When Words Fail,
Music Speaks
On May 22nd, we all join to celebrate National Buy A Musical Instrument Day. This is a day all about playing music. Especially if you are a musician, you deserve to buy a new instrument. Or maybe if you are trying to learn how to play a new instrument, it’s time for you to buy an instrument. This day could be a motivation for you. National Buy a Musical Instrument Day is not just for childrens and teens, but also for people of all ages. Just imagine your grandpa playing the bass, grandma on the piano while the grandkids play the drums, trombone, and flute. Together they can make a great band!
Nowadays, there are six instrumental categories: percussion, strings, keyboard, woodwinds, brass, and electronic. The most played instrument in the world is the piano, followed by the guitar and the drums. It is so popular that about 21 million Americans play the piano–that's more than all the other instruments combined together! Other popular instruments include the flute, ukulele, saxophone, clarinet, trombone, and violin. Not only is playing a musical instrument fun, but it can also increase abilities in other areas of the body. People who plays a musical instrument are shown to read at more advanced levels, have more expansive vocabularies, and work better in teams.
Besides improving in your reading and vocabulary, music also helps us cope with pain and stress. It has a unique link to our emotions, so it can be an extremely effective stress management tool. By listening to music, you can have a tremendously relaxing effect on our minds and bodies, especially slow and quiet classical music. According to Harvard research, this type of music can have a beneficial effect on our physiological functions, slowing the pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing the levels of stress hormones. Harvard researchers found that patients receiving surgery for hernia repair who listened to music after surgery experienced decreased plasma cortisol levels and required significantly less morphine to manage their pain. The stress reducing effects of music were more powerful than the effect of an orally-administered anxiolytic drug.
Katerine Chung Chen