Remember the pleasant feeling that you get by pressing those black and white keys in symphony or the soothing tune that comes out of a bass of a guitar when you pluck the strings or those catchy beats of drum that makes you groove. Music is not only about the serenity that touches your soul but it is scientifically proven to help in enhancing the cognitive functions of brain.
Playing an instrument engages practically every area of brain at once- particularly the visual, auditory and motor skills. According to a study published by American Psychological Associations, playing a Musical Instrument as a child sharpens the mind as we age. It is true that learning a musical instrument at an early age helps more than at a later stage of your life. However, It is never too late to pick up an instrument. It has a beneficial impact at whatever age you start. Playing a instrument provides body and mind workout. It contains all the components of a cognitive training program that sometimes are overlooked.
Playing instruments increases the volume and activity in the brain’s Corpus Callosum, bridge between the two hemispheres. It allows messages to get across faster and thus helps in solving problems more creatively and effectively. The control and coordination which is required in learning any musical instrument works as a brain booster for mind at the later stage of the life.
Following are the few added benefits of playing or even listening to music instruments:
Improves your Memory:
If you play any musical instrument or even listen to one, your motor skills (skills which are responsible for acts such as balancing, swimming, running, etc. ) are enhanced. Also the organisational skills develop which result in overall improvement in memory skills.
Teaches you Perseverance:
Playing musical instruments require the dedicated effort and patience. You cant become a Zakir Hussain in a month after all. It requires long hours of practice to get the difficult notes right. Thus for those of us who are really impatient and wish everything to be quickly available, playing musical instruments can bring us back to reality.
Improves your math, reading and comprehension skills:
Does finding solution for X or those long dreaded equations or those geometry questions fill you with trepidation? If maths scares you, here’s the good news. Playing musical instrument can help in improving your mathematical skills too. After all learning music involves an understanding of acoustics which is majorly based on Mathematics. Practicing complex rhythmic patterns improves your reading and comprehension skills.
Improves your concentration:
Playing musical instrument you have to take care of the tune, tempo, rhythm, note duration etc. Unless and until you are focussed, you cannot tune your guitar or play that perfect lead. That’s an added benefit along with decline in stress.
Apart from these there are tons of advantages of playing any musical instrument. Owing to these benefits, music therapy is all the rage these days for treatments of autism, depression etc.
I guess it is more than clear now why anyone should play a musical instrument? What are you waiting for? Grab that guitar and enter the world of tranquillity.
