Musical Instruments Speech Essay

The Chinese philosopher Confucius said long ago that â€Å"Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without. † Being able to play any musical instrument is extremely satisfying. This includes everyone from the person who has mastered her instrument right down to the beginner who knows only a few chords. I personally believe that if there’s one thing you should learn in your lifetime, it’s how to play an instrument. Learning to play a musical instrument offers a lot of benefits and can bring joy to you and to everyone around you.. Here the four most important benefits of playing instruments: The first benefits, is that playing a musical instrument makes you smarter. Playing an instrument helps the mind to be alert and remain active eventually helping to sharpen the memory. Learning an instrument requires you to learn about tones and scores which increase your ability to store audio information. According to an article from The Telegraph online magazine, â€Å"New research suggests that regularly playing an instrument changes the shape and power of the brain and may be used in therapy to improve cognitive skills. There is continually more evidence that musicians have organizationally and functionally different brains compared to non-musicians, especially in the areas of the brain used in processing and playing music. These parts of the brain that control motor skills, hearing, storing audio information and memory become larger and more active when a person learns how to play an instrument and can apparently improve day to day actions such as being alert, planning and emotional perception. And according to Lutz Jancke, a psychologist at the University of Zurich, said: â€Å"Learning to play a musical instrument has definite benefits and can increase IQ by seven points, in both children and adults. † For children especially we found that learning to play the piano for instance teaches them to be more self-disciplined, more attentive and better at planning. All of these things are very important for academic performance, so can therefore make a child brighter. The second benefits, is that playing a musical instruments relieves stress. Playing any instrument can actually help release the endorphins in your body, which will also result in reduced levels of stress Playing music naturally can soothe not only others, but the musician as well, not only the actual sound of the instrument, but also the release of creativity and emotion, as well as the simple vibration of an instrument against a player’s body can significantly lower a musician’s stress level.. The study’s principal investigator, Barry Bittman, M. D. f the Mind-Body Wellness Center in Meadville, PA, says these unique findings not only shed new light on the value of active music participation, but also extend our understanding of individualized human biological stress responses on an unprecedented level. Most people would be very surprised at just how easily their stress and problems can be forgotten while playing their instrument on a quiet evening. There are no pressures or expectations while playing. This creates a perfect environment for relieving stress, along with the joy and relaxation of listening to your own musical creations. The third benefits, is that playing musical instruments enhances an individual’s ability to recognize emotion in sound. The musicians had a heightened response to the complex portion of the sound, where the frequency rapidly changes. When the musicians heard the simple sections of the sound they had lower responses. Musicians showed enhanced responses to the most acoustically complex portion of the stimulus and decreased activity to the more periodic, less complex portion. the musicians conserve neural resources while processing simpler sounds (economy) and deploy them to more thoroughly respond to complex sounds (enhancement). The study found that the more years of musical training and the earlier the age in which the musical studies began, the more enhanced their nervous systems were to process emotion in sound. Historically, it has been thought that the auditory brainstem is fixed, that information flows through without changing any of the circuits. According to Kraus’ research shows that it is not only trainable, but more malleable than previously thought. Scientists know that emotion is carried less by the linguistic meanings of words than by the way the sound is communicated. Kraus’ work reveals that brain changes involved in playing a musical instrument enhance one’s ability to detect subtle emotional cues in conversation. And last most important benefits of playing instruments, is that playing a musical instrument is fun. Everybody enjoys hearing music, but the people who make the music have the most fun. Once you get better playing your chosen musical instrument, you will be able to demonstrate what you have been learn to your families and friends that gives you fun and enjoyment. The songwriter Bob Dylan has written numerous well-known songs using only a few chords. There is nothing like the feeling of suddenly walking into a room and playing a song you just learned or wrote for a friend. You don’t have to be Beethoven to appreciate the benefits. And it is nothing but fun to sit down with a couple of friends and play and sing a song. In this camaraderie there is an endless amount of discovery and laughs to be had. The sound you’re making rises and falls, singing in the voice of the instrument. But it’s not really the instrument that’s making those great sounds—it’s you! It’s fun, even when you play by yourself. Playing in a group is even better because other players are sharing the fun. There’s no way to have all that fun than for you to be the person who is playing the music! As you can see, playing a musical instrument has many benefits and hopefully that will motivate you to keep on practicing and always hold music in high esteem. Whenever you come across challenges as a musician, think about the end results and always remind yourself of all the great reasons you love to play. I’ll leave you with an inspiring quote by jazz saxophonist and composer Charlie Parker who once said, â€Å"Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. †