The Physical and Psychological Benefits Of Playing the Drums (For the Parents!)

What does a parent think when their 5-year old comes charging down the stairs to tell them that they want to learn the drums? I'm sure you can imagine. "Drums? They'll be far too loud! We've got neighbours! Why don't you play guitar instead?" This is an almost instantaneous response which all parents may feel obliged to give when their child expresses any form of interest in a noisy and boisterous instrument like the drums. This short blog focuses on the often under-looked and underrated physical and psychological benefits that comes with your child playing the drums.

Physical Benefits:

It is no secret that to be a great drummer you need to have a good amount of limb and hand-eye coordination. Because of this, the motor coordination of professional drummers far surpasses those of untrained individuals. It is worth mentioning that good limb combination is something that is learnt and developed over a certain dedicated period of time whilst practicing the drums - so don't let that put you off from picking up a pair of sticks for the first time if you feel that your coordination isn't great at the minute!

Drumming has also been proven by scientists to neutralise stress, improve cardio and even lower your blood pressure! A study was conducted where blood samples were taken from participants who participated in an hour-long drumming session, and the results showed a reversal in stress hormones. So if your child may feel that they are under a lot of stress at the minute with exams or personal life, drumming could be the ideal fix!

Another physical advantage of playing the drums is that it helps to control and distract from chronic pain. Drumming helps to promotes the production of endorphins and endogenous opiates, which are the body’s own morphine-like painkillers.

Psychological Advantages:

Whilst things like improving body co-ordination seem pretty obvious, the main under-looked benefits of playing the drums are the psychological components.

Recent studies have discovered that playing the drums or practicing on a practice pad, activates almost the entire brain at the same time - thus demonstrating how drumming is a physical activity for the brain. From practicing an instrument, you are able to sharpen your critical thinking skills and improve your self-correction. There is also plenty of evidence from neuroscientific studies to suggest that playing the drums for many years can induce long-lasting changes in brain structure.

Remarkably, by practicing the drums often, this will mean that you are less likely to endure the suffer conditions such as memory loss and dementia when you get older. This is due to the hippocampus (which is critical for learning and memory) in a drummer's brain being larger than an untrained individual's brain. This shows how by playing the drums you are really able to activate certain areas of your brain which you would not have done before, allowing you to enhance your brain functioning! Essentially, every time that you practice and push yourself to learn something challenging on the drums, you are building yourself a healthier and bigger brain.

Take a look at the diagram below to show the many positive benefits that you can expect when playing the drums for a long period of time:

So there we have just a snippet of the many positive physical and psychological benefits that will no doubt take their course when your child has been playing the drums long-term.

That drum kit in the spare room doesn't sound so bad now does it?

by Charlie Lee - Drum Teacher in Rotherham/ Sheffield

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