There's no question that the number of people who play a musical instrument has been in a stagnant decline. According to a study on statistica.com, the number of individuals who identified as musicians dropped by a little over 1 million from 2011 to 2014. This is no reason to sound the alarm, but it led me to an interesting thought: why don't more people play an instrument?
I can't think of any downside to learning how to play a musical instrument. The only things that come to mind are a ton of positives. There have been countless studies on how music affects the brain and even more on the social benefits of playing music with others. It's even said that learning how to play an instrument can increase your IQ up to 7 points. All of these benefits have led me to believe that if one has the opportunity to be able to learn an instrument then they should attempt to do so.
I've been playing the guitar since the 7th grade and it has been one of the most important aspects of my life since then. This brings me to my next point on why more people should learn how to play an instrument. Life is all about continuous learning and nothing captures that sentiment more than an instrument. You are never done learning an instrument. Not only does this keep your cognitive skills in check, it also keeps you from the inescapable boredom that we all feel every now and then.
Personally, I can say that playing an instrument has been an incredible hobby for me. And if there's anything that our generation needs more than any other, it's a hobby.