So you are on the other side of 30s or maybe saying goodbye to your 20s. Already set in some desk job and have set plans for your future about how to settle in life. Your weekends are spent with some defined friends or maybe with same old office colleagues or you are all by yourself. You try to fit in as much as much as possible and yet every once a while you get restless, you panic; you think you are missing doing something different. You feel like you are missing “creating”. As this once in a while familiar feeling sets in, you get more restless, even panic a bit. You suddenly see your life giving a flashback and in that flashback you are searching for colorful moments. Moments to remember and then you realize you need to create more moments, you feel the need to create new and exciting memories. You clutch your hands and think about the things you always wanted to do but couldn’t do. And you are wishing you would find some time, some motivation to follow your dreams and passion. Or is it too late?? Well! First and foremost. It’s never too late!! One of the action items in everyone’s wish list is to learn to play a musical instrument. Let’s be honest. At some point we all have dreamt of performing in front of a big maddening audience and as age catches up that dream seems to fade away. However here’s a newsflash. You can still do it. Learning to play a musical instrument as an adult might seem like a daunting task as you grow old. And it turns out as an adult you may have some advantages when it comes to learning a musical instrument. And it’s not just advantageous but learning the art of music also has positive effects that will end up giving an edge to your life as a grown up. We have said this time and again that music education is a necessity for children from a very young age and for grownups who missed that boat can still cash on the opportunity of learning music irrespective of your age. So I am listing below a few reasons why you should choose to learn a musical instrument. Playing an instruments sharpens your brain Learning to play a musical instrument helps stimulates the brain and improves brain functions like memory and abstract reasoning skills. These skills are required for a working adult. You may have a corporate job or your own enterprise, in any case you need to be packed with creativity to advance further in career. Playing a musical instrument engages both the brain hemispheres and the creative side of your brain is goes through a lot of good workout the moment you pick up a musical instrument and start learning. It’s a stress reliever Almost everyone enjoys listening to music and there is a good reason to it. Because listening to music makes you happy, keeps you calm and its pure pleasure. According to a study covering approx. 1500 participants, listening to music can help reduce heart, blood pressure and anxiety levels in heart disease patients. Now imagine what an actual act of creating music would do to you. And in this era where we are constantly under pressure to prove our worth, we do need something that can keep our stress levels down low. Learning music will give you a sense of achievement Being able to master a particularly difficult tune can make you feel you achieved something. These small milestones in music can actually make us look forward to learning and achieving more other than our usual grind of work. Helps build confidence Learning to play an instrument is a sure shot way to build your confidence levels. You get the opportunity to perform in front of your music teachers, your mates and even concerts or events. This kind of out of the ordinary engagement is a good way to develop your communication skills as well. It will help with your social life You might already have your set of friends and circle you hang out with; however you will realize that once you pick up an instrument, the sphere of your social circle will undergo a huge positive change as being part of a musical group surely encourages you to develop relationships with new people. You will meet and interact like minded people, co-learners and music enthusiasts. Your social circle will expand exponentially, which in turn will expose you to new experiences. It will also develop leadership and team building skills in you. Memory impairment? Music will help! I wouldn’t say that everyone faces this challenge but as we grow older, we need to be more and more in-sync with our memory. And then we have these memory lapses where we can’t seem to remember tasks or situations. You joke about it and say that maybe you are aging. It might seem funny at first but there is some truth attached to it. According to numerous studies and research, learning to play an instrument will surely saw off the unwanted edges of your brain and improve your memory. You are making use of both the hemispheres of your brain while playing an instrument which can really strengthen the memory power. Sharpens your soft skills Music education can help provide people with a disciplined approach to problem solving and decision making process – both these skills are required in our personal and professional lives. Music education can also prepare an individual to manage their tasks at their jobs more successfully. Music can alleviate pain According to studies, music can trigger the brain to release chemicals that can distract the body from pain. As music reaches the brain’s auditory cortex, it communicates with the cortex and the brain’s areas that are responsible for controlling emotions, memory and motor control. And this brain chemistry that takes place in the background can help ease pain – be it physiological or psychological. It increases discipline and time management skills Learning music takes time and you learn the skill of patience without being taught during your journey. But it’s not just about practicing patience you will also learn to manage time and coordination and will get better at it as you get better at your skill. Because it’s fun!!! I am in complete agreement when I say that there are loads of psychological and physiological benefits that are attached to musical learning. And at the same time let’s not forget that playing a musical instrument is simple and pure fun as it actively engages and stimulates the brain making you feel happy and occupied. Well, now you have all the reasons to learn music irrespective of your age. I gave you 10 reasons to learn music. I urge you to give me at least one reason not to. I would like to end this article with a fitting quote
“Music may not make you a genius, or rich, or even a better person. But it helps train you to think differently, to process different points of view and most important, to take pleasure in listening.” -Joanne Lipman