Why should you learn an instrument?

This question has a complicated and individual answer. Here’s a short pro-con list

Pro

• It makes you more interesting. People tend to be drawn to musicians - i dont know why. Additionally, if you meet another musician, you have something to talk about

• You learn discipline and diligence. Learning to play an instrument isn’t always fun - but pushing through the not fun parts teaches diligence and resilience.

• It’s a form of therapy. Music therapy is something that’s growing in popularity and prominence. While music therapy is very much a medical treatment, it certainly helps with my stress and anxiety.

• It helps with fine motor skills. By having to put your finger(s) in a specific position(s) repeatedly - you’re practising fine motor skills

Con

• It’s expensive. Like a lot of hobbies, playing an instrument costs money. I can’t tell you the amount of money I’ve spent on music-related expenses across my life - but it’s a lot.

• It’s time-consuming. It takes a lot of time to properly learn an instrument - they say it takes 10,000 hours to become proficient in something. Spending an hour a day, five days a week - it’d take almost 40 years to become proficient.

• It hurts. While this isn’t always true, most instruments will require your fingers to stretch in ways they haven’t stretched before, and develop callouses. It doesn’t hurt forever, but learning an instrument can sometimes be painful.

Personally, I think everyone that wants to learn an instrument should. But if you don’t that cool too - there’s a lot that goes into learning a new skill, or in the case of an instrument, set of skills.