The world has been through a complete lock-down; social distancing, isolation and quarantine have become a normal way of life; all flights cancelled globally; schools, educational institutes, and places of worship shut until further notice; hospitals flooded with more patients than they can handle and fast-depleting supplies. The number of people directly or indirectly affected by the situation globally is appalling to say the least.
We have become prisoners in our own homes, with almost little or no social interactions. And what’s left of interactions is online, behind a screen. Humans are social beings, the pandemic has taken its toll at a psychological level globally. Stress levels are increasing, cases of clinical depression are on the rise, and human beings are searching for coping mechanisms for these unprecedented times.
Music is an essential part of human existence; it has the power to brighten our mood and reframe our perspective. It leaves a major impact on each one of us. It can boost your mood, reduce stress and improve your health and overall well-being.
And the benefits of music are hugely multiplied when learning a musical instrument. Here are seven reasons why you should consider taking up a musical instrument this year!
1. Music Improves Memory and Abstract Reasoning Skills:
Einstein once said: “Life without playing music is inconceivable to me. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music... I get most joy in life out of music”.
2. Playing an instrument relieves stress:
Music brings with it a certain calm, whether you are listening or playing a musical instrument yourself. 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. Given the times we live it, everyone is struggling with keep the stress levels within check. Music can help us do just that!
Haruki Murakami, the Japanese author and International Bestseller said: “Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering.”
3. Playing an instrument gives you a sense of achievement:
Playing a musical instrument requires patience and perseverance and continuous practice. It can take hours and hours of playing the same few notations before you gain mastery. Playing and then succeeding can give you a huge sense of pride and achievement. Especially now, when globally everything is uncertain and disturbing, the sense of accomplishment and achievement that you get from music can go a long way to manage the stress levels.
4. Playing a musical instrument increases patience levels:
One of the challenges of these modern times, and more so in times of a pandemic is the lack of patience. Everyone is on a short fuse, ready to lash out at the first possible instigation. More than ever before we need build on our own patience levels and relieve ourselves of stress. What better way than to be involved with music, lost between notes of a composition, creating something beautiful.
Maya Angleou, the American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist said: "Music was my refuge. I would crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to the loneliness."
5. Playing a musical instrument can build your confidence:
Gaining mastery over music allows for a channel of self-expression. And as you begin to gain mastery over the notations and a piece of music, and the musical instrument, little by little it builds confidence. Specially if you get a chance to play for friends and family, or better still in front of an audience.
6. Playing music makes you more creative in all walks of life:
Constant practice of music pieces can do wonders for the right side of the brain, also called the creative side. Look at any sheet music by a composer, and you will see that the composer annotates their composition in great detail. However, no matter how well the piece of music is annotated, it will always be up to the player to make it their own. And this aspect of playing a musical instrument helps build creativity as well as self expression that we mentioned earlier.
7. Playing an instrument increases discipline and time management skills:
According to Malcolm Gladwell in his bestseller Outliers: The Story of Success, he talks about the ’10,000 hours of practice’ rule. That’s the number of hours it takes to become an expert or master performer in a given field. Even if you are pursuing music as a hobby or an escape from your busy and stressful life, it will take discipline and time management to clock in some meaningful hours of practice everyday. And that builds your ability to stay focused and disciplined at the task at hand and improve your time management skills.
But above all, as Elton John said: “Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.”
And more than ever before, we need the healing powers to surround us and make the world a better place for us and our children.
Jack Thomas, a leading music educator in the country believes that effective music lessons are built on the following pillars:
- Quality of teachers
- Quality of the infrastructure of the music school
- Quality of the equipment being used for teaching for in-person classes
- Cutting edge technology for online classes
With these quality pillars in mind, Jack established the Performers Collective School of Music in 2003. Each teacher goes through a stringent hiring processes to ascertain their level of academic excellence and their methodology of teaching. All teachers are active performers, which ensures they are in tune with the live music scene and learning with every performance themselves.
The school boasts of an 8000 sq.ft state-of-the-art facility, with 18 fully acoustically soundproofed classrooms, ensemble studio, and a mini auditorium for in-house performances in Gurgaon, Haryana. They also have an equally well equipped 3000 sq.ft facility in GK, New Delhi.
Until Next Time!
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