I’ve covered the impact of listening to music on our physical and emotional state in this article “Music As Therapy – You Best Free Daily Tool“, feel free to check it out.
But what about actually playing music yourself? Does actively engaging and learning how to play a musical instrument differ from simply listening to your favorite tunes? Does it also have similar positive effect?
Absolutely! Weather you’re just enjoying your songs during the day, or you’re playing music yourself, there’s a whole bunch of powerful beneficial processes going on. But playing the instrument has some special benefits, that you might have never suspected or realized.
Playing a musical instrument or learning how to play one provides dozens of unique benefits. From improving physical and mental state, cognitive and personal development, to expanding social skills.
Here’s the description of all of these advantages. This is what practicing and playing instruments does for you.
Playing musical instruments enhances memory retention, helps to learning new things, and gives overall improves cognitive skills.
Provides opportunities to meet like-minded people. Right off the bat you end up in a company that has so much in common with you. That’s a great recipe for finding friends and form lasting friendships.
Playing instruments lowers cortisol levels, blood pressure, and heart rate, and releases happy hormones.
Practice requires consistent effort. You don’t get good overnight, right? So when you play continuously you build your patience. And then it spills over to other aspects of life.
You get a deeper understanding and enjoyment of different music genres and styles. You have a broader view of the world i general.
Playing music encourages self-expression and the creation of original music. of course you want to learn how to play your favorite tunes, because you simply love how they sound. But the learning and playing process itself also extends creativity to other areas like art and writing.
Playing instruments engages multiple brain areas, boosting overall cognitive function. It’s literally an exercise for your brain and mind.
You might be surprised but it also increases production of immunoglobulin-A, helping to fight viruses.
Similar to other regular and engaging activities playing the instruments enhances the ability to prioritize tasks and manage time effectively. A good skill to have in life, period.
When you learn your instrument you get to share your musical skills with family, friends, or the community. You can share the positive vibes you get from it.
A 2009 study found that people with musical training are better at recognizing emotions in voices. This is because music involves many emotions, like excitement shown through louder and higher-pitched sounds. Learning music helps you understand these emotions in both music and people’s words.
Playing the instrument requires regular practice and commitment which in turn promotes a disciplined approach to life. And discipline is one of a key features to have if you are striving for success.
Boosts self-assurance through regular practice and public performance. As you get better you do become more confident not only in your skills but in yourself overall.
A study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information on German elementary students showed that children who played an instrument had the highest non-verbal IQ and made the fewest spelling mistakes compared to those who didn’t play an instrument. Playing an instrument might be a great way to help a child do better in school.
Helps maintain auditory processing abilities in older adults. A study by Benjamin Zendel and Dr. Claude Alain found that older musicians had hearing abilities similar to younger people, unlike older non-musicians who had more hearing problems. This suggests that playing music can help maintain good hearing as you age, even though loud music can sometimes cause hearing loss.
Promotes better communication, reduced distress, and advanced brain responses to music. A study by McMaster University found that one-year-old babies in music classes smiled more, communicated better, were less distressed, and had better brain responses to music.
Improves sensory processing and response capabilities. A study at the Université de Montréal in Canadas howed that musicians with at least 7 years of training had faster reaction times compared to non-musicians in response to various stimuli.
Mastering an instrument gives a feeling of accomplishment and pride. This one goes hand in hand with building confidence.
Playing music can be a therapeutic escape and improve mood. Plenty of studies have shown that. Just think about your own experience. How many time did you turn on music when you felt down. Well, playing music can have an even a bigger effect in helping you feel better.
Enhances fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Watching someone playing the piano always makes me fascinated with human ability to perform such complicated actions. Yet almost everyone can develop this skill with enough practice.
Learning an instrument develops a love for continual learning and improvement. As they say you never stop learning. The more you practice the more you discover, the better you become.
Playing an instrument can improve spatial-temporal reasoning, which is crucial for activities like mathematics and engineering.
Playing an instrument often requires simultaneous engagement in multiple tasks (reading music, listening to others, and coordinating movements). This means when you play instruments you enhance your multitasking skills.
Participating in bands or orchestras has a great benefit of being a part of a group. You learn the how to be effective in a teamwork and collaboration. Musicians literally must work together to achieve a harmonious performance.
Reading sheet music enhances reading and comprehension abilities, especially for children.
The rhythmic and pattern-based nature of music can enhance mathematical skills and logical reasoning.
Learning different music styles leads to knowing more about other cultures. If you are curious enough you can learn a lot of historical contexts as well.
Playing wind instruments strengthens the respiratory system through controlled breathing exercises. It is kinda obvious but we often forget about it.
Music helps immensely with expression and release of emotions. Which can be very therapeutic.
Playing any instrument can enhance the ability to listen carefully and attentively. You want to be sure the instrument is in tune, you get the right note. There’s a lot of follow. This helps to keep your focus and attention on point, which crucial skill in many aspects of life.
Practicing music instruments and playing you favorite ones, be it guitar, piano, drums or sax bring in many positive effects. We have multiple reports and studies that show Cognitive and Mental Benefits, Social and Emotional Benefits, Physical and Health Benefits, Personal Development and others.
I have collected and listed all these benefits for you to consider and realize the great potential that music offers.