Playing music 'good for the mind'

Posted by Helen Whitten

Learning to play music offers a number of benefits, regardless of whether the favoured instrument is a beginner's piano, guitar or synthesizer.

In a column for the Daily Mail, Dr Martin Scurr paid tribute to the "superb" musicians who performed on the latest series of BBC One talent show Strictly Come Dancing, pointing out they were required to perfect several numbers and play them to the "highest standard".

Memorising a piece of music in the manner has a similar impact on the brain as meditation, Dr Scurr claimed, stating it improves the memory and concentration.

His comments follow research from Brandon Ally of Boston University that suggested playing music could help Alzheimer's sufferers to retain new information.

Patients involved in the study were found to be better at recalling lyrics when they were set to a backing track.

Commenting further on the benefits offered by learning how to play different pieces of music, Dr Scurr added: "Vocabulary and possibly even IQ are enhanced with musical training."

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