The Benefits of Piano Instruction

Children – Living Notes in the Song of LifeBy Marcy Gilroy Greer

The Benefits of Piano Instruction: Increasing IQ, Developing Leadership, and Achieving Lifelong Success

Classical Music Credentials: 
Piano Performance and Music Theory:

Undergraduate: NYU Steinhart Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions (top-tier, nationally recognized program—ranked #8 globally for performing arts by QS World University Ranking and #1 nationally in music theory and composition). 

Graduate: The Hartt School (performing arts conservatory ranked Top-tier globally. The Hartt School's music management program is ranked as one of the best in the world). 

Pre college: The Manhattan School of Music (ranked #9 for Best Colleges for Music). 

Executive Management and Law: Credentials:

Masters in Business Administration (Organizational Behavior and Leadership), Executive Juris Doctor (Securities and Regulatory Law), The Harvard Business School Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP (tier one elite management program).  

My  combined training and education in  classical music (performance and conservatory), and  professional experience and education in executive banking, law, leadership, arbitration, and entrepreneurship, has profoundly influenced my approach to teaching. 

Throughout my 17+ year career teaching  piano  and  music theory, I have worked with exceptionally gifted children, developing a specialized methodology that integrates classical technique, advanced music theory, and performance.

Since  the Academy's  inception, approximately  400 of my students have earned awards in international piano competitions, with the majority receiving third-place recognition, approximately 10% earning second-place honors, and, most recently, an extraordinary five-year-old student achieving first place. Most of my students have also excelled academically, gaining admission to highly selective schools and pursuing advanced careers in both musical studies and other professions including medicine, engineering, IT, law, and business. My greatest satisfaction comes from identifying exceptional potential at a very young age, nurturing that ability, and guiding students through years of increasingly sophisticated musical and intellectual development.

The Extraordinary Benefits of Piano Instruction

Piano instruction is perhaps one of the greatest gifts parents can give their children. While athletics, dance, and other extracurricular activities offer tremendous developmental advantages, playing the piano provides a remarkable combination of intellectual, emotional, physical, and creative development. Piano study strengthens concentration, memorization, analytical reasoning, coordination, creativity, perseverance, self-confidence, and leadership. Consider the intellectual demands placed upon a young child learning the piano. The right hand plays one musical language while the left hand plays another, simultaneously interpreting notes, rhythms, patterns, and expression. Imagine asking a five-year-old to learn German and Greek simultaneously while English is the only language the child knows! The piano requires an extraordinary integration of mental and physical skills, encouraging children to process complex information, solve problems, and develop the discipline necessary for achievement.

Piano Lessons and Increased IQ

Scientific research has revealed compelling connections between musical instruction and intellectual development. In a landmark randomized study, Dr. E. Glenn Schellenberg of the University of Toronto found that children receiving music lessons demonstrated an average 7-point increase in measured IQ over one academic year, compared with 4.3 points among control groups. Subsequent research associated six years of childhood musical instruction with an estimated 7.5-point IQ advantage over children without comparable training.  Beyond IQ measurements, the intellectual discipline developed through piano instruction can complement academic achievement. My experience teaching gifted children, including students who have gained admission to highly selective schools, continues to reinforce my belief in the value of rigorous musical training.

Leadership, Competition, and the Stage of Life

I have always believed that life is one big competition, and in one way or another, we are always on stage. Whether preparing for academic examinations, college admissions, job interviews, professional presentations, or leadership responsibilities, we are constantly called upon to demonstrate preparation, perseverance, confidence, and composure. Piano instruction develops these qualities at a remarkably young age. Recitals and competitions teach children to perform under pressure, accept constructive criticism, overcome disappointment, recover from mistakes, and experience the satisfaction of personal achievement.

