Here's some food for thought.

I'm sure you've heard sayings such as "you are what you eat" and "garbage in = garbage out" when looking for a satisfying diet plan for your health.

Over the years studies have shown that a well-balanced diet is important in maintaining the proper bodily function, improving memory, and fighting off diseases such as Alzheimer's or dementia.

Yes, all of that is true, and taking up music lessons does help in slowing down the aging process.

However, just like how any musical instrument must be properly tuned in order to sound and perform at its best, the same it is with your mind.  Yes, your mind, not your brain is your most vital musical instrument. We can feed our brain with all sorts of yummy and nutritious foods that keep it at its peak performance. Unfortunately, when our mind is under constant anxiety and stress, regardless of what food goes in, the mind will produce garbage out.

The Tripartite Nature of Men and Women

We tend to forget that our bodies come in 3 parts: the physical body that we see in the mirror, the emotional/intellectual which is our spirit, and finally, a soul which is the combination of all three.  You can say in fact that you are a 3-stringed instrument!  When you look at yourself in this regard, you can perhaps better understand how if one part of you is out of tune, the rest goes out of tune just the same.  It's the same effect as guitar strings being out of tune.  One bad apple spoils the bunch.

For this reason, it is important to no only feed the body with nutrition but the mind too.  This is where musical inspiration ultimately comes from.  Taking time to meditate and clear your mind from the daily grind and stress is an important step before picking up your instrument to play.  Go out for a walk in the park or the woods, go to an art gallery, spend some time with your pets, head out by the lake or river, or whatever place you can find that you can retreat to and charge your batteries. 

Feed your mind with good food.  With everything going on in the world today, we're being reminded that we can't always depend on what a doctor or bureaucrat says is good for our health.  The one good thing about playing an instrument is that if kept in proper working order, it will always bring you the truth. People and their rules for life change, but a musical note will always remain the same, no matter what instrument it's played on.

Sources:

1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifercohen/2015/02/05/12-best-foods-to-boost-brain-power/
2. http://www.psychologytoday.com/the-resilient-brain/201410/dark-chocolate-good
3. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/your-brain-on-food
4. https://www.brainfacts.org/neuroscience-in-society/the-arts-and-the-brain/2017/art-music-and-the-brain-how-the-arts-influence-us-021617
5. https://nypost.com/2021/09/07/wuhan-lab-documents-show-fauci-untruthful-about-research-critics/
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3115284/

Congratulations!

You finally decided to take up piano lessons. Perhaps you have been thinking about taking lessons for a while but never came around to it for one reason or the other.

Now that you finally got your hands into the groove you're probably wondering what type of practice routine you should adopt. Of course, this will depend on where you want to take your new musical adventures. For some people they want a simple hobby to pass the time with every now and then while for others they might want to take a more serious approach and perhaps build a career around their musical talent.

Regardless of the method and frequency, you decide for how long your practice sessions should be, you should do your best to give your full attention and have a post tube and relaxed attitude as you play.

Tame Your Mind

Because playing music engages the whole brain do you want to make sure that you begin each practice session by taking a few moments to take a few deep breaths, close your eyes, and relax until you feel the tension leave your body.

This is important because most of us spend our time looking up or down at a screen and our attention for the most part is carried away by so many random thoughts; be it from what's happening at work or at home or on social media. It's hard to stay focused when we have so many things going on in our minds. Do yourself a favor and disengage from the world around you so you can focus on the world within.

Don't Give Up

it takes time to develop proper hand and finger dexterity while building muscle memory during your piano practice. don't be hard on yourself or get overly frustrated if the piece you're trying to learn or compose is taking a long time to master. We all have our own pace and our own style of learning. It's normal to make mistakes and sometimes it might take weeks or months or even years to get that one piece right.

The only wrong note you will ever play is the one that is played without passion or done out of haste and frustration.

Take Care Of Your Body

Just like the strings on the piano or a guitar need to be tuned in order to play perfectly your body, mind, and spirit when in tune will provide you with peak performance not just with your music but also in other areas of your life.

You will feel more focused and alert with better concentration at your usual tasks. In many cases, you will find an added boost of energy to your vitality.

A proper diet will help you immensely as well. Don't practice on an empty stomach or if you finished working a double shift and are lacking sleep. 

When And How Often?

To be honest with you here's what I think.

I've heard so many excuses in the past for people not making time to practice. However, by some miracle, they find the time to spend hours looking at useless information on social media no matter what time of day or night it is.

If you're one of these people then you certainly can't afford to take the time to create a stable routine for your new life's passion. Yes, I'm calling it a life passion because let's face it; whether we realize it or not we use music to express how we feel and our emotions several times a day. We listen to music to motivate and comfort us in the best and worst of times.  Music is also very healing and in the times we're living in today we could all use a little extra healing. When you think about it that way it makes you realize how much more important each time you sit in front of your piano is. 

If you can devote 30 to 60 minutes daily or every other day to simple mindful piano practice your life will improve in many ways that you never thought possible before. They say when you do physical exercise that it takes 20 to 25 minutes for your body to start burning fat. Using that same analogy at least 30 minutes of mindful practice will help you to retain what you learned much easier and will improve your memory over time.

Piano or music practice should not be a chore or something that you should be forced into doing. It should be something that you approach with a pleasant attitude each time. Just like a get-together with an old friend that will never let you down and will always be there for you no matter how long it's been since being apart.

I look forward to hearing about your musical journeys. Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts and experiences

Sources:

1. https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/07/music-moves-brain-to-pay-attention-stanford-study-finds.html
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6502424/
3. https://www.mcgill.ca/spl/files/spl/palmermemory.pdf
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3115284/
5. https://wp.stolaf.edu/musician-health/nutrition-eating-and-singing/
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3814522/