Take a moment to think, when was the last time you picked up that instrument you learned how to play when you were younger? Maybe it was a violin in school, a piano that you took lessons at in some house in your neighborhood, or a guitar that you bought at the beginning of high school but never fully learned how to play. Or maybe you have been thinking about buying an instrument but you have just never gotten around to it.

Okay now that you’ve thought about that instrument, think about when the last time you listened to music was. I’m willing to bet it was probably in the last couple of days if not right now. So why is there this disconnect? Why is it that just about everyone enjoys listening to music but very people continue playing an instrument after taking some lessons in music class in elementary school?

There is an infinite number of reasons as to why people stop playing instruments, but a lot of it boils down to boredom and unwillingness to put in the time to make any real progress. Mastering a musical instrument takes a lot of time, effort, and patience. But that isn’t what I’m saying you should do right now. The wonderful thing about learning an instrument is that you get out what you put in. If you put in a lot of effort, you have the potential to be a great musician. If you put in a little bit of effort you might not be able to improvise over any and every set of chords that you hear, but I’m confident that you’ll be able to play any AC-DC song well enough to impress your friends.

Most people never even start to play an instrument because they think it isn’t the right time. One of the most common New Year’s Eve conversations follows:

“Hey! It’s so good to see you! Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?”

“Yeah! I’m thinking I’m going to learn to play the piano!”

“Oh, that’s so cool! Do you have lessons lined up?”

“Not yet, I’m thinking I’ll buy the piano in a couple weeks and I want to start lessons after I meet this deadline at work at the end of February.”

“That sounds awesome! You’ll have to keep me updated.”

- A few months later –

“Hey, how are the piano lessons going?”

“That’s a funny story actually, but I never really got around to doing it. I just had too much going on. I’ll definitely do it next year though.”

Next year.

It will never be the right time to learn to play an instrument. Something will always come up to get in the way. So no matter what, the best time to start is always now.

Now you’re thinking you might want to give it a try (I hope) but you’re also thinking, “How am I going to do this? I can’t go to lessons every week!” This is a common reason for any person to stop considering playing an instrument but in reality, the internet has given us a world of opportunity for learning. Without very much effort, anyone can find some beginner and in some cases some advanced lessons on the instrument of their choice (hint: pick a fairly common instrument to make lessons easier to find). You might think YouTube is a weird place to start when you’re learning your new instrument, but having the ability to watch videos at your leisure allows for a lot more flexibility instead of scheduling lessons with a private teacher.

The last big issue that stops most people from learning a new instrument is the cost. Similar to the issue of time, when paying for an instrument you get out what you put in. If you buy a guitar for $3000, you can expect that guitar to sound beautiful and to last you for many years. If you spend $50 at a thrift store for a keyboard, it might not sound perfect, but the mechanics of playing it will be the same as they are for any piano. You get far more return for your investment at the lower end of the price range than the higher end; the $50 keyboard gives you a world of opportunity that you previously could not see and the $3000 guitar is an enhancement after years of investment into music.

To get right down to it, if you have always thought you would like to learn an instrument but never thought it was the right time, or you thought you wouldn’t be able to take lessons, or you thought it was too expensive, know that the right time is now. So take a break from what you’re doing right now and think about what instrument you could see yourself playing and make a plan to commit to learning that instrument, you never know where it might lead you.