# How Playing An Instrument Benefits Your Brain



## ninjahitsawall (Feb 1, 2013)

I've heard a lot of this before, but some of it is new. I'm interested in neuroscience and have some instrument-playing experience (not sure I qualify as a "musician"), so it's cool to know what it's doing to my brain. 

Critique I had of this video: They seem to be implying that musicians are more intelligent (they actually state that at one point too), but as far as I know, any correlations with IQ are temporary (some other study I read once).


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## BenevolentBitterBleeding (Mar 16, 2015)

Knowing this and that music helps those with Alzheimer’s, I think I'm going to pick up guitar sooner than planned.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

I wonder, does it vary according to instrument? Like does playing the drums have a different effect than say playing the piano, or guitar? What about woodwind?


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## ninjahitsawall (Feb 1, 2013)

He's a Superhero! said:


> I wonder, does it vary according to instrument? Like does playing the drums have a different effect than say playing the piano, or guitar? What about woodwind?


I'm really curious about that too. Also from a personal standpoint. I learned on woodwinds and stuck with them through high school but learned guitar later (18-19 y/o, not counting prior attempts). I also took piano lessons briefly when I was 8. But I've always found woodwinds much easier to learn than learning chords and harmonies. I'd think this is universally true, as a piano or guitar requires multitasking b/w harmonies and melodies, where woodwinds/brass etc. do not. But a family friend who plays guitar semi-professionally has told me he feels the exact opposite.. he thinks guitar is easier. It definitely seems like there is different brain functioning between the two. 

Also, drums seem to require more "impulsiveness" for lack of a better word, and more multitasking.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

ninjahitsawall said:


> I'm really curious about that too. Also from a personal standpoint. I learned on woodwinds and stuck with them through high school but learned guitar later (18-19 y/o, not counting prior attempts). I also took piano lessons briefly when I was 8. But I've always found woodwinds much easier to learn than learning chords and harmonies. I'd think this is universally true, as a piano or guitar requires multitasking b/w harmonies and melodies, where woodwinds/brass etc. do not. But a family friend who plays guitar semi-professionally has told me he feels the exact opposite.. he thinks guitar is easier. It definitely seems like there is different brain functioning between the two.
> 
> Also, drums seem to require more "impulsiveness" for lack of a better word, and more multitasking.


Yeah, different people learn different instruments faster - it's like we all have our own style of music. 

I learnt to play the didgeridoo, but also know some tunes on the Irish whistle...That's about all really, aside from enjoying singing (not a great voice by any means, but not a bad sounding one either, just ok) - this makes me wonder how singing affects us as well! This is really encouraging information btw, and I've already shared the video clip with my family. 

If you find out more, please do share!


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## with water (Aug 13, 2014)

Do fighting games count as instruments?


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## peter pettishrooms (Apr 20, 2015)

Cagnazzo said:


> Do fighting games count as instruments?


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## peter pettishrooms (Apr 20, 2015)

He's a Superhero! said:


> I wonder, does it vary according to instrument? Like does playing the drums have a different effect than say playing the piano, or guitar? What about woodwind?


Yes, I believe it does. Like from what I understand, playing any instrument requires some degree of multi-tasking, but instruments that are considered more difficult like the violin would require precise judgment. I actually almost quit the first few months of learning the instrument because getting started was the hardest part. Since there are no frets, you have to mark the correct pitches on the fingerboard and later get used to playing without looking at the markings. Even just being a few millimeters off from positioning your fingers in the right positions can result in ugly intonation problems. I hear horn players need excellent judgment also. I took an AP music theory course where there was sight-singing involved and my teacher told us that in his experience, string players (not including guitar) and horn players had the best pitch while singing a piece for the first time. While surprisingly, the vocalists had the worst.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

acidicwithpanic said:


> Yes, I believe it does. Like from what I understand, playing any instrument requires some degree of multi-tasking, but instruments that are considered more difficult like the violin would require precise judgment. I actually almost quit the first few months of learning the instrument because getting started was the hardest part. Since there are no frets, you have to mark the correct pitches on the fingerboard and later get used to playing without looking at the markings. Even just being a few millimeters off from positioning your fingers in the right positions can result in ugly intonation problems. I hear horn players need excellent judgment also. I took an AP music theory course where there was sight-singing involved and my teacher told us that in his experience, string players (not including guitar) and horn players had the best pitch while singing a piece for the first time. While surprisingly, the vocalists had the worst.


