There are many great reasons to want to learn to play the piano, some of them are personal and some of the reasons are more social oriented, but all of them are really great.
I have heard that some older people want to learn to play the piano because it is one way of keeping the brain active, so to hopefully keep dementia from not occurring or at the very least, to delay the onset. I am no medical person, but it does seem a reasonable idea, that is, by using the brain as much as possible then it can delay or halt dementia – the whole ‘use it or lose it’ philosophy.
Some older people want to learn to play the piano, to keep their hands and fingers from stiffening up because of age. I can relate to this one as I already have arthritis in some of my larger joints and I don’t want it to affect my hands at all. For me, continuing to play the piano will help me keep my hands and fingers moving.
Some want to learn to play the piano because they absolutely love the sound of the piano – it is their favorite instrument and they just love listening to piano music.
Other people want to learn to play the piano because they want to use it as a means to be sociable. What I mean by this is that some people like performing for others and some people like the idea of making music as part of a group. I am not talking about a professional group here, instead I am talking about making music with other family members or friends, or maybe a church group. Making music with other people can certainly be a very enjoyable activity.
Some people want to learn to play the piano simply because it is next on their list of what they want to learn next. There are ones that enjoy the process of learning and how it can impact and change previously held thoughts and ideas.
All of the above listed reasons are good enough reasons to start to learn to play the piano. However, there is one reason that tops them all – the fact that you just want to play the piano. Sometimes it is impossible to put into words the internal drive that compels a person to want to play the piano. For me as an individual, the drive that keeps me playing the piano is that it is not an extra thing to do but rather it is a part of me and if I did not play the piano, a part of me would be missing and incomplete. I think this is the best reason of all to want to play the piano.