Musical Instruments: Could they make you smarter
Instruments have been around for thousands of years. Starting with a Neanderthal flute 60,000 years ago, a hollowed out stick with holes, to today’s electrical instruments, like the electric violin or guitar. I, myself personally, have been playing the violin for around 4–5 years. However what I find interesting is that most, if not all, schools support the knowledge of practicing an instrument and other facets of music. But why? Could it be that the music sounds nice, to collect more interests, or is it that it can make you “smarter”?
Brain Changes
One question that I think about every so often is could my instruments benefit me? So, recently I have conducted some research and found out what really happens when playing these instruments. When practicing musical contrivances, the brain goes off. Exploding with activity in multiple areas and sides of the brain. According to the video by Ted-Ed “How playing an instrument benefits your brain — Anita Collins” it states, “Playing music is the brain’s equivalent of a full-body workout,” (1:31–1:35). By this they mean because of playing these musical tools, hundreds of connections interact and connect to each other, incredibly fast. Even if the way is through another hemisphere of the brain, exercising sections of the brain and the skill the musician is working at. “Playing a musical instrument engages practically every area of the brain at once,”(1:55–2:00). Usually using the Visual, Auditory and the motor cortices the most. By playing music it workouts and empowers the brain to be applied in other areas of expertise or activities. Playing an instrument also involves combining the novel, mathematical, precision, and critical thinking half of the brain, with the other half of the brain filled with creative and novel strong suits, circulating around the brain's corpus callosum (the “Bridge” between the two hemispheres).Increasing the amount of messages that get across and work together through different, unique, and new ways. This may enhance the way musicians answer academic, or social problems/environments.
Musicians may also have higher levels of executive function, the reason for often performing/crafting music involves understanding, and plotting emotions and messages that usually includes planning, strategizing or being attentive to detail that both need critical and emotional views. Because of that trait it helps for envisioning, creating, storing, and collecting memories more quickly and efficiently. In the media of Ted-ed they inform ,“Studies have found that musicians appear to use their highly connected brains to give each memory multiple tags, such as a conceptual tag, an emotional tag, an audio tag, and a contextual tag, like a good Internet search engine” (3:25–3:36). In an article by Diane Cole it also states, “Studying an instrument gives children an advantage in the development of their intellectual, perceptual, and cognitive skills,” . Overall to answer my question, yes, playing a musical instruments can benefit you in fields. Such as creative, cognitive, synchronicity, motor skills, executive function, comprehension, ect.
Listening vs Learning
What is better, listening or learning music? In a video by Ted-Ed called “How playing an instrument benefits your brain — Anita Collins” it informs that we use many different parts of the brain when practicing or listening to an musical instrument. Doing different tasks shows different parts of the brain being used. Usually doing a certain task uses one area of the brain. However, like “Fireworks”, an explosion is happening throughout our brain while interacting with music. Using machines like FMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) or PET (positron emission tomography), neurologists study what happens under the skull when listening and playing music.
While listening to music, multiple areas light up and are being used at that moment. (Fun fact: The brain can show the difference if it is hearing sad or happy songs.) The reason why the brain acts like this is because it breaks the song down by two factors, trying to understand components like melody and rhythm. However unlike listening, playing music engages more of the brain. Using factors like motor skills, memory, comprehension of music, synchronization, ect. One of the most obvious differences in listening to music and playing an instrument is the usage of motor skills or the motor cortices which can be used in both sides of the brain.
Both are beneficial but one uses more. For example, practicing music is like crafting a dish, it takes steps and different techniques while simultaneously doing different things at the same time. On the other hand, listening to music is enjoying the dish, doing one thing at a time, but enjoying and comprehending the effort made by the person who crafted the end result. Both are enjoying their time, but one curates more focus and precession than the other, using more parts of the hand, like how in playing an instrument uses more parts of the brain.
Recommendations
So now we know that playing an instrument is good for you, but when is the best time to start? Well studies have shown that learning to play an instrument while in adolescent stages can be easier in the future for things like memories, better cognitive skills, and to better the ability of distinguishing constants and spoken words. However, you may also benefit from music when not in a very young age, still collecting most of the benefits. In the article “Your Aging Brain will be in better shape if you’ve taken Music lessons” by Diane Cole, they explains why learning while young helps, “‘The reason is that musical training can have a ‘profound’ and lasting impact on the brain, creating additional neural connections in childhood that can last a lifetime and thus help compensate for cognitive declines later in life’-Brenda Hanna”(National Geographic). Although learning a musical instrument helps mentally. That act can also cause an effect on things like motor skills, being precise and/or coronating movements to get that right sound/action. Also contributing, by reading and listening to the sheet music and song, the musician can help the “brain-boost”. Your brain can benefit from these neural connections and passages sparking in the brain, alighting new skills and abilities. In another study it proved that learning an instrument was more beneficial at around the age of nine,( witch could be called a “critical development period”) showing that continuing the art of musical instrument could add skills to later in the future in adulthood, not including the other information throughout the years.
Another factor that plays in, is how long has the musician been playing? In a study conducted (get it) by Brenda Hanna Pladdy, the research shows that the longer you play the easier it is to excel in areas such as nonverbal, visuospatial memory, naming objects, and understanding and adapting to new facts and intelligence. In that same test it explains the people who played for less amounts of time or overall not at all seemed to not be as good contrasting to the others in that area, who have played. The musicians that had only played between one year and nine years were average, mediocre overall. Proving that the more you play/learn/practice an instrument the more it benefits yourself. In a sense, by working hard at an instrument for a long time starting from a young age can be benefited more.
To end it off
To end it off, musical instruments are very helpful in many ways, if that is to relax, or get your brain thinking, or to overall enjoy the experience. Music comes from all backgrounds but seemingly can bring multiples together. If you’ve been playing for ages or just starting, instruments can be a powerful tool to help your brain get one step ahead in certain fields. So, to answer this whole article, yes, playing a instrument can make you “smarter”.
On a side note, I hope you enjoyed this article and learned something new. If there is anymore theories or questions on this topic please e-mail me at autsettembre@gmail.com. Thanks!
Article by: Autumn S.
Edited by: Autumn S.
Bibliography:
- Cole D. Your Aging Brain Will Be in Better Shape If You’ve Taken Music Lessons [Internet]. Culture. 2014 [cited 2022 Sep 4]. Available from: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/140103-music-lessons-brain-aging-cognitive-neuroscience
- 2. TED-Ed, Collins A. How playing an instrument benefits your brain — Anita Collins [Internet]. YouTube. 2014 [cited 2022 Sep 3]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0JKCYZ8hng