I spent much of my young childhood, teen, and early adult life on stage while obtaining advanced degrees in music performance and theory, executive business management, and law, with corresponding professional and successful careers in all. The discipline developed through those experiences subsequently became invaluable throughout my careers in corporate leadership, higher education, arbitration, and business ownership. The stage may change from a concert hall to a corporate boardroom, but the skills required for success remain remarkably similar. Competition, however, should inspire rather than intimidate. Winning is wonderful, but the determination to improve, persevere, and achieve personal excellence is ultimately more valuable than any trophy.

My Teaching Philosophy: Developing Exceptional Young Minds

No two children learn in precisely the same manner. Some respond to auditory instruction, others to visual patterns, memorization, mathematical relationships, or logical sequences. My methodology combines the strongest elements of traditional classical instruction, the Suzuki approach, technical development, sight-reading, memorization, and music theory, adapted to each child’s individual abilities. I particularly enjoy working with highly gifted children who demonstrate intellectual curiosity and musical potential at an early age. Some children can begin introductory keyboard instruction at approximately two or three years old, depending upon their developmental readiness. By establishing a strong foundation early, students can progress through increasingly sophisticated repertoire, advanced theory, and international competitions. My objective is not simply to teach children to play the piano. It is to develop independent thinkers who understand the relationship between discipline, effort, perseverance, and accomplishment. I also believe that encouragement is infinitely more productive than confrontation. Having experienced the pressures of performing from an early age, I understand the importance of nurturing a child’s love of music rather than making practice an unpleasant obligation.

One story that has remained especially meaningful to me is Jeff Moss’s The Entertainer, published in Marlo Thomas’s Free to Be… a Family. Its portrayal of a young girl repeatedly expected to perform continues to resonate with my own childhood experiences. It took me more than twenty years to find another copy of that book, and to this day, I cannot read the story without becoming emotional. Exceptional teaching requires recognizing the difference between encouraging excellence and imposing unreasonable expectations. A child’s musical journey should be challenging, rewarding, and, above all, inspiring.

Helping Neurodiverse Children Achieve Their Potential

Another particularly rewarding aspect of my teaching career has involved highly gifted children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, and other developmental or learning differences. Through individualized instruction emphasizing structure, repetition, concentration, motor coordination, and communication, I have helped students develop confidence and skills that extend beyond the keyboard. Among my most meaningful accomplishments has been helping neurodiverse students build the confidence and abilities that supported their successful transition into mainstream educational and social environments. Music can provide an important avenue for self-expression, social participation, and personal achievement, particularly for children who struggle in conventional learning environments. Although piano instruction is not a substitute for specialized educational or therapeutic services, I have witnessed the extraordinary difference that individualized musical instruction can make in a child’s confidence, independence, and sense of accomplishment. My philosophy remains consistent regardless of the student: recognize exceptional abilities, accommodate individual challenges, and never underestimate a child’s potential.
                                              
Every Child Has a Song

After a lifetime devoted to music, performance, education, and the development of young minds, I remain convinced that the piano offers something profoundly valuable. It teaches children to listen - not only to music, but to themselves. It teaches them that mistakes are part of learning, that patience produces progress, and that individual achievement need not be measured against another person’s abilities. Not every child who studies the piano will become a concert pianist, nor should that be the objective. Some will become physicians, attorneys, engineers, entrepreneurs, educators, artists, or leaders in fields that have little apparent relationship to music. But they may carry with them the confidence, discipline, creativity, perseverance, and appreciation of beauty cultivated through their years at the keyboard. A musical composition is made extraordinary not by a single note, but by the relationship among many notes - each contributing something essential to the whole. Children are much the same. Each possesses a distinctive rhythm, an individual voice, and possibilities that may not yet be visible to the world. I below believe our responsibility as parents and educators is not to write their music for them. A mother of five, I believe it is to us as parents to provide them the encouragement, knowledge, confidence, and freedom to discover their own.
                             
Every child is a living note in the song of life. 

Research references: E. Glenn Schellenberg (2004), “Music Lessons Enhance IQ,” Psychological Science; E. Glenn Schellenberg (2006), “Long-Term Positive Associations Between Music Lessons and IQ,” Journal of Educational Psychology.