After 51 years as a piano man, one local instructor offers his insights into the art he teaches every day.
Scotty McGowan has been teaching piano lessons for generations, with in-home lessons in Reisterstown since 1993. He added virtual lessons in 2020 in response to the pandemic and now, with his wife and partner, Kathy, he manages Scott’s Remote and In-Home Piano and Keyboard Lessons, which boasts 60 students and a team of experienced instructors—one being McGowan himself.
But it all started with the lessons he received from second through eighth grade. And this foundation helped him train his brain in unique ways.
“Playing piano music engages both sides of the brain and helps build pathways to communicate,” he says.
This has also proven to be helpful later in life. Studies have shown that music learning and piano practice increase cognitive function, mood and quality of life in older adults. It’s also thought to encourage brain plasticity.
For parents considering piano lessons for their child, McGowan shares the benefits of learning the instrument and how to overcome challenges often present with practice and pressure to be perfect.
Editor’s note: Portions of the Q&A below have been paraphrased for clarity
What is the ideal age to start learning piano?
I get calls a lot of times [with] people with 3- or 4-year-old kids, and I say 5 ½ to late 5, depending on your kid. Because when kids are younger—and this isn’t a bad thing—it’s a vital and healthy part of development for kids, but kids are not as “grounded” when they’re younger.
They’re still very lost in their imagination and imaginative play, and that makes it difficult for them to focus on things that require more concrete thinking.
How often should students practice and for how long?
The guideline that I tell parents is that if their child is sitting down for 10 or 20 minutes, especially when they’re a beginner, and they’re doing that maybe two to three times a week, or playing through their assigned pieces three times per sitting with at least three [sittings]per week, [this] is very good for young beginners.
I’ve always told people I think half an hour once a week is fine. That’s what I did, and I became a lifelong musician.
What should parents do if their child is enrolled in lessons but doesn’t seem to want to practice?
Parents can use positive reinforcement—maybe [their kids] get to win a trip to “Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.”
The language we use combined with our attitude and approach can also make a big difference. An example may be parents telling their child, “I’d love to hear you play” or “I would really want to hear you play sometime today.”
There can be situations where they really might just need more encouragement, and you kind of have to communicate clearly and get to the heart of it. If you find out they are just being hard on themselves, you can work cooperatively with parents to help them reach their goal. If the kid truly wants to enjoy the process, we want to help them find their highest potential.
Other than the ability to play, what else does learning the piano teach kids?
Learning to play teaches kids to focus. It teaches things like self-discipline and self-esteem—how to be patient with themselves. Kids, for whatever reason, tend to be hard on themselves, and being hard on oneself is honestly like, the worst thing a human being can do.
They need a gentle guiding sensitive hand, like somebody like me and the kind of people I try to hire, to help them to enhance their self-esteem and to realize that they are a human being—however fast or slow they’re progressing, they should just enjoy the moment of just being engaged in the process and developing themselves and their musicianship. It’s not a contest.
Scott McGowan teaches piano in both and English and Spanish and is a self-published author, including two children’s books that cover themes of loss, grief and being different through the character of Brody the Boxer, a beloved dog. Find his books on Amazon and lessons at pianolessonsandmore.com.