aaamusic | On 03, Jul 2020

When people talk about the benefits of learning to play an instrument, the benefits are often focused on children. There are many benefits to learning to play as a child, but that doesn’t mean adults can’t benefit from it as well. Learning an instrument as an adult is sometimes harder, but it can also be more rewarding. Below are just a few of the benefits you can expect to receive if you choose to learn to play a musical instrument as an adult. 

Keep Your Mind Sharp

Learning to play a musical instrument has shown the ability to improve brain function. This is important in children, whose brains are still developing. As an adult, you’ll want to use this to keep your mind sharp. As we get older, we don’t spend as much of our time learning new things. The result can be diminished brain function, making it harder to do the things we once did. If you want to improve things like your memory and creativity, learning to play an instrument is a great place to start. 

Relieve Stress

Typically, adults have more stress to deal with than children. Learning to play an instrument is great for stress relief, meaning this benefit is more geared towards adults. When you set aside time to play your instrument, and do something you enjoy, you forget about all of your other problems. Playing an instrument requires that you be in the present moment, so you can’t focus on what’s stressing you. 

Meet New People

Meeting new people becomes a lot harder as you get older. Many adults find it hard to make new friends or to find reasons to get out of the house. When you take lessons on a musical instrument, this often requires that you leave the house. Doing so allows you to interact with your instructor, other people in your class if you take group lessons, people at the music store, and many more. Having a common interest or passion is a great way to make new friends, and the instrument you choose could be that launching off point. 

Express Your Creativity

In a lot of our jobs, we don’t get to be as creative as we would like. Maybe you have a deeply creative side that doesn’t get used enough. By learning to play a musical instrument, you can let some of this creativity out outside of work. According to the Lone Star School of Music, a provider of guitar lessons in Austin, TX, “Music is a great way to express yourself and put your creative impulses into practice. As you become more comfortable with the basics, you can perform covers, write your songs, and even improvise on the fly.”

Entertain Others

Another great benefit of learning an instrument is the ability to entertain others. It’s a great feeling when you are at a family event, party, or other social gathering and you are able to entertain everyone with your musical prowess. If you get good enough, you can even entertain others at local establishments, like bars or restaurants. Some people just have a natural performer in them waiting to get out and learning a musical instrument will help you do this.

Teach Your Children

Those of you with children have an additional benefit, in that you can pass on what you learn to your kids. Once you get good enough at an instrument, you can start giving your children lessons so that they can learn to. This is a great way to discover if they have a passion for an instrument before deciding to enroll them in classes with a professional instructor. Who knows, because you decide to take piano lessons now, you could end up raising the next Mozart.

Feeling of Accomplishment

Finally, there’s a feeling of accomplishment. There’s nothing quite like that moment when you are able to perfectly play a piece of music that you’ve always wanted to learn. It may take some time, but when you’re able to play Christmas carols at your next holiday party or break out your guitar at a barbeque, you’ll have an amazing feeling of accomplishment. 

So, don’t let kids be the only ones receiving benefits from learning to play an instrument. Many adults are hesitant to learn because they feel like it’s too late for them. This is far from the truth. There are many resources out there dedicated to helping adults learn to play, no matter what instrument you are interested in learning. 

Pick out an instrument, find an online resource or nearby instructor to help, and then start learning. In a few months when you’re able to play some songs you’ll be glad you took the plunge.