You have been eying the guitar in the store window for weeks now. Your friend asks why you have yet to purchase it. Is it because you have never learned to play?
There are as many reasons to learn to play the guitar as there are excuses for not learning. Here are eight reasons to join the ranks of the guitar-playing population.
Table Of Contents
Therapeutic
Organizations like schools, charities, and health facilities use music and learning an instrument in their formal therapy sessions. You do not have to be a member of the therapy community to reap the benefits of learning to play the guitar.
It relieves stress. You lose yourself in the music, and the world disappears, if only for a short time. As little as 15 minutes can give a tremendous boost to your mood.
Good for Heart
The inherent stress relief of playing the guitar is good for the health of your heart. As playing relieves stress, it can help to lower your blood pressure. Your heart rate slows as you relax. Both of these effects are positive in terms of overall heart health. Daily practice is a way to work toward keeping those rates down. And picture playing your small acoustic guitar outside around a campfire for instance and you can get an idea at just how pleasant and soul-warming it can be.
Gives a Sense of Accomplishment
Learning to play the guitar can give you a feeling of accomplishment. You may not feel accomplished as you begin to learn. You might even feel frustrated with the process.
As you continue to practice, you will learn new chords and new songs. With each practice, you will improve. As you improve, you will begin to feel that you have accomplished something. This sense of accomplishment will play a role in the confidence-boosting benefits of playing.
Playing Guitar Improves Memory
You may expect to start forgetting things as you get older. You may even feel like you have difficulty remembering things now. Learning to play the guitar can help improve your memory now and help you keep it later.
As you learn to play, you memorize chords and progressions. You have to remember which finger goes in what position on the strings and fretboard. This act of memorization helps to strengthen connections within the brain. These stronger connections help you to exercise your memory now and maintain it as you age.
Boosts Confidence and Social Skills
Perhaps you are a shy person. Social situations spawn fear into the depths of your being. Learning to play an instrument such as a guitar can help you break out of your shell.
Playing guitar provides you with a new topic of conversation. Not only that, but practicing will help you improve your skills, which will naturally boost your confidence. As your confidence increases, you could find that presentations at work are no longer as daunting. You might even find that public situations do not seem as fearful.
Playing Guitar Improves Concentration
Do you sometimes have difficulty maintaining focus? You could be in the middle of a task, and suddenly, you find something else more interesting. If you find it hard to pay attention, there is good news for you. Learning to play the guitar can help you improve your concentration.
As you learn to concentrate while practicing, you will be training your mind to focus. This focus will become a new habit, and you could find that this skill translates to other areas of your life. Regular household chores or work tasks could become less frustrating as your concentration improves.
Helps with Eye Hand Coordination
If you have ever played a sport, you know that they take eye-hand coordination. Did you know that eye-hand coordination helps you mentally process things? It can help you with skills such as reading. Eye-hand coordination is an important part of playing guitar.
As you learn to play, you will learn to read chord charts and tabs. Simply knowing how to read the music does not make you a guitar player. You have to translate what you see into how your hands move. The more you practice guitar the better your eye-hand coordination will be.
Increases Arm Strength
When you begin learning to play guitar your hands will hurt. Your fingers will hurt. Your arms will hurt. It will feel awkward to hold the guitar.
Your instructor will likely teach you exercises to make chording easier. These will probably feel strange in the beginning. As you learn, the movements will become easier. Your fingers and hands will become stronger and more flexible. Your wrists and shoulders will also become stronger.
Be careful not to attempt too many exercises in a short period of time. This could cause injury. The strengthening process is not an overnight achievement. It will happen gradually over a period of time.
