“Even in the 10 years that we've been open, I have seen such a shift, just in the social climate of our students,” said Sarah Davies, The Piano Place founder. “I love that music is making them slow down, unplug and really tap into what's going on inside of them.”

It wasn’t until later in life that Sarah Davies, founder of The Piano Place, realized how much music could do for not only her mood but for her mental health. It’s something that she now incorporates into her teaching philosophy.

Davies grew up like a lot of us in Utah, taking piano lessons that required practice outside of the actual lesson weekly, which some of us grew to resent rather than love.

After taking piano lessons for several years, she decided to quit lessons in the sixth grade, but never actually quit the piano. She said her mom “would often say, ‘Why do you want to quit piano when you're always playing?’”

“During that time, I actually felt like a shift within myself — I felt like I didn't have a creative outlet,” she said. “And so it was really crazy, because I kept turning to music and even though I wasn't in lessons, my mom said I would just still constantly be playing.”

I feel like a lot of times I would play, depending on my mood,” she continued. “If I was frustrated or feeling antsy about something, I would go and I'd play fast songs, and I'd want to get all my energy out that way, and sometimes I'd be feeling more calm and wanting to be inspired.”

Davies restarted lessons in 10th grade and with more enthusiasm than before. Every Saturday morning at 6 a.m. for the next two years, her mother would drive her 30 minutes to visit her piano teacher and play.

Her journey from that point set her in motion on a path of music where she played professionally at The Roof Restaurant in Salt Lake City on the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building before teaching lessons out of her house.

“As it was a good outlet for me, I don't think I was aware of what power music could play in someone's mental health, until I actually started teaching piano,” she said. “It was with my very own students that I began to see how important it is, especially for kids, to have an outlet to turn to.”

She noticed that music could be a positive influence on her students’ mental health in a world saturated with “social media and different things like that, that kids are going through a lot when it comes to friends and socially.”

Music,
the
invaluable
and
unlikely
tool

“Even in the 10 years that we've been open, I have seen such a shift, just in the social climate of our students,” she said. “I love that music is making them slow down, unplug and really tap into what's going on inside of them.”

“They've got to dig deep. They've got to learn to sit in the heart,” she said. “And I just love that music is the venue that they can explore all of those amazing things.”

With technology on the rise, Davies expressed concern about AI in addition to the tech already flooding the world.

“I don't think we want to find out what happens mentally when we don't have the influence of music in our lives, and instead, just turn it over to technology to fill in the gaps,” she said.

Music therapist of 18 years, Camille Savage, has worked with a range of ages from children to adults. She said that the type of music we choose to listen to usually has a lot to do with our emotions and our memory.

Mostly working with those with dementia, Savage said music uses a part of the brain that can stimulate memories and emotional responses from different periods in one’s life.

“Music hits the memory, the parts of the brain where the memory is,” Savage said. “Dementia patients may not be able to form a whole sentence anymore — that's a different part of the brain — but they can sing a whole song with me.”

It works the same for children, she said. For example, a mother singing to a child that makes them feel safe and secure could help the child later in life feel that same emotion when they hear that same song.

Different instruments can be different outlets depending on the needs of the student, Savage said. For instance, drumming can be a form of stress relief or an outlet for aggression, even for deaf students.

She called music “motivating” for people, even students to learn math.

“Music is definitely powerful,” Savage said. “The more that we're able to express in healthy ways, I think the healthier mentally that we can be and using it as a means of expression.”

At The Piano Place, concerts have always been a big part of building positive attributes such as confidence and resiliency.

“As a parent, there is nothing better than seeing your kid accomplish something hard, or stand up on a stage and be brave,” she said. “Those moments are just absolutely priceless. And so that's one thing at The Piano Place we really emphasize.”

Davies called the ages before 12 years old as the “critical years” when laying the foundation for children to develop musical skills is the most important, with the ideal length of five years. 

She said that important time is for more than just building musical talent, it’s to build resiliency and “a refuge that they can turn to and build confidence.”

In 2016, The Piano Place was built on the “core of the mission is to just figure out a way to make music fun enough and engaging enough that kids will want to stick with it.”

“For us, we are trying to help families recognize the importance of investing in a music education,” she said. “We get that it's not easy, we get that it's hard, but it is so valuable for these kids.”

The Piano Place has 12 locations in Utah and is part of a larger parent company, One Music Schools, with 12 more national locations, that employs 320 music teachers.

“Even if somebody doesn't know how to play an instrument, I think it would be important to be able to spend some time in looking over at the things that we listen to, the concerts that we go to, and really be aware of how that all does affect us,” Savage said.