Learning music, that is, making the commitment and doing the work it takes to play an instrument or sing, sharpens your minds and improves your focus. Musical training is brain training, helping you to improve your ability to concentrate.
From a cognitive perspective, playing an instrument requires the left and right hemispheres of your brain to work together to process the various aspects of playing, including rhythm, pitch, and dynamics, as well as the physical act of playing. This collaboration enhances neural connectivity and improves your ability to absorb and use information, a key ability for everything you want to achieve in life.
To play music well you must be able to isolate yourself from what’s going on around you, such as noisy conversation in a nightclub. Developing that facility broadens your attention span, enabling you to block out distractions and background noise and stay focused on what you’re doing.
Musical training also helps you identify small mistakes instantly and stay the course in a way that listeners don’t even know you’ve made a mistake. That can be a handy skill in any job, profession, or environment. It will also make you better able to recognize mistakes and act quickly and efficiently to correct them.
Because mastering a piece of music takes time and application, learning to play also helps you understand that it often takes more energy and commitment to solve a problem than you might have thought initially, thereby helping you stay focused over longer periods of time.