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Corinne Turner

Professor Johnson

ENG-1201

23 March, 2020

How can Playing Music Benefit Brain Function and Mental Health?

Instruments have been an interest to mankind for a long time. It can be a fun and positive

experience for the aspiring musician and the audience that listens to them. While some consider

music as a creative way to express one’s self, others may consider instruments as a waste of skill

compared to math or sports, but is that true? How can playing a musical instrument be beneficial

to brain function and mental health?

Music has always been something that people enjoy and desire. Whether it is playing it

for fun or listening to it while doing homework, music is something that humans cannot live

without. It has also been a gateway for many different religions in order to connect with their

gods. Music has been studied for decades by scientists and neurosurgeons. It was then

determined that playing musical instruments engages both hemispheres of the brain at once,

making it an activity like nothing else (Collins, Anita).

Some key points discovered from sources are that music helps with memory and it is

good for mental health. “Music can make your brain sharper and improve your long-term

memory” (Gregoire, 2017). It is not just Huffington post that feels the same way. A lot of

sources make this claim as well. TED-ED’s video on music and brain function goes out to say

that musicians’ brains even give, “specific tags”, to their memories because they are that sharp

and developed (Anita, Collins). Oliver Sacks speaks in his book about music being a way that

we teach children poetry or the alphabet (Sacks, 238). Music has benefitted memory
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scientifically due to its use of both hemispheres of the brain. Another key point about mental

health and music was proven by another Ted-Ed video. It said that music can help people with

more than just dementia. It also helps many people, who “struggle with PTSD and other mental

illnesses”, because music is a positive outlet for emotion (Clohessy, Lucia). Another article that

was sourced said that men and women exposed to making music via instruments, had positive

inhibition (Slevc, 208).

Some Differences in these sources included short-term or long-term memory. Short-term

memory was benefitted to the students with experience being a musician (Slevc, 208). Long-term

memory can be benefitted in musicians according to Ted-Ed (Collins, Anita). The book by

Oliver Sacks, talks about music helping students to remember moments from lessons (Sacks,

239). It is clear that music helps with memory and in some these studies, better development of

the brain (Gregoire, 2017). Due to the two different points being proven, some sources speak

about mental health and other speak on memory. Some sources say that listening to music is

good too, while others say that “playing music works more of your brain” (Collins, Anita).

It is important to know that playing music strengthens your brain making it easier to

remember things, almost like a full-body workout for the brain, due to the amount of work the

brain is doing. This does not mean that students should quit studying or spend less time on

homework. It is also important to know that none of these sources claim that music is the only

solution for a better memory or better mental health. There are many other options for helping

memory and mental health if one struggles in those areas. The purpose of this research was to

communicate the benefits of playing music and how it could help with mental health, cognitive

memory and/or brain function.

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Work Cited

Clohessy, Lucia. “Music Therapy and Mental Health | Lucia Clohessy |

TEDxWCMephamHigh.” YouTube, 14 June 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-io-

uld2JFU.

Gregoire, Carolyn. “Being A Musician Is Good For Your Brain.” HuffPost Canada, HuffPost

Canada, 13 Jan. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/playing-music-brain-benefits-

aging_n_58765d35e4b03c8a02d4713b. Accessed 31 May 2019.

Sacks, Oliver. Musicophilia. London, Picador, 2018.

Slevc, L.Robert, et al. “Tuning the Mind: Exploring the Connections between Musical Ability

and Executive Functions.” Cognition, vol. 152, July 2016, pp. 199–211. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2016.03.017.

TED-Ed. “How Playing an Instrument Benefits Your Brain - Anita Collins.” YouTube, 22 July

2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0JKCYZ8hng.