Thank you for sharing! I figured there would be a difference - all positive, but in varying ways. I wonder what playing the didge does for my brain?


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## ninjahitsawall (Feb 1, 2013)

He's a Superhero! said:


> Yeah, different people learn different instruments faster - it's like we all have our own style of music.
> 
> I learnt to play the didgeridoo, but also know some tunes on the Irish whistle...That's about all really, aside from enjoying singing (not a great voice by any means, but not a bad sounding one either, just ok) - this makes me wonder how singing affects us as well! This is really encouraging information btw, and I've already shared the video clip with my family.
> 
> If you find out more, please do share!


Here's some stuff on singing: 
Physical Effects of Singing - HowStuffWorks

(This one I found through one of the links from that video) Science Has Great News for People Who Can't Sing - Mic



acidicwithpanic said:


> Yes, I believe it does. Like from what I understand, playing any instrument requires some degree of multi-tasking, but instruments that are considered more difficult like the violin would require precise judgment. I actually almost quit the first few months of learning the instrument because getting started was the hardest part. Since there are no frets, you have to mark the correct pitches on the fingerboard and later get used to playing without looking at the markings. Even just being a few millimeters off from positioning your fingers in the right positions can result in ugly intonation problems. I hear horn players need excellent judgment also. I took an AP music theory course where there was sight-singing involved and my teacher told us that in his experience, string players (not including guitar) and horn players had the best pitch while singing a piece for the first time. While surprisingly, the vocalists had the worst.


What if the guitar is fretless? :tongue:


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## Carpentet810 (Nov 17, 2013)

Sounds like you could get the same thing from a Game Controller doing fighting combos.


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## shazam (Oct 18, 2015)

The beginning is the most difficult. Once you plough through it becomes muscle memory, creativity and problem solving in regards to composition, and connecting with feelings on a more deeper level to project the story you want to tell. If you can imagine a swimmer, they can swim for as long as they like comfortably because they have the technique down, like walking. The same is applied to technique on a guitar. With a guitar there are many different ways you can walk...backwards, sideways, skipping steps, back flips, it's all there and it's up to you how deep you want to dive. If you learn a piece of music on a violin you can transcribe the notes onto a guitar. I'm pretty sure the same goes for all instruments. Even drummers tune their skins like we guitar players tune our strings. The deeper you dive the more is revealed. It really is an incredible journey. You know when you listen to a great piece of music and you get emotional...imagine that only it's coming out of you. In those moments you literally become the instrument, a state of total bliss where all thought of technique and the outside world goes out the window...it's just the music and your feelings. It's what many musicians call the zone, and it's in these moments you find your own voice, literally not giving a shit about anything else. If I could make it tangible and hand it out with every instrument sold I would, it's that good.


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## IDontThinkSo (Aug 24, 2011)

Yes you can develop all your mind by practicing an instrument and composition. But before you spend 10h a day in hope to become some sort of superhuman : practicing won't indistinctly reward your efforts. Most people who learned all about theory still have a poor understanding of music. They process it wrong. Most virtuosos have a poor understanding of their own technique as well, and fail to overcome their beliefs and limits.

Music is a complete challenge for the brain, but it doesn't mean you will rise to it.


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## Popinjay (Sep 19, 2011)

I know when I play the piano free-form softly in the dark, I feel like I've taken several benzos. It calms the nerves, releases negative emotions, helps me get to sleep...on an emotional level it makes me feel more mentally stable, it reduces my mood swings, and it feels productive...like I'm accomplishing something even though no one else hears it.

Playing an instrument in the dark is highly therapeutic.


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## ScientiaOmnisEst (Oct 2, 2013)

Huh. I played an instrument for 15 years and I'm not that smart. :tongue: Though I've thought of taking it up again someday if I could ever get the money for a purchase or rental. My teachers were amazingly slow and I stopped because I was a teenager with less skill than a kid, but maybe I could self-teach.

I can, however, read music. Still. I've looked for sheet music for pieces I would have liked to learn and I can still remember where my fingers would go if I had the instrument there. So that's kind of cool.


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## chanteuse (May 30, 2014)

I sing and sing with a choir. I read music sheet if the key isn't some seldom used minor key. I can sing and play percussion that times differently, too. Memorizing lyrics in several different languages or in arranged scat is also supposed to help with brain function.

Voice is an instrument, too.


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## SevSevens (Aug 5, 2015)

i used to read music.

