by ERIK J. MARTIN

Eat your vegetables, exercise, get good sleep ... and learn an instrument? Another helpful way to keep your mind sharp, decrease stress and feel content is to strum a six-string, tickle the ivories, sing a tune or strike a snare. The secret to feeling young and happy, say the experts, is to learn and play a musical instrument, at any age.

“The best thing I get from playing guitar is self-condence,” says Costco member Bob Besharah, of Kemptville, Ontario, who’s been playing guitar for 65 years. “One of the biggest benefits is that I keep learning and challenging myself, which leads to [regular] stimulation of my brain and creativity.”

Costco member Allan Kerr, from Ottawa, can also testify to the virtues of learning music. “I began retaking weekly bagpipe lessons three years ago after first starting it as a 12-year-old but abandoning it,” he says. “The benefits for me are a feeling of presence and focus during practice that I carry to other areas of my life. The more I play, the more I enjoy it; practice is getting easier, and playing is more fun.”

Experts agree that the advantages of starting music lessons or resuming an abandoned instrument are plentiful. “Learning and playing teach you discipline and structure. Songs have a certain structure to them that is easily identifiable as you continue the process of learning the instrument,” says Costco member Michael Wood, a music professor at Algonquin College in Ottawa.

Michael Powers, a Costco member and vice president of sales and marketing for Casio Canada, notes that playing a musical instrument encourages and stimulates multiple positive motor skills and brain functions. "Playing creates a link between hand-eye coordination and memory retention, creativity and expression," he continues. "It is a positive development tool in youth with a definite correlation to learning and improvement. The many additional features of a digital instrument also add to the fun factor aside from lessons."

Research suggests that musical training can work wonders for players young and old. The pluses include increased blood flow to the brain’s language centres, better focus and concentration, enhanced verbal memory, improved reading ability and better neural processing of sound and speech.

“Children benefit more from the developmental aspects of learning music, and adults tend to benefit more from the mental aspects. ... Learning an instrument at a younger age is often less taxing,” says Costco member Richard Formidoni of Casio America.