Music is a wonderful thing that brings so many people together. And behind the music is the instrument (or instruments). Learning an instrument is something that can be done on your own time, relieves stress, and connects you to so many other people.

When one begins middle school, they must choose between taking band, orchestra or chorus as an art class. Many choose chorus, but taking band and orchestra is just as fun and useful. After choosing band or orchestra, you try out instruments until you find one that’s a good fit. As odd as that sounds, there is one that you’re better at over the rest of them. Then that person begins learning. If a person decides to stick with playing their instrument into high school, that is even better. That is not the only way one can learn to play an instrument.

Many start playing in college or later in life as a hobby. No matter the way that you begin playing your instrument(s), learning to play an instrument and continuing to play that instrument is a life changing action.

When learning to play an instrument later in life (college and beyond), you can do it on your own time and around your own schedule. This makes playing an instrument a very fun hobby to pick up and continue doing. During my freshman year of college, one of my suitemates picked up the ukulele just for fun, and ended up being absolutely fantastic at it, and still plays it to this day. Playing an instrument as a hobby has been proven to make one smarter. It is a great way to challenge yourself and spend your time. Everyone loves listening to music, so why not contribute to making some of your own?

Learning and playing an instrument as a hobby can turn into a great stress reliever. If at the end of the day, what you look forward to the most is sitting down to practice more, then you know you’ve found a great stress relief for yourself. You cannot get worse at playing an instrument by practicing it; you can only get better.

Playing in a band or orchestra, or together in any sort of group, is a great learning lesson. On top of learning your instrument, you learn the sounds of other instruments as well as breathing, listening and counting techniques. In middle school, I started playing the clarinet in the school band, and I still play to this day (nine years later). Throughout high school, I even begin playing bass clarinet as well. Doing so, I made tons of friends that I still talk to and hang out with to this day, met many wonderful people, learned how other instruments sound and great listening techniques. It really is a team “sport” to play an instrument within a group.

Learning an instrument is not something you will just forget. You may meet some life long friends through playing an instrument, and you will definitely make many wonderful memories. Everyone should learn to play an instrument at some point during his or her lifetime.