A couple of years ago, I was walking the Beltline here in Atlanta during our local Pianos for Peace festival, where artists decorate old pianos and just leave them out along the trail for anyone to sit down and play. My friend Shawnna and I make a tradition of it every year — we walk, we find a piano, I play, she takes pictures.
That particular day, I was in the middle of “Piano Man” when a guy on his lunch break wandered over and just started singing along. We moved on to “The Way We Were” (him doing his best Streisand, no shame about it either). Turned out he worked at one of the studios nearby, and he told me he’d always wanted to do a little lunchtime concert for his coworkers but never had anyone to accompany him. So he hired me. I’ve gone back a few times since to play for him.
None of that happens without a piano sitting out in public, waiting for someone to find it.
That’s really what Piano Month is about for me — not the practicing, not the theory drills (though we’ll get to those), just the simple fact that a piano within reach tends to get played. September is National Piano Month, and I wanted to spend it celebrating that a little, with you and your kids.
Download Our Free Piano Coloring Book
First things first — I put together a free piano coloring book for the occasion, and it’s not just something to keep little hands busy (though it will absolutely do that too). Coloring takes real precision and control, and that’s the same fine motor work your child is building every time they sit at the piano. Think of it as cross-training for tiny fingers.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FREE COLORING BOOK
I’d try it as a warm-up before practice, or just as a low-pressure creative break sometime during the day. Either way, it’s five quiet minutes that keep their hands limber and their love for music simmering in the background.
A Few Fun Piano Facts (For the Dinner Table or the Practice Bench)
I love a good fact your kid can whip out to sound impressively smart. Here are a few of my favorites — steal them for dinner conversation, or quiz your student with them during a practice break:
- The piano was invented in Italy — home to a whole lot of the instruments we still play today.
- Its original name was the pianoforte, Italian for “soft-loud,” which is really just a description of the whole reason it was invented: unlike its predecessors, it could play both quiet and loud, depending on how hard you struck the key.
- We can thank (or blame, depending on the day) an Italian instrument maker named Bartolomeo Cristofori, who built the first one around the year 1700.
- A standard modern piano has 88 keys: 52 white, 36 black.
- And here’s the one that gets me every time — a modern piano has around 12,000 individual parts, and more than 10,000 of them move. Your kid is operating actual machinery over there.
If your family wants to go deeper, this podcast episode is a fun, kid-friendly walk through the piano’s whole history.
Why Coloring Actually Helps Your Future Pianist
Here’s the thing about playing piano that people don’t always think about — it’s not just a musical skill, it’s a physical one. Fine motor control, the ability to move the small muscles in the hands and fingers with real precision, is what lets a pianist control the keys, shape dynamics, and eventually play something complicated without their fingers tripping over themselves.
Coloring builds that same dexterity, in a much lower-stakes way. So if your child colors regularly, they’re quietly training for the piano bench without even realizing it. I love a two-for-one.
Let’s Celebrate All Month
This is just the start of what I’ve got planned for Piano Month. I’ll be sharing more resources, activities, and honestly a few pictures of the beautifully painted pianos I find around Atlanta during Pianos for Peace — so make sure you’re following along on Facebook or Instagram so you don’t miss any of it.
Go download your free coloring book, and if your kid makes something they’re proud of, share it and tag me — use @busymomsdopiano so I can see it. I love nothing more than a colorful little masterpiece in my feed.
Happy Piano Month, friends. Keep practicing.
