Studying piano from the age of 30, cerebral plasticity

A lot of people ask this question. And it is normal to have doubts because musical learning is usually linked to starting at an early age. They have not always said that music has to be studied from an early age, that children learn very quickly and that adults become clumsy and slow.

The classic argumentation was a real annihilator of creativity, motivation and personal improvement. But it is true that until recently it was not easy to refute these arguments.

And what has changed in these years that makes the paradigm shift possible? Well, mainly new neuroscientific research and the discovery of “brain plasticity”.

Surely on many occasions you have heard of the fact that over the years neurons are lost and these are not created again. Well, this is partly true, but the brain plasticity goes the other way. Human beings use between 5 and 10% of their brain capacity. I mean, there are plenty of neurons…

I’m sure you’ll be interested in…

• Ranking with the best digital pianos in quality-price ratio
• The cheapest musical keyboards for beginners
• Learn piano by yourself and for free

In the last 10 years new neuronal studies have shown that it is possible to train neurons. So that they learn to do tasks that were not previously assigned to them. In other words, new connections and neural networks can be generated. So that new skills are acquired with proper practice and those neural networks endure over time.

This ability of any neuron to learn new things and be able to perform new functions is what is known as brain plasticity. At first it was mainly applied to people who had had brain damage and who had lost function. Basically, other areas of the brain were taught to do what damaged neurons did before.

This capacity of the neurons apart from being very useful in rehabilitation destroyed a paradigm. An adult can generate new neural structures with proper training, and literally anyone can become smarter than they used to be. You can train intelligence like a muscle.

Having explained the above, it goes without saying that this is changing the whole world of education. What you haven’t learned as a child, you can learn as an adult. And even better.

An adult with “well-trained” intelligence can be much better and learn faster than a child. Although it is true that the adult is subjected to other difficulties. Mainly lack of time, difficulty concentrating due to stress and a little less vitality. But vitality is one thing and intelligence is another, they are different variables.

An adult has to train to be smarter and learn new things, especially if he or she has never done so. But he’s got one thing the kid doesn’t have. And it’s motivation and knowing what he wants so he can appreciate the potential that playing a musical instrument such as the piano can bring him.

Well, in short, can you play the piano from the age of 30? The answer is yes and you can reach a professional or very advanced level perfectly. In order to do this, we have to take the vitality out of the motivation, because the child usually beats us in vitality. But knowing what you want is an unstoppable engine.

So don’t just accept traditional paradigms. We have already explained to you that scientifically it is already known that you can be smarter and train your constancy. The important thing is that you form yourself intelligently and in order not to lose your motivation. Your brain plasticity will do the rest and it’ll get easier and easier.Studying music increases your neural connections, they explain it very well in the following video:

We hope that we have answered the question that many people ask themselves. In my case I tell you that I also started in adult music and now I dedicate myself to it professionally. And I feel a lot smarter and smarter than when I was 14.

Don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done! And if you think this post can be useful to someone, don’t hesitate to share it on social networks. This post is part of our mega guide to learn piano and keyboard . On the other hand if you want to learn in a self-taught way we recommend our selection with the best digital platforms to learn piano. Technology is opening up many possibilities and I’m sure the post will surprise you.

What is your opinion? Leave your comment 🙂

 

Grand Piano Brands. How Much Does a Piano Cost?

Grand pianos are the most expensive because they require the largest amount of materials and their manufacturing process is the most laborious.

On the other hand they are the ones that have a more powerful sound and tend to be made with the best materials. Evidently they’re not for everyone.

When it comes to having a grand piano, you have to take into account that they take up a lot more space, so you’ll have to have it so that it makes sense to buy one of these fantastic instruments.

I’m sure you’ll be interested in…

• Ranking with the best digital pianos in quality-price ratio
• The cheapest musical keyboards for beginners
• Learn piano by yourself and for free

It should be noted that there are brands that enjoy a great reputation for being old manufacturers but it does not mean that their pianos are the best. Some brands aware of this have thought that this reputation is enough to continue selling without necessarily betting on quality.

How much does a grand piano cost?

Grand pianos are usually expensive for the reasons explained above. On the one hand, we have low range grand pianos from €10,000, medium range pianos from €20,000 and the high range that could be considered in pianos from €40,000.

