In tune

How to tune your mind

It seems that learning to play a musical instrument can help sharpen the way our brains develop and mature. While having heaps of fun along the way. The life-long benefits of bowing a violin or plucking a guitar string or tinkling a piano is something in which Matt Baker of the Thame Institute of Music firmly believes. And not just as a method of self-improvement; but as a joy in itself. Sarah Denmark reports.

I remember seeing my dad play the piano. The twitch of the wrists, the dance of the fingers, the supple, effortless turning of the pages of the sheet music. Yet these were nothing as to the effect the music had upon me. It played on my heart. Whether it was a hymn, a tune from a light opera, a rhythm from a 60s R&B hit or a slice of a classical piece, I was enthralled. I felt like dancing, laughing, clapping, singing and crying. There were times when I would hold my hand to the piano as he played, not just so I could hear the music but feel it as well.

You can read the full article in the Summer 2015 edition of Thame Out.