Many of us dream of being able to play our favorite piece of classical music on the piano or of being able to shred the guitar like Jimi Hendrix, but when we find that we aren’t immediately great at playing, we give up our dreams immediately and never pick up a musical instrument again. It’s time to change that because, as well as being a really good hobby, playing a musical instrument, even if you are not exactly amazing at it, has many health benefits, as you will see below.
Improves the capacity of your memory
As we start to get older, the capacity for us to remember things can start to dwindle, even if we do not end up with a condition like Alzheimer’s or dementia. Poor memory is pretty much just a part of old age, but you know what? You can minimize the effects of aging on the memory by picking up a musical instrument and doing your best to learn how to play it. Doing so could increase your memory capacity by as much as 34 percent.
Oh, and it’s not just something that benefits older people as studies have shown that it can increase memory capacity in children as young as 3, and if those children continue to play an instrument throughout their life, then it will give them a stronger memory, and make it less likely that they experience issues in this area as they get older.
Improves your time and organizational skills
It might sound weird, but learning to play an instrument can actually have a huge impact on how well you manage time, and how good your organizational skills are, both of which can have a big impact on your health and wellbeing throughout your life. This is due to the way musicians must organize themselves to be able to play music in time, and you don’t have to be a brilliant musician, just a dedicated one who practices regularly, for it to have an impact in this area.
Improve your fine motor skills
Playing a musical instrument requires you to often make complex movements with your hands, which means that it is really good at developing fine motor skills in children or young people, and can also play a role in physical therapy for people who have injured their hands too.
Better mental health
Playing an instrument can also be really good for your mental health. For one thing, having a hobby that you love and which brings joy to your life is a great way of keeping depression at bay or improving symptoms of depression when you have them. It gives you a sense of purpose and makes you feel like there is something you are good at, which are all good for boosting wellbeing and self-esteem.
For another, if you play a musical instrument as part of a group, say in an orchestra or choir, then it gives you a sense of community and belonging and this is really important for good mental health, Humans are social creatures, so getting together as part of something bigger when you play music will really boost your wellbeing.
Boost your IQ
Several studies have shown that regularly playing music can boost your IQ, and this is great for your wellbeing because it will enable you to understand more about yourself and the world around you. It will mean you are generally more capable and more able to solve any problems you have in life, which will mean less stress and more opportunities for you.
Enhance your coordination
Good coordination is really important for your health, espeically asd you get older, because falling over can cause serious injuries to older bones. The good news is, learning to play an instrument, at any age, can increase your coordination significantly.
When you are reading musical notes, you need to be able to take in the information and then translate it to hand movements in the moment, and this really does boost the part of your brain that deals with coordination, which makes it much easier for you to be well coordiuanted in other parts of your life too, although you will need to supplement with exercises like yoga and pilated to be really coordinated overall.
Sharpen your concentration
It’s really important that you are able to concentrate well if you want to be healthy. Why? Because if you can concentrate, then you can focus on things like reading, writing, exercising, and learning, and the better you are able to do all of these things, especially as you get older, the healthier you will be, and the less likely it is that you will suffer from diseases like Alzheimer’s as you get older. Taking piano lessons, learning the guitar or even singing in a choir, takes tons of concentration, so learning a musical instrument is one of the best ways to sharpen that all-important concentration while also learning a new skill and having fun at the same time.
Maintain physical fitness
For some reason, we do not think of playing an instrument as being part of physical fitness, but anyone who has played a particularly rousing pice in the piano or who has spent the evening playing the drums at rock concert, will tell you that playing an instrument can be extremely phsically demanding, so it is a good way to get in some exercise in a way that you enjoy and which does not involve visiting the gym.
Play an instrument today!
As you can see, playing a musical instrument has tons of physical and mental benefits, and is a surefire way to enshance yourlife, so whethe you used to play as a kid and gave it up when you dind’t become the next Hendrix, or you have never played a musical instrument before, now is the time to pick up that guitar or book those piano lessons and give yourself the chance of experiencing true joy, excitement, and yes, frustration as you learn the ropes.