Why You Should Play The Guitar
Powerful reasons why you should play guitar-Part Two
If you live in or around Philadelphia and are in the market for an amazing guitar teacher, give David Joel a call. Last week’s article focused on the social, personal, and professional benefits of playing the guitar. This week we will focus on two more: mental health and emotional benefits and physical health benefits.
Mental health and emotional benefits
There are great cognitive benefits for improving focus, intelligence, and motor skills. You will gain a form of stress relief by shredding and heavy strumming. The act of guitar playing can be deeply therapeutic. It is a great form of relief for anyone struggling to release the tension of a long day in the office. Many first time players are 40-something adults needing a release. Some people like to play a few rounds of golf while others want to learn to unleash their inner rock star.
Guitar playing can also help you escape anxiety. The guitar demands your full attention. It insists that you switch off from the outside world completely. It provides an escape for those half-hour to one-hour sessions. This means that guitar lessons could be a great option for people struggling with depression and anxiety disorders. This is made better by the fact that it gives something back. That sense of accomplishment from achieving those difficult lessons leads to great happiness and self-worth.
Physical health benefits
Playing guitar can be good for physical health, although those initial calluses and sore fingers might suggest otherwise. With time, your hands and wrists will become stronger and more flexible. This comes from all those chord positions and strumming. It is a constant process that builds up the muscles and stretches the tendons. This can also carry through into arm muscles and shoulders.
There are also those that point out the benefits of learning to play guitar for calorie burning. It does help to be up performing on a stage in a hot, sweaty venue. You won’t lose much weight by learning a song on your couch. You can lower your blood pressure by playing guitar power ballads. Listening to and playing relaxing music, like power ballads and love songs, can really help. Playing guitar in these times of anxiety can take you out of the moment to a better place and time in life. It is actually shown that the act of playing music can be so absorbing that people actually use it as a painkiller. This means that it can be a great tool for people dealing with chronic stress and pain.
There is one final benefit and it relates to all the other benefits we mentioned. The simple answer to the greatest benefit of playing guitar is that it can last forever. As long as you play guitar, you can entertain friends and family members with songs until your fingers no longer allow you to play. When that moment comes, you can simply teach everything you know to your grandchildren.