Benefits of Learning Multiple Instruments

Benefits of Learning Multiple Instruments

Choosing just one instrument is like choosing to only eat one food for the rest of your days – it makes life really really boring. Like many musicians, I play multiple instruments. Trumpet, viola, and piano to name a few. It’s not just a party trick, or a quirky fact about me. It’s something that has substance, and it’s made a difference in my quality of life. And today, we’re going to discuss just how playing all these instruments has made my life better.

 

My Different Brains

Playing multiple instruments has given me different vantage points. I’m not just talking about reading different clefs, understanding the mechanics of different instruments, or practical things like that. I’m talking about the deeper stuff, too; a slur marking on the piano means something different than a slur marking on viola. You process it differently, even though on paper it technically has the same definition.

I’ve come to describe these as my “different brains.” Each instrument I play requires me to process the same information in different ways. Each instrument also has different demands, which requires me to focus more of my attention on various aspects, and this has really made me a more well-rounded musician.

For example, when I’m playing viola, a lot of my brain power is spent on intonation. Placing the finger on exactly the right spot, otherwise it’s the wrong note. In my “piano brain”, I don’t think about intonation at all. However, I’m processing way more notes at once, understanding how they fit together. Shifting to my trumpet brain, I literally only care about one note at a time. But the speed of my air and where I choose to breathe matters way more than when I’m sitting at the piano. I could go on and on with this; but i think you get the point, the different demands of each instrument has called my attention to each aspect that are the sum of what a good musician is.

The layer beyond this is, it’s not just that I can put on these different hats and switch brains or switch modes, and suddenly be thinking about this different thing. All these quote unquote, “different brains” make up one brain: Elisha’s brain. Having all these different perspectives and angles to pull from makes me a better teacher, a better director, and a better composer.

Mental Health

Playing multiple instruments has helped my mental health in many different ways. The first and most straight-forward is the reason most people take up different hobbies, it’s given me multiple ways of expressing emotion that I need to get out.

When you’re majoring in music at university, or when you’re devoting your life to a craft, it becomes a sort of job. And no matter how hard you try to stay connected with the passion and love, your relationship with it has changed because you can’t just do it for the love anymore, it’s also your livelihood. The reason I became a musician is because my soul needed it; there was nothing that could possibly satisfy the hunger inside me for what I want to do. There’s no other word for it than calling; music was my calling, and I ran toward it. That’s a decision I’ve never questioned.

But this left me in quite a predicament when, inevitably, the going got tough. It wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows as I pursued my degree, and there were times when I fell out of love with my primary instrument.

What kept me going, what helped me push through, was having another instrument or two that I could pour myself into, reminding myself of all the things there are to love. I wasn’t being graded on it. It wasn’t an indication of my talent or success. It was simply there as a hobby, really, the reason most people do music.

Interpersonal Relationships

Learning to play multiple instruments has strengthened my interpersonal relationships. It has given me perspective and the ability to relate to others in a deeper way than I could have before. Earlier, I mentioned “my different brains” – this is not something unique to me, it’s something we all experience.

understanding how one instrument processes information different than another, it gives me a peek inside their brain and how they’re able to process. It helps me explain things in a way I think they’ll understand better. It gives me the opportunity to use analogies and relate to them in ways I think they’ll get better than if I used an analogy that only one kind of instrument will understand. It gives me a diverse toolbox to pull from, whether I’m in normal conversation with others, debating with a family member about politics, on the podium trying to describe to my choir how I want something to be done, or sitting at my desk alone, composing, trying to write music that will be enjoyable for the player. All of these scenarios require me to tap into empathy, which has been strengthened thanks to my many instruments.

 

When I give music lessons, part of my philosophy is, I’m not teaching just an instrument. I’m teaching a person. I’m teaching a person how to be a better person, how to have a skill that will fulfill their lives better.

Don’t focus on learning an instrument.

One of the things I say often is, I’m a musician. I make music, I understand music as a whole. I’m not just a singer. I’m not just a violist or trumpet player. All these skills combine into one person. They have all strengthened me. I am a musician.