The Best Way for Seniors to Learn to Play Piano
The main challenge of learning piano for seniors
Have you always wanted to be able to just sit down and play the piano for your own enjoyment or to entertain your friends and family? Playing the piano can seem like a difficult skill to learn, especially for seniors.
People that don’t yet play the piano often try many routes to learn: video tutorials, reading books, and buying online courses, but many of these approaches leave you feeling either lost or just unfulfilled.
The secret ingredients for senior piano students
Older adults need two basic ingredients to successfully play piano: a simple way to learn the practical piano skills they need to play the songs they love and the motivation to complete a song without hitting too many hurdles along the way.
If you’ve tried to learn piano in the past, you will be happy to learn that there is now a piano teaching method that is designed specifically for adult learners, but adults new to the piano (“piano-yearners”) and those who used to play or take lessons years ago and have recently developed the desire to regain and build on their current piano skills (“piano-returners”).
Whether you are a “yearner” or a “returner” and want to finally learn to play the piano take a look at the VIRTUOSO method, developed by piano coach Leon Harrell. It consists of 3 main components: short piano skill-building lessons, a vibrant community of fellow music-makers, and a focus on learning to play the songs you love.
The easiest way to build your piano skills
The VIRTUOSO method is based on the simple learning approach of “Hear it, See it, Say it, Play it!” This 4 step learning loop is embedded in every VIRTUOSO lesson. Adult learners often struggle to play new music by sight-reading.
HEAR IT - With VIRTUOSO, your first goal is to simply listen to the musical example you will be learning. By listening your brain has a way to build a framework to compare what you are playing to what you are hearing.
SEE IT - For your next goal, watch the provided music notation for the example. Beginners will start with learning to play from examples that just use numbers and letters, no notes or musical notation is needed. By watching the written music, as you listen, your brain is training your eye to follow along with the printed music. This helps take away the conscious effort needed to “read” music. You are training your eyes to move on auto-pilot, along with the timing of the music.
SAY IT - Your next goal is to say out loud, the musical concepts from the learning example. For instance, if you are learning how to play chords, you will say out loud the names of the chords as you listen a second time to the example. By speaking, your brain keeps your focus on what to do with your hands before you begin trying to use them to play.
PLAY IT - Your last goal is to play the musical example on the piano. By now you have given your mind a chance to take in all the needed information to play the song at a comfortable pace. By waiting until this step to play, you have given your hands the very best chance at coordinating properly to create the music you want to play.
Social connection helps you stay the course
Adult piano students run the risk of giving up before they really master playing a new song. This is usually caused by either boredom or a lack of particular piano skills needed to play a song smoothly. With VIRTUOSO piano lessons, you get access to a vibrant community of like-minded adult learners that have similar hurdles and challenges. By discussing and sharing your progress with your peers in online group lessons and the VIRTUOSO discussion board, learning new music becomes fun again because it’s much easier to stay motivated along with the group.
Play the songs you love
“Twinkle, twinkle, little star” … no, no, no. Senior students want to play real songs, the songs they love. The VIRTUOSO method is designed to teach you how to play real music, starting with the essentials of playing chords, rhythmic patterns, and ways to play musical melodies with confidence and style. No more nursery rhymes or songs that just don’t inspire you to play. Learn to read chords and lead sheets quickly so you can begin playing a wide range of songs that you and the people you play piano around will love.
Take the first step, right now
If you’ve been looking for a way to learn to play piano but just keep putting it off, try the VIRTUOSO method today. It’s totally free and designed for adult students just like you who have struggled to build their piano skills in the past. For a limited time, the Piano Jumpstart course is totally free, and enrollment is open now. Start the free course now, and let me know if you find the VIRTUOSO method helpful like these students did.
