It’s already well-known how beneficial music can be. Just try and imagine what the world would look like if there was no music at all. Horrible, isn’t it? All the music that you love, all the great pieces that were written during the existence of civilization have served as an expressional tool for writers, and as a means of enjoyment or comfort for the listener. Any emotion that you might feel, no matter how simple or complex, artists have found ways to channel it through music. So, athletes, music instruments, go!
Some pieces are so timeless they are reproduced even to this day, centuries after they were initially conceived. The oldest known written piece of music is around four millennia old. The oldest musical instruments ever found, made from ivory and bone, are around 43,000 years old according to estimates. By this point, we can say for sure that music is part of our evolution and everyday lives.
Athletes and music instruments
With this said, it’s obvious that music has its therapeutic and other positive benefits. But what we want to discuss here might seem, in some way, a bit unusual or unconventional. As music is an integral part of our lives at this point, is there a way athletes can benefit from learning how to play an instrument?
There are many ways in which athletes and musicians are different. First, sport is all about competition. Anything that you do is about defeating an opponent, whether it’s a team, an individual, or a group of individual competitors. It can be a match, a game, or a race. All of them share the same philosophy, that you’re supposed to win.
On the other hand, musicians are artists. And while there are some aspects where they can compete, and while there are competitions where the judges and the audience pick the winner, it all comes down to artistic expression. There are no ultimate final goals of winning in art, just conveying a message. Well, at least in most of the cases.
There is, however, one thing that makes them similar. They both feel the pressure when they’re supposed to perform. A live show can be somewhat comparable to a football match, with the crowd expecting to witness a certain result or a performance. And even if we’re talking about a studio session, the musician once again might feel the same type of stress that an athlete might go through.
So let’s see, are there any ways an athlete can benefit from learning how to play an instrument?
Relaxation through creativity
While both groups are somewhat similar in the sense that they’re expected to perform well, athletes still don’t have any way of artistic expression through their work. The life of a professional or a semi-professional athlete can be extremely rough. No matter the sport, there are always high expectations; in addition to extreme physical and mental efforts that they endure on a daily basis. And, contrary to what some people might think, athletes are not superheroes and are people with emotions, just like anyone else.
Knowing how stressful it can become, athletes might need some kind of a non-destructive emotional outlet. And what better way to express your emotions than through music? By learning how to play an instrument, they can use their immense power of will and persistence to conquer this new skill, while also getting the chance to have a hobby that’s completely different from what they’re doing as professional athletes. You can play what you want the way you want, without feeling any pressure or having outside expectations of any kind.
In a way, we could refer to it as music therapy. After a long hard day of physically and mentally stressful exercising or competing, you’re finally left alone, all by yourself, with your instrument. They can play whatever they want or can write music that they feel like writing. And no one will expect them to win anything – they can just play and write music.
Regulating your emotions
In some way similar to what we discussed above, playing an instrument can help in regulating emotions. By having this hobby as an emotional outlet, they can “tap into” their brain’s activity and the regulation of dopamine. The relaxation through music is somewhat comparable to meditation. As a result, they can learn how to control their emotions and have less of a chance for an outburst during times of crisis during competitions.
In addition, knowing how to play an instrument can have a positive impact on their self-esteem. And we all know how important that can be for any athlete.
Dealing with anxiety
While we’re at it, performance anxiety can be a real issue with both athletes and musicians. An athlete might feel extreme pressure from the crowd and all the other people watching the competition. At the same time, the musician can deal with a similar kind of emotional burden, resulting in feelings of anxiety. In some way, what athletes are feeling before a competition is pretty close to the so-called “stage fright” a musician or an actor might feel before the performance.
For less experienced athletes, this can sometimes be quite an issue. It can sometimes happen that their performance during a competition is significantly worse than the results achieved during training sessions. With the change of environment and the pressure from the crowd, they might feel anxious, ultimately resulting in poor results.
And it’s another thing where playing an instrument can serve as a form of therapy. By performing music in front of people, they can deal with this type of fear, ultimately learning how to cope with the pressure. When playing a musical piece, you learn how to dive into it and stop caring about what people think. It’s only then that both you and the audience will enjoy it. So once again, athletes, music instruments, go!
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