Learning a musical instrument is one of those things that many of us want to do, but sadly something most of us will never get around to doing.

Many people think that you can only learn a musical instrument as a child, but that is not true. Whilst it is true that children learn things slightly more quickly, it is also a fact that you can learn to play a musical instrument at any age.

During this era of quarantines and lock downs, there has never been a better time to earn a musical instrument.

You don’t have to physically be with a tutor to learn a musical instrument, you can also learn at a distance, or even online.

There are many reasons why learning an instrument is beneficial. Let’s have a look at some of them now.

It Can Make You More Intelligent

Learning a musical instrument creates connections in the brain that are quite unique to the process.

Learning to play a musical instrument can improve other areas of the brain too, like memory and recall, reasoning skills, and even make you better at maths.

Several studies have also shown that those that learn an instrument in earlier life, such as childhood, are less likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Even those that do go on to develop these awful illnesses tend to have a slower onset than patients who have never learned to play an instrument.

It Can Help Improve Your Mental Health

Listening to music has long been shown to help calm people down and reduce stress. Playing an instrument also has the same effect.

Music, whether listened to or played, can lower blood pressure, lower the heart rate, reduce the production of excess adrenaline and increase serotonin - the happy hormone.

When someone is suffering with generalised anxiety disorder, or clinical depression, they can often find focusing on one task quite difficult, and concentration can lapse.

Learning and playing a musical instrument require complete focus on what you are doing, and this can be almost like meditation, and gives you time to relax away from your daily worries.

Learning to play an instrument can also greatly improve your self esteem. It gives you a sense of pride when you tackle something that you find difficult, and you succeed.

This will continue as your progress with your learning, and will gradually improve your self esteem, which is excellent for your mental health.

You can learn a musical instrument with LVL Music Academy who can help you achieve your dream of playing an instrument well.

As your playing improves, you will end up playing to some kind of audience, whether that be a small group of your friends or family, or to a larger audience as part of a concert.

This playing to an audience does wonders for the confidence, and improved confidence is another great thing to help mental wellbeing, but also an excellent trait to carry with you through life.

It Can Make You Fitter

Yes, playing an instrument really can burn calories. Some burn more than others of course, playing the violin burns around 150 calories an hour, whilst something more energetic like playing the drums burns many more. It is said that some of the best drummers are fitter than a professional athlete.

Playing an instrument can also help you improve your posture, which is poor in so many people. Holding an instrument, or sitting at an instrument, in the correct way requires good posture, and the more you play, the better your posture will get.

It Can Make You More Patient

Learning an instrument is not a quick skill to learn, and to properly master an instrument can take several years.

For this reason, it can really help to improve patience. You will need to practice many times to learn a piece of music, and this takes dedication and patience.

For the same reason, learning to play a musical instrument also helps with learning discipline, time management and organisational skills.

These are excellent skills for life in general, and children who learn a musical instrument may be better prepared to deal with the complexities of adult life.

It Can Increase Your Social Circle

Playing an instrument will also increase the size of your social circle, and can help you to hone your social skills.

Even if you play a solitary instrument like a piano, for example, you will meet more people, of all different ages and backgrounds during your time as a musician.

You will probably be part of a music club or music school, which will bring you into contact with other musically inclined people.

When you play at concerts or events, you will also meet other people there too.

Playing a musical instrument gives you a sense of connection with a whole new group of people who also share the love of music that you do.

These social connections can be life long, bringing the richness of friends of different ages and backgrounds into your life.

It Is Fun

Playing a musical instrument is, above all, fun. It is something that you can do for you and you alone, and is something you can do to take you away from the pressures of modern life.

Playing an instrument engages you and helps to keep your brain active.

It is also a very creative hobby, which creates neural connections in a unique way. Each musician puts their own spin on a piece of music they play.

Each composer writes a piece of music in their own way, but they cannot convey, through the sheet music exactly how it should be played, or how certain emotions should be put into the playing.

Therefore, you use the creative side of your brain to interpret the piece of music how you see fit, so every piece played is slightly unique, and will have your individual style stamped on it.

So, as you can see there are many reasons why you should play a musical instrument, there’s never been a better time to get started!