I seem like a dumb ass here but I had the highest gpa in my class and I was an all american scholar - go figure.

My act score was moderately high but lower than what was expected.

My iq is roughly between 130 -140.

But I can tell you the biggest lessons in life came living in the streets and playing by memory.

You can read music all you want but you'll never understand rock n roll staring at a paper.

True music is as physical as it is mental. It's martial arts with sounds.

My twenty pennies for your nickle.


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## ShadowsRunner (Apr 24, 2013)

I think it's just really mentally stimulating activities, and not just music, though I suppose it's one of the more complex things you could do.


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## peyandkeele (Jul 28, 2015)

ninjahitsawall said:


> I'm really curious about that too. Also from a personal standpoint. I learned on woodwinds and stuck with them through high school but learned guitar later (18-19 y/o, not counting prior attempts). I also took piano lessons briefly when I was 8. But I've always found woodwinds much easier to learn than learning chords and harmonies. I'd think this is universally true, as a piano or guitar requires multitasking b/w harmonies and melodies, where woodwinds/brass etc. do not. But a family friend who plays guitar semi-professionally has told me he feels the exact opposite.. he thinks guitar is easier. It definitely seems like there is different brain functioning between the two.
> 
> Also, drums seem to require more "impulsiveness" for lack of a better word, and more multitasking.


Drums i have to say are a reason for me developing my inferior Se, as i have played them all of my life and have played on a semi pro/pro level for at least the last the 5 years now. They require alot of reacting and not as much thinking and the times when i over think, i mess up. its definitely an instrument that took me longer to master than others who play at my level who also started at a similar age.


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## ninjahitsawall (Feb 1, 2013)

peyandkeele said:


> Drums i have to say are a reason for me developing my inferior Se, as i have played them all of my life and have played on a semi pro/pro level for at least the last the 5 years now. They require alot of reacting and not as much thinking and the times when i over think, i mess up. its definitely an instrument that took me longer to master than others who play at my level who also started at a similar age.


Ha, I figured my perception of drums as "impulsive" was colored by inferior Se. I never learned how to play drums, though I've been curious, but I understand stuff conceptually from knowing theory and programming MIDI drums. It seems that other instruments are more challenging to learn cognitively (easier for Ni/inferior Se users?), but drums are more of a physical thing.


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## Blue Soul (Mar 14, 2015)

Drums are not only for impulsive people.


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## Gossip Goat (Nov 19, 2013)

I think wind instruments are easier as well. I took flute and can still remember dat shet.


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## IDontThinkSo (Aug 24, 2011)

All instruments aren't fair in terms of gesture frequency and pattern memorization. Also, some are easier to understand from a physiological standpoint, which impacts the methods of learning and speed of progression. Mastering the flute only asks for hard work, whereas mastering the guitar can require a deep understanding of the mechanisms involved.. or an insolent luck.


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## koalaroo (Nov 25, 2011)

Learning viola was one of the most complex things I ever did. It required reading a clef that's basically dead outside of viola composition (alto clef), as well as using 1-2 other clefs on a regular basis in more complex music. After about a year of hearing "A" for tuning -- despite not hearing it for 10 years -- that note is still embedded in my brain.


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## Amine (Feb 23, 2014)

This is something I bring up when people talk about the positive brain benefits of meditation. Why would you select meditation? Why not play a musical instrument? That has demonstrable effects on the brain too. Playing a musical instrument is not deemed "spiritual" though. It still takes a leap of faith to believe meditation will have its alleged benefits.


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## SoulScream (Sep 17, 2012)

ninjahitsawall said:


> Critique I had of this video: They seem to be implying that musicians are more intelligent (they actually state that at one point too), but as far as I know, any correlations with IQ are temporary (some other study I read once).


I just read an article from Schellenberg (Music lessons enhance IQ, 2004) which refers to an experiment they did, the results of which imply a long term consequences from music lessons. What they also say is that such tendencies are most likely to be seen in other extracurricular activities also.


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## ninjahitsawall (Feb 1, 2013)

SoulScream said:


> I just read an article from Schellenberg (Music lessons enhance IQ, 2004) which refers to an experiment they did, the results of which imply a long term consequences from music lessons. What they also say is that such tendencies are most likely to be seen in other extracurricular activities also.


Yeah I went back to look for the study I had found, but came across a bunch of increased IQ findings. One time when I was looking for increased IQ findings, that's when I found that study saying the effects were only short-term. :laughing:


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