Is playing music good for the brain?(economist.com)
economist.com
Is playing music good for the brain?
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2026/03/20/is-playing-music-good-for-the-brain
17 comments
Playing music while sleeping helps my tinnitus, which helps me sleep, which helps my brain garbage collect. So, in my case at least, the answer is yes.
Can’t tell because of the paywall but I assume this is talking about playing an instrument rather than listening to a record.
Perhaps the commenter knows this and is just so adept at guitar that they play it in their sleep.
I wonder if that was AI answer when model didn’t get access to source and just hallucinated comment
Nope, an AI probably would have written a better comment. I misunderstood the link. Tinnitus has been getting worse, so this subject has literally been on my mind lately.
It has a hard-paywall (and should be flagged) but you can catch that it's about creating (not listening) from both the image and:
> Several studies have found that professional musicians have more grey matter (the neural tissue involved in thinking, movement and memory) in some regions than non-musicians.
Which you might need to visit an ineffective bypass to see that: https://archive.is/F67Gf
> Several studies have found that professional musicians have more grey matter (the neural tissue involved in thinking, movement and memory) in some regions than non-musicians.
Which you might need to visit an ineffective bypass to see that: https://archive.is/F67Gf
Yes it is about playing an instrument
Bp;dr: Playing an instrument or singing, gives you more gray matter, memory and executive function, and a slower cognitive decline. Playing multiple instruments doesn't have a benefit
Bp;dr: Playing an instrument or singing, gives you more gray matter, memory and executive function, and a slower cognitive decline. Playing multiple instruments doesn't have a benefit
I’ve played banjo ( for my own pleasure ) for about 10 years. I retired last year, have more time for it, and started attending jams.
What’s interesting is that many of the best musicians play multiple instruments. The incremental effort to pick up a new instrument must be fairly small. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met that play great guitar, standup bass, and fiddle. ( Banjo and mandolin seem just a little less likely to be included. )
I hope I get there some day! It looks fun to put down one instrument, pick up another and continue ripping.
What’s interesting is that many of the best musicians play multiple instruments. The incremental effort to pick up a new instrument must be fairly small. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met that play great guitar, standup bass, and fiddle. ( Banjo and mandolin seem just a little less likely to be included. )
I hope I get there some day! It looks fun to put down one instrument, pick up another and continue ripping.
I'd liken playing multiple instruments to coding in multiple languages. There's a baseline understanding of the fundamentals that is necessary to overcome in the beginning, but once you get confident with them they transfer across multiple instruments/languages.
https://archive.ph/9YZGg
Edit: appears to cut off article
Edit: appears to cut off article
My unscientific feeling is that playing fires up brain centers for vision, hearing, motor control, memory, cognition, emotion, sympathy (with the composer) ... the whole nine yards.
It's a whole brain workout in my opinion. Plus the physical aspect.
It's a whole brain workout in my opinion. Plus the physical aspect.
Can't speak for others, but it certainly is for me.
For me too. The headline question however was not "Is playing music good for people?", but "Is playing music good for the brain?"
That's not nearly as easy to answer.
That's not nearly as easy to answer.
If we're talking about long-term benefits, I certainly can't answer that, but I can say all of my interactions with music have been positive from merely listening, learning to play several instruments, learning music theory, etc. Music has been one of the great joys of my life.
It is behind paywall, but the question itself seems like trivial.
Paywall