In our new book, What You Learn Learning Music, Kevin Bales and I talk about how the lessons you learn taking on the task of learning to play carry over to everything else you do, including life in a profession other than music. A host of scientific research supports the premise, revealing that musical training systematically reshapes how the brain processes all types of complex problems, non-musical as well as musical.
At the heart of what you are learning as you learn to play is how to address situations with creativity. Of course, creative thinking is one of the most important capabilities in any career, especially if you want to excel and advance in your chosen career. Studies tell us that learning to play an instrument or sing fosters neural pathways directly applicable to creative thinking, logical thinking, and thoughtful, timely decision-making. As well, playing, especially performing, requires you to adapt instantly to changing situations, without stopping to reassess or think things over.
Improvisation is the foundation of jazz. If you study and learn to play jazz, that translates to being innovative in other aspects of your life. You become better at thinking unconventionally and therefore developing unconventional solutions to all types of problems, business and personal.
A 2008 study using brain scans of jazz musicians as they improvised revealed an activation of the medical prefrontal cortex, which is linked to self-expression and creative ideation. Music is not simply an enjoyable passive activity. Learning to play is a training ground for becoming better equipped to do well in whatever direction you chose to take your life.