..you should be making music today:

1 Memory and Cognitive Training
Music lessons excellently develop these essential mental abilities. It has long been noticed that children attending music school outperform their non-musical peers in terms of academic performance. If you listen to a lot of music, you have probably noticed that a musical composition is a strict hierarchy and structure. It’s not for nothing that ear training is sometimes compared in complexity to advanced mathematics!
Studying music theory contributes to the development of “abstract thinking”. Performing music trains “spatial thinking”: you need to simultaneously execute the current part of the piece, know the following part, and remember the previous part, adjusting the expressiveness of playing or singing accordingly. Memorizing music, musical notations, the sound of intervals, chords, scales, and other elements develops “long-term memory”. And if any of these activities make you feel nervous – let’s talk about it!

2 Development of Organization and Self-discipline
Music lessons help discipline oneself and develop a habit of systematic work. It is one of the best ways to cultivate patience, precision in work, concentration, willpower, and character. To achieve success, one must consistently practice, focusing attention on the set task and not being distracted during the lessons. Those who have studied know that learning an instrument requires meticulous and regular effort.

3. Improvement of Motor Skills and Reaction
Mastering any musical instrument enhances coordination. During play, numerous movements are made with the hands and fingers, and the performer’s task is to monitor each of them and execute them as accurately as possible. Moreover, almost always the right and left hands act independently of each other: even when playing keyboard instruments, not to mention string or wind instruments. This engages both hemispheres of the brain in musicians, which has a very beneficial effect on their balanced development.

4. Overcoming Psychological Barriers
Children who attend music school very often perform at exams, plays, and concerts (in choirs, ensembles, or solo). Therefore, they are less likely to be afraid of the audience. For adults, of course, it is more challenging to overcome this barrier, but starting small – performing in front of the teacher, relatives, friends – gradually diminishes the fear of public performances, and in its place come self-confidence and increased self-esteem. After all, on stage, everyone is at their best, and being chosen for an honorable mission – to showcase oneself and delight the audience – brings an enormous charge of positive emotions and provides the ground for a desire to improve further.

5. Following the Best Educational Traditions
Learning to play an instrument or sing, even at a basic level, means following the educational traditions of the last few centuries. Music has been studied and practiced all over the world, even if individuals do not become professional musicians afterward. Making music, even as an amateur, is self-improvement and self-cultivation.