What are the best brands of grand piano?

There are many brands of grand pianos, but if we base ourselves on criteria of renown and historical reputation we can name the following brands.

Steinway And Sons

An original brand from Germany for more than 200 years, he also founded another factory in America in 1853. Historically it is one of the best known manufacturers and for a long time were the most purchased pianos. His models during the nineteenth century were exported throughout the colonial world of the time. It has a cheaper brand called Boston that’s manufactured in China.

Yamaha

Yamaha is today the largest manufacturer of musical instruments on the planet, was founded by Torakusu Yamaha in 1889 and is one of the most reliable brands that exist. Their quality systems are tremendously reliable. There are few brands that maintain this consistency and reliability in all their instruments.

Schimmel

One of Europe’s largest manufacturers, founded in 1885, is famous for introducing numerous innovations to its pianos. He makes expensive, high-quality pianos

Bechstein-Zimmermann

Beschstein of 1853 is one of the best-known high-end brands in the world. But under the name of Zimmermann or Hoffman it makes more affordable but good quality grand pianos.

Petrof

From 1864, it is the largest piano factory in Europe. It manufactures several ranges but is famous for also manufacturing parts for other brands.It is important to bear in mind that nowadays many piano parts are manufactured in China; it is another matter that the assembly is produced in another country.

The truth is that all these brands have numerous product series and there can be a lot of difference from one to another. So it’s not easy to judge a brand without taking a look at its entire catalog.

Yamaha Vs Bechstein Vs Petrof vs Steinway and Sons

Well, if we wanted to make a comparison of the brands this is not at all easy as we have commented before each one of the factories articles of various qualities and ranges. But we could talk about one factor and that is: who maintains more constant proportional quality in each of its products?

Answering the previous question we decided without a doubt for Yamaha, because not only do we know her from the world of the grand piano, but we also know that she makes wonderful instruments of all kinds. These instruments come out of the factory perfectly tuned and usually don’t need adjustments until after a while.

A good example of a Yamaha piano can be the Yamaha C3X which is usually around 28,000 euros, this is one of the most balanced pianos that can be found for its price and is one of the best selling in the world. Here we leave you a video to listen to its sound.

Although of course if your budget is much larger, you can already go to other models in which certain brands are unmatched. It is true that Yamaha seeks more to give a professional product of high quality but with less luxury.

If you are willing to pay more than 100,000 € you can find the tremendous Steinway Grand Series D, evidently this will be an unmatched piano and the quality of its materials tremendous. A real luxury, then we leave you a video in which you can see how this marvel of technique sounds.

Yamaha also manufactures models to compete for over €100,000 but there the truth is that the Steinway Grand D series is difficult to beat. If you know English, this video review is very interesting; the Steinway model is compared to the high-end Yamaha S6. A good video that can clear up many doubts if you want to see an option in Yamaha.

Buy a second hand grand piano

Well, this is a very interesting option. You can save a lot of money if you do it well but you have to be very careful if you don’t know a lot about pianos. Even if you have a medium level piano you can lose a lot of money if you buy a second-hand high-end piano and it has a very broken mechanism.

Be prudent, it makes no sense to be willing to spend more than 50,000 on a product and not properly check your purchase. If you want to value the purchase of a second-hand grand piano do so by following these steps.

• Look for three or four that might interest you in your city or surroundings. Find out the price of that piano firsthand or how much it cost in your day.
• Once you have the list find yourself a piano luthier or an experienced private teacher. If he is a teacher ask him if he is able to evaluate the state of a piano and its credentials. Agree to pay for a few hours of your time to accompany you to check the pianos.
• It is true that you may pay for these services without finding the piano you want, as they may not recommend the purchase if they are in very poor condition. But you will win in two ways: you could have lost a lot more money and if you have really found a good offer you will know for sure and you can have a wonderful piano by investing a little in its restoration. To consider it a wonderful purchase we must think that the purchase plus the restoration should come out for 60% of the original price at most.

We hope that you have used these tips, if you think this post can be useful to someone do not hesitate to share it on social networks 🙂 Thank you for reading it!

 

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Care and maintenance of grand and upright pianos