Many of us have had an interest in art at some point in our lives. Some of us have continued this interest, while others have given up on it for various reasons. Music is just one of the branches of art, and those who are involved in music know that walking on that path, although enjoyable, is a bit of a struggle. To play the piano, you need to stand as still as possible, to play the violin, you need to maintain the same position for hours, and for wind instruments, you need to have a constantly inflated cheek and a hard-working diaphragm muscle. In addition, the calluses that form on our fingers that give life to the notes while playing stringed and bowed instruments are also a plus… There are countless other pains, but at the end of the day, the pleasure of performing a new piece or playing a piece written by someone else again and flawlessly is priceless.
Our Brain Collaborates with Our Fingers
But did you know that all these challenges and enthusiasm actually improve us, not only in terms of musical knowledge but also in ways we can’t quite predict? In order to play a musical instrument, our fingers need to work in synchrony with our brain. Providing this brain-finger coordination contributes to the development of brain functions. According to an article published in the September 2022 issue of Psychological Science by Judith A. Okely and colleagues, playing a musical instrument actually contributes to the development of cognitive abilities. The study, conducted in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 section of the University of Edinburgh, included 366 older adults who completed general cognitive ability assessments between the ages of 11 and 70 and reported lifetime experience playing a musical instrument at the age of 82. 117 of the participants had beginner or intermediate level musical instrument playing experience. As a result of the study, a small but positive statistical relationship was found between the ages of 11 and 70 between the ages of 11 and 70 between musical instrument playing and general cognitive abilities. In fact, it was clear that individuals with musical instrument playing experience showed the ability to acquire these skills more easily.
The Power That Allows Fingers to Get Used to the Work: Muscle Memory
Let’s look at another gain. As we mentioned above, when playing a musical instrument, there needs to be a synchrony between our hands and the perception of our brain. In fact, those who want to play a piece on a musical instrument know better, when we practice the piece, we play it a little slower instead of its usual rhythm. In this way, we both fix the piece in our minds and get our fingers used to that piece. This situation also creates the concept we call muscle memory. So, how does this synchrony and muscle memory occur? The answer is again hidden in our brain! When we play a musical instrument, the right and left halves of our brains work simultaneously, in other words, we actually make art using our entire brain. This situation allows new communication networks to be established in our brains.
Sally Sapega’s article on the Penn Medicine News, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s internet blog on January 30, 2017, contains beautiful examples that can be given at this point. In her article, she shows that playing a musical instrument works both the right and left hemispheres of the brain at the same time and also keeps our peripheral nervous system constantly active. She also examines and shares with us the benefits of the person playing the instrument being in constant nervous system activity. As she includes in her article and as her friend who conducts these studies also mentions, playing a musical instrument turns into a very beneficial exercise neurologically since it works the brain and our nervous system in general at all times. Again, as she mentions in the following part of the article, there is no age limit for learning to play a musical instrument and moreover, this situation is very useful for gaining neurological benefits in later ages and keeping the mind alive.
Happiness from Musical Instruments
The benefits of playing a musical instrument are not limited to physical benefits. Playing an instrument reduces our stress and anxiety, and also helps increase happiness hormones such as serotonin and dopamine. In short, playing a musical instrument provides us with not only physical but also spiritual benefits.
When we are bored, sad, happy, in short, when we experience any kind of emotion, music can somehow find a place in our lives, but not only listening to it, but also dealing with music provides significant benefits. In order to keep our physical and mental health in balance and even improve it, music, especially art, benefits us humans – and not only humans, but also animals, but let’s let this be the subject of another article – and really provides great benefits. So no matter what you are doing, at the end of the day, always stay with music, stay with art.
References and Further Reading
Okely, J. A., Overy, K., & Deary, I. J. (2022). Experience of playing a musical instrument and lifetime change in general cognitive ability: Evidence from the Lothian Birth cohort 1936. Psychological Science, 33(9), 1495–1508. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976221092726
Sapega, S. (n.d.). Playing an instrument: Better for your brain than just listening. Penn Medicine. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-blog/2017/january/playing-an-instrument-better-for-your-brain-than-just-listening
