Mindfulness is all the rage to quiet the mind and center the heart, but a more potent and ancient tool rests at our fingertips: music. From ancient Greece to China, for millennia music’s been the go-to for settling the mind and uplifting the heart, not meditation. Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost this wisdom. Don’t get me wrong, meditation’s awesome, but for those looking for a 30-minute staple to add to their self-care routine, music’s a far superior option. That’s coming from an ex-monk who’s spent over 20,000 hours meditating. Here’s 7 reasons why you should ditch meditating and take-up an instrument instead.

1: Boosts Focus.

I’ve taught meditation for nearly 10 years. For 99.9% of folks, it’s hard. Just sitting down with their eyes closed for 20 minutes at a stretch can be a monumental task. A flurry of anxiety and thoughts overwhelms them. Their to-do list runs on repeat. Old grievances haunt them. And for most, if they manage a 30-minute-a-day routine, they can expect to see modest gains in 2–4 weeks, but it’ll remain a slog for years before they can consistently sit down and enjoy the delicious silence of meditation.

Music, on the other hand, is far easier for beginners to stay present with. First, music’s beautiful and, thus, easy for the mind to on-task with. The breath is boring as. Second, music engages the entire mind. It requires memory, complex coordination, close listening, feeling, and focus. While playing the violin, there’s little space for the mind to wonder what’s for lunch. That translates into easy and strong concentration.

Initially, there’s some learning curve, but once a player’s got a few songs under their belt, focus comes naturally. As a result, the mind develops focus faster than with meditation.

2: Boosts Mood.

Whether the primal screams of Cobain or the radiant compositions of Bach, music makes us feel good. That’s why Sheeran’s “Shape of You” and Fonsi’s “Despacito” have over 14 billion views. That’s why fans pay $28,000 to catch Adele at Caesar’s Palace. And that’s why music works. Music is beautiful, powerful, and uplifts the spirit. It can send listeners to the depths of sorrow, to the heights of mystical revelation, or to a pleasant chill. Even listening to the gritty “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or the screeching black hole sounds of SUNN O))), the undertone is of ecstasy. More, music does all of this without years of grinding away at meditation.

Although a listening to some SUNN O))) or Mahler’s Symphony №5 on a blue day would prove that sad music doesn’t make us sad, researchers have also confirmed this in multiple studies.*1 This boost in mood also acts as a buffer against depression.

There’s one important caveat here, though. For those actively dealing with depression, listening to sad music can worsen bad feelings.*2 So if a friend’s locking themselves up in their room and playing Chopin’s gloom-tunes on repeat, stop them. The good news: listening to positive music, like Jason Mraz or Bruno Mars, often instantly uplifts their mood and is an effective tool for combating depression. Even better: playing “The Lazy Song” on the ukulele.

3: Boosts Memory.

Playing music requires and strengthens sensory, short-term, and long-term, memory. Sensory and short-term memory’s necessary while learning to play new songs. Long-term memory while recalling songs already learnt. As a musician plays more-and-more, their repertoire expands and, with it, memory.

Although memory’s been largely ignored in our culture, memory is still fundamental to every task imaginable, from remembering where someone put their car keys to recalling the details of a policy when speaking with a customer or drafting up designs for a new product.

The other benefit of engaging the memory is that it’s not an obstacle. When following the breath, it’s easy to find oneself caught up in old wounds or planning for the next meeting. With music, the memory’s harnessed to complete the task at hand.

4: Boosts Executive Function.

Executive Function, or EF, is the boss of the brain. It makes decisions, plans, problem solves, adjusts, and manages behavior. It’s also a powerful predictor of success. Numerous studies now show that playing music strengthens EF.*3 Music is a rich, complex task that draws upon and directs the mind’s entire arsenal towards a single goal: playing that tune.

Meditation also increases EF, but I suspect that, like with focus, music boosts EF more due to its cognitive richness and the ease with which humans take to it.

5: Strengthens Bonds.

Imagine inviting your friends over to meditate for the afternoon. While in some small circles that might get you a ?, in many that’ll get you a ?. I’ll add that as a hardcore meditator and teacher, I’ve never invited friends over to meditate.

