound like together. They can also see the notes of a musical scale and where the whole and half steps are located. In addition to this, piano and keyboard playing helps to condition the ear for hearing music. Now, whether it is a good thing for a particular student to be playing more than one instrument is different for different students. Some students start with a few years of piano and then switch to another instrument. Others take both (or more) at the same time. This circumstance is probably more suitable for those students who are more serious about music and have talent to match. Ultimately, piano experience does contribute positively to the playing of another instrument. But this is not necessary to enjoy playing an instrument and even to excel at it. I was a violin major in college but did not take my first piano lesson until college.