Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today’s subject is about how playing a second instrument can enhance your piano playing. I grew up studying the piano with my father, Morton Estrin, starting when I was seven and a half years old. He was such a great teacher! Shortly after, our school offered band, orchestra, and chorus. I joined all of them in the fourth grade. I played the French horn. So I had the benefit of playing two instruments. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to only play one instrument.
Once you play a wind instrument, it’s a revelatory moment.
I can tell you from my personal experience that it had a profound effect on me from the very beginning. Of course, the piano helped the French horn because I had a keen understanding of music theory, harmony, counterpoint, and all the things that are hard to imagine on a single-line instrument. But what about the horn and the effect that has had on my piano playing? On the piano, it can be difficult to evoke a sense of a singing line in your playing. Even just singing can help you with that. The piano is a percussion instrument, with all the notes fading out. Playing a wind instrument, you can get a true legato, slurs, and all of that.
When you play an orchestral instrument, you’re playing with other instruments almost all the time.
Whereas on the piano, many of you probably play by yourself predominantly. You don’t get the enriching experience of playing with other musicians. Also, when you’re playing to a conductor, you learn how the pulse of the music can be communicated and how to follow other musicians. You learn how to make a cohesive whole with other people. The entire experience is enriching, and it might encourage you to play chamber music or accompany on the piano with other instruments. There are so many benefits to playing other instruments. Every other instrument you play brings a different level and depth of understanding of music to what you’re able to achieve on the piano.
So if you play another instrument or sing, consider that a benefit to your piano playing!
I’m sure you will also find the reverse to be true. It’s important to be able to conceptualize the keyboard. Playing the piano is a great way to understand intervals and chords. This is why the piano is required of all music majors in colleges, universities, and music conservatories. How many of you play second instruments, and what is it like for you? Let us know in the comments here at LivingPianos.com and on YouTube! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
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3 thoughts on “How Playing a Second Instrument Can Enhance Your Piano Playing”
As a teenager I picked up also the guitar, mostly rock ‘n roll songs, but it expanded the capability of playing the piano. Later in the US, I picked up playing the accordion for the Washington Swiss Folklore group, and I was playing together with a clarinet and a cello, or as an accompaniment to the songs we were singing. Yes, playing with other musicians was also improving my playing on the piano, and it was a lot of fun!
Great advice! I played guitar for many years, and then took up the piano at around age 60 thinking that is how I would finally learn some music theory, and that has prove very true. Anybody can knock out some basic rock and blues on the guitar reasonably well after a few months, but you don’t learn much theory. Piano is another matter entirely. At least is has been for me.
I thought surely there would be some transfer of skills from guitar to piano, but that didn’t seem to be the case. In fact the opposite happened, with the general musical skills, theory and awareness acquired on piano transferring to guitar. I’m playing mainly classical piano, and rock, blues and country on guitar. I play guitar in a band, and, as you have pointed out, there is no substitute for playing with other people if you really want to learn to play well.
One other interesting thing; I read that guitar players have difficulty with piano because the left/right hand coordination technique is very different on the two instruments. And, I must say piano has been very hard for me to learn. But then, as Graham Fitch says so well with his British accent: “Playing the piano is hard… if it was easy, then everybody would be doing it!” You have no doubt heard of Graham Fitch, who has a presence online, teaches at the London Steinway gallery, and is a regular contributor to Pianist Magazine.
Greatly appreciate your videos and write ups!
Yes, I have enjoyed some of Graham Fitch’s videos. And spoiler alert, piano is hard!