Musicians Have Bigger, Better Brains

By now, just about everyone knows that neuroscience researchers have quantitatively measured how music affects the brain.

Listening to music can make you smarter, healthier, and ultimately happier. The statistic I like best is that musicians have bigger, better-connected brains. Booyah!

I started taking piano lessons as a youngster and I thought it was so great… for about three days. Then it became torture for me and my entire family.

And although I didn’t pick up on the finer points of reading music, I did learn how to compose and arrange music and for that, I will always be grateful to my parents.

Now, maybe you didn’t stick with the whole piano, flute, viola, or voice lesson, but you still get a huge brain benefit when you listen to music. That’s because listening to (and playing) music can reduce chronic stress by helping to lower that nasty cortisol hormone while pumping up so of that needed dopamine in your system.

I’d like to suggest that you choose, at least in part, to listen to uplifting instrumental music. Choosing the right music can help you feel settled, calm, hopeful, and even, powerful. It’s like a surge of “I can” to get you through the day or even, your next workout.

Choose a better you by choosing better music.