Winter of 2025, Piano & More students shared their musical talent by celebrating the winter holidays with senior citizens.

Our Winter Recital was not just about performing music. We thought about taking it an extra step. Music is a universal language- everyone enjoys music, especially around the holidays! Music can easily become a bridge, connecting generations through shared moments of joy.
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Across December and January, our students performed for senior homes throughout Arlington, McLean, Falls Church, and Washington DC. It was a great reminder of of the power of music and also, what the holidays are all about. Bringing people together and celebrating together.

There is something special that happens when children perform for seniors.
For students, the experience shifts the focus from perfection to purpose. They learn that their music can comfort, spark memories, and bring happiness to someone else. Performing for seniors helps students understand that music is not just something you practice. It is something you share.
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For residents, watching children perform brings warmth, nostalgia, and opportunity to build another connection. Many seniors smiled, clapped along, and shared stories from their own holiday memories. Music became a shared language that crossed generations.

Here's a list of some of the senior homes our students had the privilege of performing at for the Winter Recital:

• Inspīr Embassy Row
• Vierra 
• VIE Village
• Vitality Living
• Sunrise Senior Living

Each community welcomed our students with kindness and enthusiasm, creating an atmosphere that felt supportive, joyful, and deeply meaningful. Thank you so much for having us!

Recitals included student performances followed by a simple holiday craft activity with the residents. Sitting together to create, talk, and share stories gave students the chance to build real relationships and practice empathy in action.

​These moments reminded students that music has the power to bring people together, no matter their age.

By holding Winter Recitals across both December and January, we were able to extend the spirit of the season and reach more senior communities. These experiences helped students grow in confidence while seeing firsthand how music can brighten someone’s day.
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As we reflect this January 2026, we are incredibly proud of our students and grateful to our partner senior homes for welcoming them so warmly.

Using music to connect generations is at the heart of what we do at Piano & More. When children and seniors come together through music, something lasting is created for everyone involved. 💜🎶

General intelligence gains after a year of lessons. In a randomized study, children assigned to music lessons increased full-scale IQ by 7.0 points vs 4.3 points in controls across one year, which is a 63% greater IQ gain relative to control improvement. “Music Lessons Enhance IQ” by Glenn Schellenberg (2004) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15270994/

Source: This study is the first to directly test the hypothesis that music training transfers to cognitive intelligence. https://www.artsedsearch.org/study/music-lessons-enhance-iq/ ​

Starting training before age 7 is associated with stronger white-matter connectivity in the corpus callosum compared to later starters, indicating a timing advantage, though not reported as a “90%” figure. Journal of Neuroscience, 2013
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Source: A sensitive period is defined as a developmental window where experience has long-lasting effects on the brain and behavior (Knudsen, 2004). https://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/3/1282 ​

This week, Piano & More hosted something brand new for our community for our first Halloween Open Mic, where performers came in costumes and enjoyed face painting. It was a magical mix of music, confidence, and spooky fun at Westover Beer Garden in Arlington.

Fact: Studies show kids who regularly perform music in front of others become more comfortable with public speaking and self-expression.

​Why It Matters
Not every child is a natural performer and that’s okay. But stepping onto a small stage or even playing for family at home helps build courage, little by little. Whether it’s a school talent show or a piano recital, music gives students a chance to shine, be cheered for, and learn how to share their gifts. The more they do it, the more natural it feels.

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“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” – Plato
Source: Psychology of Music – Performance and Youth Confidence

Fact: Expressing emotions through music gives kids a safe outlet to explore who they are and how they feel, which can support emotional growth and self-awareness.
Why It Matters
Kids don’t always have the words to say what they’re feeling, but music gives them another language to express themselves. When a student connects with a song or writes their own melody, they’re learning how to trust their voice. It’s not about being loud. It’s about being authentic. And that’s where real confidence begins.
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“Self-expression through music is not just cathartic—it’s empowering.” – Brené Brown
​Source: Journal of Youth Development – Arts & Identity

Fact: Playing an instrument activates more areas of the brain at once than any other known activity, including areas tied to memory, movement, hearing, and emotion.

Why It Matters
Over 2,000 years ago, Plato recognized the power of music and today, neuroscience is proving him right. When a person reads music, coordinates both hands, listens for pitch, and expresses feeling (all at the same time), they’re developing complex multitasking abilities that strengthen the brain’s executive function. This kind of mental workout helps children and adults become better problem-solvers, more adaptable learners, and more emotionally regulated individuals. It’s no wonder researchers often refer to music as “cognitive cross-training.” 
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Quote
“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning..” – Plato

Why “Fun” Is the Most Underrated Strategy in Music Education

When most people think of music lessons, they think discipline, drills, and technique. And while those things have their place, at Piano & More, we’ve found something else just as important. It's something that actually makes all of those other things stick and lasting: fun.

That's right. Fun. Joy. Laughter. Play. It’s not a distraction, it’s a strategy.

Today’s kids are juggling a lot. Between school, sports, extracurriculars, and social pressures, they’re constantly scheduled and overwhelmed. So when music lessons feel like just another task on their to-do list, what happens? They disengage. They grow to hate practicing. And eventually... they quit.

That’s why we believe music lessons should be a source of joy, not stress. Our goal is to deliver music education in a way where our students fall in love with it so much, they crave to play for a lifetime. 

