Don’t Stop! Keep the music (learning) going!

Levi
Levi

5 reasons why you should stick with playing your musical instrument

Music learning and practicing is many things: fun, exciting, relaxing. But it can also become a hassle if you’re constantly on the go. Between work, social activities, and general stress, our music practice can take a back seat in the priorities list. After a while, we can even forget we play an instrument altogether.

But what if music could help with the other stuff? What if spending an hour a day playing some great tunes could make your life easier? Musical learning and practicing has fantastic benefits both for your mind, body, and stress levels. Here’s why you should play on!

Your brain appreciates the workout

While musical training can at times seem monotonous and pointless (memorizing scales can be a bore), studies have shown that learning and practicing to play an instrument has a wide variety of health benefits. Playing an instrument boosts your memory and cognitive skills, it helps your brain stay fresh even as the rest of you ages, and it gives you great learning skills such as spatial-temporal, visual learning, and auditory learning, just to name a few.

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Your body does too!

As any musician will tell you, the hardest part of learning to play an instrument is telling your body to do what your mind wants. Playing an instrument helps develop and maintain your muscle memory alongside improving fine motor skills such as delicate hand movements, hand/foot-eye coordination, and your reflexes.

It’s a great stress reliever

We all have to deal with stress every day-work, kids, traffic, school, and a million other triggers. Once you’ve mastered an instrument, playing for a few minutes every day is a fantastic way to clear your mind and push away the day’s bad energy. Music requires concentration and patience, and putting your emotions into a song is a great way of letting off steam.  Music has also been shown to release dopamine, the brain’s “happy” chemical.

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It’s a great way to meet people

As many college freshmen will tell you, a guitar can be a great ice-breaker. Playing an instrument is a great way to gather people around, and can also be a fantastic way to meet new people. For the classically inclined, joining quartet, quintet, or even an orchestra is an easy way to meet lots of people. For those more into the “modern” instruments, joining a band is a fun way to jam and hang out with a group of friends with similar interests.

It’s loads of fun!

At the end of the day, music is a great way to boost your confidence, self-esteem, and generally have a great time. There’s nothing quite like mastering that impossibly hard riff you’ve been practicing for weeks, or playing through your favorite song after days of trying. Music is fun by yourself or with others, and is a fantastic way to lighten the mood in most situations.