It’s never too late to take up music

I was never particularly musical as a child and never took music lessons. So how did I become the lead singer of a rock band? Well, it’s been an interesting journey! I’ve always had a love of classic rock-n-roll music like Van Halen, Eagles, Aerosmith, Boston and Queen. I was a great lead singer in my mind, but it took a spark and some major confidence to make the leap from the singing dream in my head to singing in reality. The spark came after proposing to my now wife — I wanted to sing a special song for her at our wedding — that meant singing publicly and possibly crashing and burning in front of all our peers. I enlisted the help of a good friend who taught piano and voice lessons and began taking singing lessons. The wedding performance went well, however it took years of singing practice around family and friends, outings to karaoke spots and lots more lessons before I really started to love my voice and love performing.

The next logical step for my singing was to join a band. So I did, and have been singing gigs with the band twice a month for the last 8 years. From lead singer in my mind to lead singer on stage — a dream I made a reality in my 40’s! Currently, I am learning to play piano and guitar in my 50’s! So whether you want to learn to sing or learn to play an instrument, it’s never too late to be a musician — even if always just a beginner.

Learning an instrument gives you better coordination, time management and math skills?

Yep, you better believe it! Learning a musical instrument has been proven to improve all of those skills. Better coordination by using and moving your fingers, hands and feet to a set place to a set rhythm. Better time management by having to make time to fit in practice around your busy schedule. And better math skills because music is all about patterns and counting the beat.

The mental benefits don’t end there

You also hone your reading and listening skills when learning to play an instrument. Having to read music, listen and absorb information quickly in order to keep up with the song and rhythm will improve your ability to do it in everyday life.

There are physical benefits too!

Thought learning an instrument couldn’t pay off physically too? You’re wrong! Just observe how sweaty the band always is when they perform next time you are out for happy hour? (Especially the drummer) Playing an instrument is a form of exercise in itself. Whether it’s a guitar, violin, or a saxophone, you’re using your arm muscles, back muscles, core muscles and even a few shoulder muscles to play and/or hold up your instrument. And if you’re playing the drums then that totally counts as cardio.

Playing a wind instrument also could improve your lung capacity as all that deep breathing strengthens your lungs and respiratory system.

It’s literally never too late

A recent study of adults aged 60 to 85 who had no previous musical experience showed that after a few months of weekly piano lessons they had improved their verbal fluency and processing speed. Plenty of teachers are happy to take on adult students or if you’re not confident enough for that just yet, YouTube is full of instructional videos that you can basically teach yourself.

Your toughest decision shouldn’t be if you’re going to learn and instrument or not. Your toughest decision should be WHAT instrument you’re going to learn first. Before you know it you’ll be the star of the next workplace talent show, the life of the party or just the partner who serenades their significant other.

If I can do it — so can you!