Here are four key reasons why making lessons fun is one of the most effective teaching strategies we use.

We talk to a lot of parents and ask them about their own music experiences. Sadly, what we hear too often is, "I used to take piano lessons, but I don't play anymore." When we ask why, we learn it's mainly because the experience was negative, stressful, or too overwhelming. So we took it upon ourselves at Piano & More, to change the way music education was being taught. We take fun seriously because we know the emotional impact of learning.

Maya Angelou said it best: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

When a child associates their instrument with stress or pressure, it becomes a lifelong deterrent. We want our students to remember lessons as a positive part of their life. 

There’s actual science behind this: when you enjoy an experience, your brain is more engaged, open, and capable of absorbing new information. Fun boosts dopamine, which improves memory and retention. When our students enjoy lessons, they want to practice. They feel inspired. They engage more deeply and learn more quickly.  They even test the boundaries on their own, willingly playing for friends or for their school's talent show. And that's, what leads to real results. 

Our studio waitlist is full of students who ARE ALREADY TAKING LESSONS. How is that you ask? Why would a student want to join your music studio when they are already enrolled in music lessons? Because parents see how our students are excited to play for others. They are happy musicians. 

"Practice hard, not hardly," my childhood piano teacher would remind me at the end of every lesson. But what does "practice hard" actually mean? What does it look like?
 
Time is usually a good way to measure a practice session, especially in terms of accountability.  When I first began teaching, I would follow this chart:
 
Practice Chart
Beginner: 15-20 minutes 4-5 times a week
Intermediate: 30 minutes 5-6 times a week
Advanced: 45-60+ minutes 5-6 times a week
 
I still say it’s a good generalized chart to use on almost any developing skill, but it didn’t take long before I realized something was off. I would find my students still stumbling over songs after a week or two of practicing. I began to wonder how much of those 30 minutes were actually used for sharpening the brain. As we all know, quality is better than quantity. There are practicing methods that are better than others.
 
So let’s talk details:
 

1. Warm up: 5 minutes
Beginners: scales, chords, easy pattern exercises
Intermediate/Advanced: advanced scales, chord progressions, Hanon and/or Czerny technique exercises
 
Why? Warm-ups feel like a waste of time. I know- I also thought the same. But, warm-ups actually make piano playing easier. They strengthen your finger muscles, improve techniques and build better mind control. With your control and technique grounded, it will be much easier to read and play a song. Save some frustration and do your warm-ups.
 

2. Note reading: 10-20 minutes
All levels should practice their assigned notes ON REPEAT. Before, I’d say “Practice this for 10 minutes”, but I’ve found that saying “Practice this piece 5 times” worked better. If you don’t repeat, your brain can never build on those new connections being formed.
 
Now be sure to pay attention to this, because here’s the trick to learning faster. You’ve got to dissect the song - such as practicing the left and right hand separately, and then breaking the song into sections.  Practice section one 3-5 times before moving on to the next section. Then combine section 1 and 2, before learning the third. The smaller the sections, the better- especially if you’re a beginner. This allows the brain to familiarize the finger patterns and notes, so then your muscle memory can kick in, which allows the brain to relax and focus on less. Anytime you overwhelm your brain, you move backwards. Not to mention, you will hate the learning process. Double backwards.
 

3. Listening Exercises: 10-15 minutes, or even 5 minutes several times a day
A favorite of mine is learning songs by ear, which I heavily implement in every student’s lesson. We tend to look forward to this part. Since we depend on our ear and memory, I tell my students it’s important to practice this particular song several times a day (especially in the beginning) so you don’t forget the music. I tell them, “play it after our lesson, before you go to bed, and first thing in the morning- just to check that you haven’t forgotten it.” I come back a week later, and they’ve got it perfected. It works.
 
 
You will find that this practice session looks very similar to the lessons I give. Yes, I’m glad you noticed. Now you’ll see, you’ve known how to practice all along.
 
One more thing- notice in the Practice Chart, I mentioned how many times in a week one should practice. This is especially important because repetition is gold. You can have the 20-30 minute practice session perfected to every detail, but if you do that just 1-2 times a week, it’ll take us forever to move forward. Just like any hobby, you cannot get better at basketball or mathematical times tables without repeating the practice several times in a week. For example, let's say you're busy all week and only have time on the weekends, so you decide to make up for the time lost and put in several hours into one session. Then you get too busy for the next 5 days, and repeat another cramming session. That method of learning will take much longer and before you know it, discouragement sets in. You see, the brain forgets, and you will waste your time trying to remember the new things you've learned rather than building on them. So yes, 15-20 minutes 5-6 times a week is going to get you farther than 3-4 hours on the weekend.
 
I am a firm believer in practicing- there's no way to reach your goals without it. However, I am also a firm believer in fun. If practicing causes constant emotional struggle, there is something wrong. Something needs to change. If you continue to grind against resistance, soon the brain will begin to flash PIANO = BAD. Once you get to that point, it will be very difficult to reverse, and the changes necessary will need to be more drastic and will involve more time.  If you are a parent or a student who struggles with practice, please don’t continue just grinding on. You might’ve skipped an important step. My next blog, “My Child Doesn’t Want to Practice” can help redirect to a better approach.