Philadelphia’s David Joel gives you 10 reasons why you should learn an instrument like the guitar

Learning to play a musical instrument has so many benefits.  Whether it’s building your confidence, enhancing your memory, or widening your social circle, you should consider taking up an instrument this year.

Here are 10 key reasons why.

1. Playing an instrument makes you smarter – many studies show a correlation between musical training and academic success, in both children and adults.  Learning to play an instrument stimulates the brain, improving functions like memory and abstract reasoning skills. These skills are essential for math and science.
2. Your social life will improve – playing an instrument isn’t only good for your brain, it’s also great for expanding your social circle. Joining a musical group at any age encourages you to develop relationships with new kinds of people.
3. Playing an instrument relieves stress – Music keeps you calm. It has a unique effect on our emotions and has even been proven to lower heart rate and blood pressure.  Listening to music can have a tremendously relaxing effect on our minds and bodies. This is especially true with slow, quiet, classical music.
4. Playing an instrument gives you a sense of achievement – Playing and succeeding at a musical instrument gives you a huge sense of pride and achievement, especially when you manage to perfect a passage you’ve been struggling with for a long time.
5. It builds your confidence – Playing an instrument helps you get comfortable with self-expression. As children begin to master their instrument, they will probably end up playing to a few audiences, starting with their music teacher or parents, and branching out to groups of other people and concert audiences.  Playing in public can help children feel confident in presenting their work outside of the classroom.
6. Practicing improves patience – the more effort you put into something, the better the result will be. Give it a year before you see big improvements in ability and confidence but then you will look back and be glad of those hard first few months.
7. It helps improve your memory – researchers have found that learning to play a musical instrument can enhance verbal memory, spatial reasoning, and literacy skills. Playing an instrument makes you use both sides of your brain, which strengthens memory power.
8. It increases discipline and time management skills – Learning to play an instrument is not a skill you can master overnight. Learning music takes time and effort, and helps children understand that if they want to be good at something, they’ll need to put in the hours and organize their time effectively.
9. Playing music makes you more creative – Practicing and perfecting a piece of music does wonders for the creative side of your brain. It is up to the player to put their own stamp on a piece, to inject some of their personality into the music.
10. Playing is fun – what matters most is that playing music is enjoyable. While other hobbies are passive like watching football or flicking through social media, playing music actively engages and stimulates the brain, making you feel happy and occupied.

If you are looking to learn an instrument, such as the guitar, take lessons and get started today.  The David Joel Guitar Studio can help!

Phone: (215) 831-8640

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