I’m a sucker for musical instruments. It started out with the piano about 10 years ago, and the guitar followed quickly. Throughout the years, I’ve picked up ukulele and harmonica. I also recently had a brief phase of saxophone, but that came to a halt when I learned that you can only play the saxophone at volume level gazillion which, in combination with the paper-thin walls in Spain, wouldn’t exactly make my neighbors want to be best friends with me.
Making music is like therapy to me; only cheaper and I don’t get gazed at if I cry. Going full Stoic mode and imagining my ability to play musical instruments to be taken away truly makes me feel empty inside. I have this epiphany of how great making music feels regularly but I’ve never bothered to try and explain it. It’s only now that I realized that maybe explaining it will spark some curiosity in whoever reads this, and if I can get even 1 person to give it a shot, potentially making their lives a little bit better, it’s worth a try.
Here are the ways in which learning musical instruments have enhanced my happiness.
It can make you feel whatever you want to feel
You can make the music you play as happy or sad as you want it to be. This is great when I’m happy and I just want to jam out on the good vibes, but it’s even better when I’m sad and I just get to feel sad. I often find that when I’m unable to cry, playing music will do the trick. It opens up the gates and everything comes flooding out, leaving me feeling incredibly refreshed afterward.
Feeling feelings instead of bottling them up is necessary for your health, but it can be difficult to fully allow yourself to feel whatever it is you’re holding inside. Music is an incredible catalyst for releasing these emotions.
It calms your mind
There’s something about the feeling that you’re making music with your hands that’s incredibly calming. I could be fingerpicking the same four chords for 10 minutes, not exactly making it a theoretically complex piece, but I’ll feel so at ease. It’s like cradling myself to sleep with sounds.
Besides the aural calming effect, it’s calming the mind too. When I’m playing, I’m not thinking about work, bills, friends, worries, future plans, past events, that time I said something dumb or pondering what I’m going to have for dinner. I’m not thinking about anything. I’m simply being and playing. This also makes it a great alternative for the more traditional nothingness type of meditation, as I feel that it has a similar effect on my mind.
It stimulates your creativity
Much like writing, making music is a skill that trains your creativity muscle the more times you do it. Playing an instrument often puts you into a state of flow — a blissful state where time and space feel fluid.
Since playing an instrument involves sounds, sight, and physical feeling, it also triggers the brain to work in new and creative ways to orchestrate all these different senses. These new connections that your brain makes are then also available for other tasks, such as writing, creative projects or deep work.
You can carry a piece of home anywhere you go
Your hobbies, habits, and routines become a part of you. They are the bones that keep your life together, and they make you feel at home. I’ve moved abroad a couple of times and nothing makes me feel at home quicker than settling into a routine and getting a guitar as soon as I can.
Some have that feeling of being home with a person, some with a place, and some with an instrument.
Challenges are great for you
I hate to shatter your idealist fantasy of riffing along with Slash from day 1 but learning an instrument, just like learning anything, takes time. It’ll be a challenge, especially in the beginning when you’re not used to any movements. Your brain could know what to do, but your body is likely going to be a little dumber and slower. And that’s normal —in fact, it’s not even possible to be amazing at playing an instrument right away so do yourself a favor and let go of the high expectations.
Challenges are good for us. They help shape us and make us grow as a person. Running away from challenges means running away from growth. So embrace the sore lips, painful fingertips, or note-reading frustrations and hold on tight to your vision.
It connects you to other people
Nothing makes my day like finding buskers on the street. Especially when it’s a group of people playing, you can just feel the energy between them from miles away. That’s what music does. It’s like social superglue.
In several studies, researchers found out that how somebody feels through listening to or making music is tied to group processes, like the sense of belonging to a group, positive associations with group members, and even bias toward people outside of the group.
They found that “musical reactivity is causally related to basic social motivations” and that “reactivity to music is related to markers of successful group living.” In other words, music makes us connect with other people.
Why do you think the atmosphere is so amazing at big concerts?
You have easy access to dopamine releases
Making music releases dopamine. Aside from just making you feel good, dopamine is great for your blood flow, digestion, heart function, memory and focus, mood and emotions, sleep, and stress levels. Put simply: learning and playing an instrument lifts your mood and health anytime you play.
I’m not a scientist nor a doctor so I can’t comment on the physical health effects of playing on my body, but I do always notice an improvement in my mood after playing an instrument, no matter how big or small the improvement. It’s a 100% success score. Even if I’m sad and I play the saddest tune in the world on the piano, I still feel better than before I played.
You build confidence
A 2014 study of students in Montreal who received piano lessons for three years tested much higher on self-esteem. The experience of mastering a skill was enough reason to be more confident than their peers who didn’t play an instrument.
It makes all the sense in the world. Who wouldn’t feel confident being that dude playing some sweet saxophone tunes on the beach at sunset? Or being able to whip out a guitar at a party? Or being able to play the piano at the train station when you have some time to kill?
Recap for your memory
Music is awesome. Playing music is 10x more awesome. Here are 8 life-enriching benefits of learning to play an instrument:
- It can make you feel whatever you want to feel
- It calms your mind
- It stimulates your creativity
- You can carry a piece of home anywhere you go
- Challenges are great for you
- It connects you to other people
- You have easy access to dopamine releases
- You build confidence
Need I say more? Give it a try. If you’re looking for an entry-level instrument, guitar is always a great one to start with. I’ve written an article on how to teach yourself to play the guitar. You’ll be able to play 5000 songs within the first week. How does that sound?
