Social Benefits of Playing an Instrument

There is something magical that happens when you listen to your favorite songs. It's more of a spiritual connection with the message and sound of the instruments. You can improve your life by learning how to play a musical instrument.

Last year, I was going through a rough patch and was constantly stressed and unable to focus on work. A friend of mine came to see me and told me to look for something I can do during my free time. One lazy afternoon, I was on YouTube and came across a channel that specialized in teaching people how to play the piano. The lessons and instructor sparked an interest in me and I immediately decided to purchase a piano and start practicing.
It's been 13 months since I started practicing and I can confidently say I’m no longer a novice pianist. My mental health has tremendously improved, I got clarity of the issues that were taking the wind out of me and I’m more focused that ever before.
From my experience, here are the social benefits of playing an instrument.

Relieves Stress

Stress is one of the most common mental conditions and millions of people from all across the globe suffer from it either knowingly or unknowingly. If not resolved, it can lead to depression and other serious health conditions. Numerous studies have proved that music has a potent ability to relieve stress.

According to Jane Collingwood, a professional psychologist, slow classic music has the most impact on stress and overall health as it can lower blood pressure and heart rate. The relaxing effect on your body and mind as you play the instrument will slow the heart and pulse rate, lower the levels of stress hormones, and blood pressure.

Improves Social Life

Learning how to play a musical instrument that you previously thought was impossible to master will not only boost your self-confidence and esteem, but also expand your social circle. Soon you will find yourself interact with more with people who also play the instrument (in my case I joined a musical group). As you interact with them, your social skills will improve. You will also acquire more skills such as team building and leadership skills.

A Sense of Achievement

Piano is not the hardest musical instrument to master but it is also not the simplest. You need to learn when and how to hit the notes correctly. Playing and becoming a pro at a particular musical instrument will give you a tremendous sense of achievement that will boost your confidence as you prepare for the performance.
The newly acquired confidence and self-esteem will be evident in your productivity and temperament at home and when interacting with friends.

Improves Patience

Patience is one of the personal traits that you need to become successful. Without it, you will always be in hurry to get things done quickly ignoring the fact that the tasks need to be done on time and perfectly. The more effort you put into learning how to play a musical instrument, the better the results will be.

Most professional music trainers such as Dawsons Music advises people who are trying to venture into the industry to give it at least one year to see significant improvements in their confidence and ability to play the instrument. Then, remind yourself about the hard first few months and keep on moving forward. Those months will be your badge of honour in future.
Concisely, just like with any other craft, you cannot afford to take shortcuts if you want to become a professional musician.

Increases Your Confidence

In the current competitive business world, confidence is everything. It’s the secret ingredient that you need to become a professional artist and earn from the craft. As I continue to learn how to play the piano, I realized that I got more comfortable with self-expression. I would volunteer to play the piano at my local church, in social gatherings, and corporate events. Each exposure hones my skills and boosted my confidence. Up to date, my wife can’t believe I managed to master the piano.

Improves Memory

Multiple research studies show that learning how to play a musical instrument that you previously thought was very difficult to play can potentially improve literacy skills, spatial reasoning, and verbal memory. As you play the instrument, both sides of your brain are engaged and this strengthens your memory power.

Instils Time Management Skills and Discipline
As mentioned earlier, it is not possible to master how to play a musical instrument overnight. It takes effort and time – and in the process your time management skills will improve. More importantly, you will be more disciplined as you will need to stick to the schedule and ensure that you get things done at the right time.

Conclusion

Learning how to play a musical instrument will make you more creative. You will find yourself trying out new styles with more confidence and vigour. To create this article, I took some time to make profound research. While surfing the net thoroughly, I’ve come across numerous links that aided the process. Here are some which might be of use to you:
URL 1: https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/reasons-to-play-a-musical-instr...
URL 2: https://primesound.org/
URL 3: http://www.youthorchestrasfresno.org/resources/2014/8/26/benefits-of-pla....