As time goes on, more and more research proves that playing music is beneficial to your brain in more than one way. According to studies done by Harvard Health, music has “major effects on many aspects of health, ranging from memory and mood to cardiovascular function and athletic performance.”
Hold on a second—is Harvard really trying to tell us that whether we want to…
memorize the periodic table of elements
be a happier, more optimistic person
maintain a healthy heart into old age, or
be a great track runner…
Playing music will help with all of it? That’s a pretty lofty claim, isn’t it?
To be clear, music cannot exist in a vacuum as a single solution to all of life’s problems (wouldn’t that be nice…). But, when coupled with other healthy, intentional practices, it’s true that playing music will help with all of those things.
One of the most noticeable ways that we see music benefit the wiring of our brains is through self-esteem and confidence, and that in itself has the potential to impact a whole host of other things. Here’s what my experience with this has been.
From a Panic Attack to “That Wasn’t So Bad!”
I remember my first school band concert. I was a short, awkward, Harry Potter glasses-wearing fifth grader. And I was petrified. There were stairs backstage that we waited in line at before the performance. I remember gripping the handrail with my sweaty hands, never intending to let go and walk on to that stage. You'd think it wouldn't be so bad, being one of about forty kids on stage. But it was for me! I was certain I was somehow going to make an absolute fool out of myself.
We started playing our first piece, and something profound happened. All of the anxiety that I carried onstage with me channeled into a sense of heightened awareness and concentration that I hadn't felt before. Things moved in slow motion, and my parts in the music all of a sudden seemed easier.
I remember walking away from that experience thinking, “That wasn’t so bad!”
The Ripple Effect
After that, with each subsequent performance, my pre-concert anxiety slowly grew to be less and less. Even the concerts that went poorly helped prove to me that the world doesn't end when something goes awry.
In fact, there’s something valuable in learning to handle mistakes gracefully in a performance that people actually connect with and are drawn towards. I remember having that realization when I dropped a drumstick in the middle of my solo at a high school jazz band concert. For a split second my mind was torn between letting the mistake “defeat” me and using the mistake to my advantage, and - because of the benefit that frequently performing had on my instincts—I carried on as if it were intentional and played the rest of the solo with one stick.
I think I got more applause for that solo than anything up to that point in my life.
Self-Esteem Applied to All of Life
It’s hard to quantify the amount that I’ve benefited from the self-esteem boost I’ve experienced from playing music because I don’t know how my life would have turned out otherwise. I can, however, point to many non-musical moments I’ve had where I distinctly channeled the same energy and confidence that I feel when I’m performing. That feeling of underlying self-assuredness and focus has helped me in…
Test-taking
Sports and competition
Job interviews
Social gatherings
Hard decision-making
Teaching
and even writing this blog post!
The boost of self-confidence that we get from playing (and especially performing) music provides such a wide-ranging impact on so many other areas of life. It’s hard to overstate its benefit!
If you’re ready to dive in and start improving your self-esteem while gaining a skill that will last your entire life, sign up for music lessons with one of Vibe Music Academy’s professional musicians today. We’ll meet you online or in-person, whatever you’d prefer.
- John Gotsis, Founder & Owner at Vibe Music Academy.
