Strings Attached: What Learning an Instrument Can Teach Your Brain About Healing
- Julie Barris | Crisis Counselor | Therapist-in-Training
- Jun 28
- 4 min read
Learning an instrument can teach your brain about healing by rewiring neural pathways and offering a safe outlet for emotional expression. Even simple, consistent practice on an instrument can teach your brain about healing, focus, and resilience in ways that words sometimes can't.
You don’t need to be a musician to use music as medicine.
Have you ever found yourself staring at a piano, guitar, or drum set and thinking, “I wish I knew how to play”? Maybe it felt like a missed childhood opportunity, or maybe life just got in the way. What if that urge wasn't just about learning a new skill—but about healing something deeper?
Turns out, picking up an instrument later in life isn’t just possible—it might be one of the best things you can do for your brain and your emotional well-being. From rewiring thought patterns to processing intense emotions without words, music can reach parts of us that talking sometimes can't.
The Brain on Music
When you learn an instrument, you're not just memorizing notes or finger positions—you’re engaging in a full-body mental workout. Neuroscientific studies show that music activates both hemispheres of the brain and increases communication between regions that are typically used for memory, motor control, emotional regulation, and language. It’s a rare activity that stimulates so many parts of your brain at once. This stimulation helps build new neural connections—particularly useful for those healing from trauma, depression, or anxiety, where certain pathways may be underused or overloaded. The result? Greater emotional stability, better memory, and stronger focus.
Mood Management Through Music
For many people, the idea of mood regulation feels abstract. But music gives it structure. Regular practice—even for 10–15 minutes a day—offers a powerful sense of routine, and the act of making even small progress with an instrument fosters a tangible sense of accomplishment. It also gives your emotional world a non-verbal outlet. If you’ve ever felt better after singing in the car or playing a few chords, that’s your nervous system resetting itself. Instead of bottling up stress or numbing out, you’re actively processing it. That’s why music therapy is a growing field—it taps into something deep, primal, and healing.
When You’re Angry, Pick Up the Instrument—Not the Fight
Anger often feels like fire—it wants to burn, lash out, explode. But what if you had a safe way to move that energy? Music can be the perfect outlet. Imagine grabbing a guitar and playing loud, fast chords to match your racing thoughts. Or using a djembe drum to beat out your frustration. This isn’t about creating a polished song—it’s about redirecting emotion in the moment, letting it pass through rather than take over. Over time, choosing your instrument over an argument trains your brain to pause, regulate, and process—skills that defuse anger before it harms relationships or yourself.
Emotional Processing in a New Key
Some feelings don’t come with words—and that’s okay. Music allows you to bypass language and express with sound. A moody piano improv might echo your sadness, or a dissonant melody might match your anxiety. As you connect with the emotion through sound, your brain begins to make sense of it, to move it, and eventually to let it shift. Therapists often call this emotional discharge—and it’s why so many people cry when they hear certain songs or find relief after playing their instrument. In this way, music becomes a container for emotional experience, allowing you to process without needing to perfectly explain.
But What If I’m Not “Good”?
We’ve all internalized the idea that if we’re not excellent at something, it’s not worth doing. But healing doesn’t care about performance—it cares about practice and presence. Learning an instrument teaches you to tolerate frustration, be kind to yourself when you mess up, and keep going even when progress feels slow. Those are mental health muscles, not just musical ones. The more you show up and allow yourself to be a beginner, the more you strengthen patience, resilience, and curiosity. These are the same traits that help you navigate therapy, relationships, and emotional growth.
Getting Started
You don’t need to invest hundreds of dollars or hours to reap the benefits of music. Start small. Borrow a keyboard. Download a free guitar chord app. Hum along to backing tracks on YouTube. Even clapping rhythms or tapping your desk to a beat counts as engaging with musical structure. The key is to keep it accessible and enjoyable, not overwhelming. If you treat it like play, your brain will treat it like healing. Consistency, even in short bursts, creates the change—not perfection.
So here’s your question:
What if the instrument you’ve been putting off learning… is also the tool your mind has been waiting for to feel more alive, balanced, and understood?
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