If you 're a parent reading this page, congratulations on your decision in wanting piano lessons for your children.  This page is an uncanned version of instinctively why this piano teacher thinks that piano does all the things for children that they say it will. 

Why do math and reading skills improve? Here are some uncanned answers: 

Consider a moment that we have ten fingers, all numbered which must be at a certain location on the keyboard at a given moment. That at the same time, the eyes must be reading line numbers and spaces, and the mind must be imagining at the same time where those lines and spaces are on the keyboard in space. Each note is a different frequency and the ear must feed back whether a combination of notes is correct or not. I think we can agree that this is quite a mathematical equation involving arithmetic, and very high level mathematics....for starters.

Now reading skills...why does piano increase reading skills?  Aside from the obvious reading component in piano..... reading music,  there is another component not thought about so much in our highly mechanized society. That is the element of IMAGINATION. When we play a new piece, each one has a meaning in human experience. Each piece requires pictures be formed in the mind. The meaning goes beyond the notes played. Mary Had A Little Lamb or Symphony No. 5 by Beethoven each have their own meaning.  They say: " a picture tells a thousand words". This is the most important reason why piano is so good for children: it stimulates the imagination.

You might say then that piano develops emotional intelligence...that combination of intellect and emotion that we call maturity.  Meeting music and the composers means meeting ourselves...... Hello! 

Reading requires imagination...that is my take on why piano lessons helps reading skills, and why students do so much better who are involved in music in every aspect of life and academics.

Last thought...of all the instruments, piano is easiest because of the logic of the keyboard. This makes it ideal for children... because easy is good.

This is Why Piano.