It increases discipline and time management skills Playing an instrument makes you use both sides of your brain, which strengthens memory power. Researchers have found that learning to play a musical instrument can enhance verbal memory, spatial reasoning and literacy skills. Just imagine how good it’ll feel when you can play Liszt like this: There are no shortcuts to learning an instrument.” Indeed, those first few months will forever be a badge of honour, saying you stuck it out and earned your stripes. “ you’ll look back and be glad of those hard first few months. Dawsons Music advises to “give it a year” before you see big improvements in ability and confidence.

But it’s an important lesson to learn that the more effort you put into something, the better the result will be. OK, Franz Liszt wrote some insanely difficult music.

Practising a musical instrument improves patience Playing in public can help children feel confident in presenting their work in a non-academic context. As children begin to master their instrument, they will probably end up playing to a few audiences, starting with their music teacher or parents, and branching out to groups of other pupils and concert audiences. Playing an instrument helps you get comfortable with self-expression. Messed up your double-stopping in rehearsal, then totally nailed it at the performance? Playing and succeeding at a musical instrument gives you a huge sense of pride and achievement, especially when you manage to perfect a passage you’ve been struggling with for weeks. Playing an instrument gives you a sense of achievement This type of music can have a beneficial effect on our physiological functions, slowing the pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing the levels of stress hormones.” 4. “Listening to music can have a tremendously relaxing effect on our minds and bodies, especially slow, quiet classical music.

Psychologist Jane Collingwood believes that slow classical music is often the most beneficial. It has a unique effect on our emotions, and has even been proven to lower heart rate and blood pressure.

How to make music without instruments