For many, playing the guitar is simply about playing music. This isn’t a bad reason to play an instrument, but there’s actually much more to it than you might think. In fact, dedicating your time to studying an instrument can actually bring you a good deal of other benefits that you might not be aware of.
#4. Learning Guitar Helps You Stay in Touch With Your Body
Though it might not seem that significant to those who are new to learning an instrument, knowing how to play guitar requires you to know a lot more about the body than you might think. Because humans are not naturally meant to hold a piece of wood and strum strings for multiple hours per day, learning how to do so effectively requires knowing how to not stress out your body and be in tune with your muscles. Keeping your muscles healthy is an integral aspect of playing guitar efficiently, with your body being incredibly susceptible to overtired muscles. If you do it wrong, you might also have injuries down the line!
#3. Learning Guitar Helps You Focus on Time Management
Learning guitar allows you to develop your musical skill, but also your ability for time management skills. This is because practicing an instrument typically requires a daily commitment, with practice sessions being most effective when carefully planned and organized. Because of this, those who want to practice guitar efficiently end up having to work on their time management, a skill that undoubtedly will help them in other areas in their lives.
Not only do you have to focus on time management during practice sessions, but you also have to learn how to manage your time when setting up for gigs, transporting your instrument, and investing your time into booking performances. Though these are things that are typically done by more advanced guitar students, they’re indicators that at no point in the process do you stop learning about time management.
#2. Music Helps You Stay Focused
Though it might not seem this way, music can help you practice mindfulness in ways that are more difficult to replicate in real life. This is why people often use music as a way of reducing stress, as it can help you focus and sort through any anxieties or troubles you might have.
Music also has the benefit of being a tool that can be used to practice your own mindfulness. This is because oftentimes the same tools that performers will use to go on stage with confidence are also things that you can use in your everyday life outside of music. Because of mindfulness, many performers know that it’s not only possible to stay confident in your everyday actions, but also be able to overcome things such as anxiety. Because playing music forces you to be “in the moment”, many people are able to apply this philosophy to other parts of their life for maximum efficiency.
#1. Music Promotes Your Overall Health
Above all else, having music as a constant force in your life can help you stay healthy on many different levels. For example, it’s been shown that music can lessen your chances of having a stroke. On top of this, there are also a multitude of ways that music can help promote your overall memory, allowing you to retain a lot of your well-being that might typically fade with old age.
It should be noted that music can’t completely solve any health issues or concerns you might have, but it can certainly help to alleviate and prevent current or future conditions. This is why so many retirement homes incorporate music into their programs, as music is often very helpful for those dealing with degenerative illnesses such as dementia. Regardless of if you intend to use music for medical purposes, though, there are still emerging discoveries showing how healthy it can be. This shouldn’t be the only reason why you start playing guitar, but it certainly tops our list of benefits due to how potent the power of music truly can be.