On the other hand, invite friends over to hang out and listen to a few tunes and far fewer of these ? guys will be in the replies. Amateur players can use their skills to entertain at parties, enliven a wedding, sweep a lover off their feet, or make that Christmas eve a little more magical. It’s also something that everyone can participate in easily, whether through joining in on the jam, singing along, or listening. Jamming and listening to tunes also isn’t as dull as sitting quietly for 45 minutes is in the minds of many. And as any musician’ll attest to, jamming’s a great way to strengthen bonds with family and friends.

6: More Applicable to Daily Life.

Music strengthens focus, emotional resilience, short- and long-term memory, executive function, and connections to others. All of these skills carry over into daily life where they pay big dividends. Some of these skills, like focus and EF, are also improved via formal meditation. However, meditation’s less effective compared to the cognitively richer and more natural training in music.

Formal meditation also is miles away from what focus looks like in the real world. While working in an office, for example, there are multiple, complex tasks and deadlines to manage. Colleagues come up and ask about projects while someone’s writing an email. While speaking to a client, an employee must not only listen, but also keep in mind objectives, policies, and the client’s history. While brainstorming with engineers on how to solve an issue with overheating, an engineer must listen to three or four complex arguments, sometimes simultaneously, process and evaluate, and offer feedback. Following the breath just doesn’t cut it, but having to recall the chords and lyrics to Jason Mraz’s “Gallway Girl” does.

7. More likely to stick.

Finally, music’s a mental health habit that most people are much more likely to stick with. Sitting down and focusing on the breath’s difficult for 99.9% of meditators. Many find it so challenging that they quit after a few tries and decide it ain’t for them. I’ve seen this countless times and, to their credit, they’re probably right. Why bother doing something that’s so difficult?

For those that stick with it, they begin to settle into silence regularly only after many years of light practice. Most require a few long retreats to start to access serenity. But between meditation being a chore and a delicious rest, most don’t make it. Many give up and choose other distractions or grounding options like yoga, running, weight lifting, or painting. Apparently having to drag themselves day-after-day to something that’s boring and stressful results in high turn-over. What many don’t know is that meditation’s an easy, effective, and fun alternative.

Like with meditation, there’s a learning curve, but it’s not one of years but of a month or two. For those who see it through, a world of beauty and delight rests at their fingertips. Once the wonder of music becomes readily available, it’s no drag to wake-up and play the guitar in the morning or after work for thirty minutes. Good luck managing that with meditation. Music often becomes so fun that many who keep at it find themselves addicted. For mediation, it takes many dedicated meditators over a decade before they consistently reach the deep states of tranquility that will ensnare them in addiction.

The Downsides

Music does have it’s disadvantages. The initial boredom and struggle of learning one’s way around the instrument. It can be expensive, although cheap and solid alternatives are widely available. Music’s also less mobile than meditation — imagine lugging a $200 violin around when going out with friends. There are also some practical issues with neighbors, dogs, and roommates.

Another downside is that deeper meditative states are impossible to access through music. However, those states are usually accessible only to hardcore meditators who’ve spent thousands of hours training and even then can be elusive without dedicated daily practice. For a vast majority of folks, that’s no weight on the scale.

Make Music, Don’t Meditate

Excepting extraordinary circumstances, if someone’s looking for something to add to their mental health routine, music’s a much better option for folks with only 20 minutes to an hour a day to spend. It increases focus, strengthens emotional resilience, sharpens memory, boosts EF, deepens bonds, is more transferable to daily life, and, finally, is easier to stick with. My advice: stop meditating and pick-up an instrument.

References

1. Taruffi, Liila, and Stefan Koelsch. “The Paradox of Music-Evoked Sadness: An Online Survey.” PLOS. October 20, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110490.
2. Garrido, Sandra and Emery Schubert, Daniel Bangert. “Musical Prescriptions for Mood Improvement: An Experimental Study.” The Arts in Psychotherapy. 2016;51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2016.09.002.
3. Ferguson YL, Sheldon KM. “Trying to be happier really can work: Two experimental studies.” J Positive Psychol. 2013;8(1). doi:10.1080/17439760.2012.747000.