Give The Gift Of Music For The Present Of A Lifetime

 (NAPSI)—This year, you can make singing holiday songs extra special—when you bring the joy of music home by purchasing a piano.

Here are four reasons having a piano in your home is a gift that keeps on giving.

1. Playing music is good for your health. Even though you’re sitting down, playing the piano is a workout all its own, and offers different physical and physiological advantages to players of all ages. For instance, regular piano playing sharpens fine motor skills and improves hand-eye coordination. Research suggests that piano lessons for older adults have an effect on increased levels of human growth hormone, which slows the adverse effects of aging. Bringing music into your life can also reduce heart and respiratory rates, cardiac complications and blood pressure and increase your immune response. Studying piano has even been shown to amazingly improve memory—particularly verbal memory—and build good habits such as focus and perseverance, diligence and creativity.

2. Playing music can be good for your career. Music has been an important part of the lives of many highly successful people, from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to hedge fund billionaire Bruce Kovner to filmmaker Steven Spielberg. A number of such high achievers say music opened up the pathways to creative thinking and sharpened their qualities of collaboration. It improved their ability to listen and gave them a way of thinking that weaves together disparate ideas with the power to focus on the present and the future simultaneously.

3. Playing piano can make you happy. The piano has been an unparalleled outlet for those seeking to decompress, express their creativity and simply have fun. Plus, studies show that people who make music experience less anxiety, loneliness and depression. In many adults, playing the piano was the most effective activity for reducing cortisol levels related to stress.

4. Playing music is good for your family. For 200 years, the piano has been considered a part of the heart of a home, bringing together family and friends, and strengthening communities with the joy of music. It’s something the whole family can cherish together, at any age and any season.

To help you bring music into your home, you can download the Steinway & Sons Piano Buyer’s Guide at www.steinway.com/buyersguide. It shows how to select the size and style of piano that’s right for you—from new to certified pre-owned to suit just about any budget—and how to locate an authorized dealer.