While many of us picked up an instrument for the street cred or to be able to play our favourite songs, have you ever thought about all the ways playing an instrument could actually be good for your health? Reading through some other articles, there are a plethora of reasons as to why you should pick up that instrument you’ve always wanted to play, but perhaps mental health is the biggest reason of them all. While large musicians with a vast audience are often known for their mental struggles, it often found that music – and playing it-  was their saving grace, keeping them sane for so long. With that said, let’s jump right in to some of the reasons why playing music can be good for your mental state.

1. Mental performance: when learning a new piece. memorising it, then remembering it while you’re playing it, it can be better than any crossword or sudoku workout you’ve ever done. For the creative person, activities such as crosswords or other mental exercises can bore the, but playing music can be incredibly beneficial to the mind. Studies have shown that playing an instrument can assist in improving “everyday cognitive improvement” (theguardian.com, 2016). There is even evidence that playing a musical instrument can assist in protecting the brain against the development of cognitive impairment and dementia (M. Alison Balbag,  Nancy L. Pedersen,   and Margaret Gatz, 2014) .

2. Fitness and strength: If you are a musician – like myself – you will know how much strength you need to lug gear around. It takes a certain level of fitness to be able to push around trolleys and guitars and carry speakers. Or even just performing. Singing, playing and dancing around takes a certain level of energy too.  So if you’re doing often gigs, you could probably think about cancelling that gym membership.

3.Stress relief: just as upbeat music can motivate you and hype you up, slower music can calm you down. Current studies show that music around 60 BPM can “cause the brain to synchronise with the beat causing alpha brainwaves (frequencies from 8 – 14 hertz or cycles per second)” (unr.edu, 2018). By having reduced stress levels, it can assist in bringing your blood pressure and heart rate down to a healthy level. Recent studies show that an added bonus of being less stressed is that there is a larger potential for weight-loss (Ashley Welch, 2017).

Other health benefits of playing music include: posture, sense of achievement, new friends, resilience to any age-related decline in hearing, concentration, coordination, a release for negative energy, increased blood flow to your brain and many more…