Pianos Are There To Play, Not Pay For

I grew up playing piano. A self-taught hobby, it became my second outlet to express whatever was in my head. When I came to Miami Dade College, I hoped to continue that hobby and further its growth—until I was met with the Wolfson Campus music department’s restrictions.

According to the music department, the pianos housed in two practice rooms are available solely for students who are majoring in music-related fields or are taking a music class. While the reason is certainly an understandable one—to prevent students with no experience from tampering with the instruments— it gives the impression that you must pay to learn music.

That impression is one that runs counter to what MDC is. A school that labels itself as “Democracy’s College” shouldn’t force its students to pay for the right to learn an instrument, especially when some students want to teach themselves.

This isn’t just based off my personal beliefs. In a 2014 National Geographic article, Diane Cole laid out multiple reasons why learning instruments, especially while older, can help improve cognitive functions and increase awareness. That’s besides the added skill and opportunities learning an instrument can provide. To put it simply, life gets better when you learn music.

Which makes the music department’s policy all the more confusing. By requiring students to either take music classes or enroll within the music department—thereby paying money—they’re making it harder for students to better themselves, and that isn’t acceptable.

MDC disagrees. According to Juan Mendieta, director of communications for the College, the rooms are part of the fee music students pay toward the College.

“MDC does pride itself in providing open access but even at open access facilities anywhere there are always areas with limited access to preserve equipment,” Mendieta said. “Perhaps in the future, we can identify a place in a common area here at Wolfson where a surplus piano can be placed for the enjoyment and use by all.”

I don’t propose opening up the practice rooms to any individual who wants to play and I don’t dispute the need to prioritize them for students majoring in music-related fields or are taking a music class. It is their focus and the practice rooms are their resources.

However, a better solution would be to open the rooms up during certain intervals. If the rooms were available to all students during certain hours of the day—say, a morning between the hours of nine and noon—it would make the rooms available to music students for the majority of the day while also allowing other students to make use of them.

I understand the need to provide resources for students majoring in certain fields. But with a language as universal as music, it’s hard to justify a restriction that makes it harder to engage with it.