10 Benefits Of Playing the Drums: Guide & Infographic

Playing the drums is one of the most rewarding things you can do in life. It is beneficial to your body and aids in the improvement of your physical health. Drumming promotes relaxation and has a positive impact on the brain and mind. Most importantly…

Drumming is fun, as we all know, at Zero to Drum. Playing the drums is our passion, and the drum is the instrument that I fell in love with first, I prefer to play, and it’s definitely my favorite one.

Drumming also helps relaxation and has positive effects on your brain and mind.

Playing the drums has substantial positive effects on your mind and body. In this guide, we will explain the most significant benefits of drumming!

Health Reasons To Start Drumming

What are the Benefits of Drumming?

These are the benefits of drumming for your body, your spirit, and your personal development:

• Drumming Improves Mental Health
  • Makes you happy
  • Reduce Stress
  • Drumming Boosts Brain Power
• Improves Physical Health
  • Makes you fit
  • Improve Confidence
  • Boost your Immune System
  • Reduces pain

… and also, you know what?

Drumming is fun!

The drum is a fun activity for everyone and all ages, and drums are an instrument that anyone can learn. It is easy to drum; you can play the rhythm with your hands, on the table, playing the percussions or a drum set, if that’s what you want!

There are a lot of positive benefits when you play the drums and sustainable effects in learning how to play the drums:

One of the essential reasons why drumming is so good is that it makes people feel happy and relaxed.

It makes you feel happy and helps you connect with a creative community around you.

This is one of the motivations for people to begin playing musical or percussion instruments! It’s almost automatic. It’s similar to when you feel compelled to do something simply because you enjoy it and it feels natural to you. And you begin to do it!

Personally, playing the drum makes me happy! It also helps me connect with my friends and other people around me that share a love for music.

That’s why I started to play an instrument:

1. I wanted to have fun with my friends
2. I wanted to connect with creative people around me
3. I wanted to do something that I enjoy

Also, after playing for years, I still do it because I still feel better when I play drums, and it still feels right.

1. my humour increase
2. level of stress goes down
3. I feel more relaxed
4. I have a lot of fun

I also appreciate the positive impact of learning an instrument and the concrete effects to had on my life. More than just a creative outlet, music taught me discipline.

It was the first time in my life that I had taken notice of growth as a result of the commitment and the first real skill that I felt I owned.

Other than personal reasons, there are also scientific reasons why playing drums benefits our body and soul. Percussion and other musical instruments have been around for a very long time.

Voodoo Dance Benin Traditional Culture Drumming Africa

Human ancestors used to make and play drums for entertainment, celebration, community events, and connecting the community through rhythm.

We have almost an instinct, something natural that comes from inside and that makes us move. That’s why when we hear the sound of music, we jump and dance instead of staying still. Dancing and playing music are natural expressions of being humans and being alive.

Therapeutic Effects of Drumming

Drumming is recognized as one of the most powerful and beneficial activities for human development because it helps increase brain synapsis and coordination between different parts of your body.

Playing the drums is highly beneficial for your mind and has a lot of positive effects on your brain health.

Benefits of drumming for your mind (Drumming Improves Brain Health)

The power of rhythm and drums and their benefits have been recognized since ancient times when tribal cadence was an integral part of daily life, celebrations, and also wars.

Ritual drumming and rhythmic prayer have been integral parts of cultures everywhere in the world since immemorial times.

Mystics and musicians have recognized the power of rhythmic music for a long time.

Different rhythms have been used in religious ceremonies for thousands of years to induce trance states, and help people focus, concentrate, and recover from illness.

This is why drumming is actually great for recreation because it puts you in the present moment; while you are drumming, you move your body, and you can also increase awareness of the flow of life.

When you flow within the magic of the pace, you don’t think about your past. You think about the future.

Based on this view, playing is a moment of liberation, a moment when you are free to engage in the intensity of what you find satisfying or important, an opportunity to regain your creative edge and start your own journey.

 

Boost Brain Power

Drumming is good for your brain as it boosts the power of your mind.

Your brain coordinates your body movements, which is why you can simultaneously move your arms and legs when you are playing a rhythm.

While you are playing the drums, the right and left hemispheres of your cerebrum have to coordinate properly to create a smooth groove.

Regular practice allows you to develop the coordination between the right and left brain sides over time, as they control your dominant and non-dominant limbs.

Your brain has to work harder to strengthen and coordinate your non-dominant limbs.

If you are right-handed, it will be more natural to use your right side than the left one, at least when you start as a beginner.

Especially the first time you will approach a drum, it’s gonna be hard to have enough coordination, precision, and power in your not dominant side., as you have on your dominant side.

That’s why you must practice regularly to improve your skills on both sides of your body.

Using the latest technologies in biophysics, neurosurgery, and neuroimaging, researchers have found evidence of improved memory and intelligence in drummers that practice regularly.

Science shows that drumming increases brain plasticity activates brain synapses, and stimulates neurological connections in fascinating and complex ways that people may not realize.

“Playing the drums makes the brain think in a way that very few activities can,” said Pat Brown – International Drum Month chairman & Percussion Marketing Council co-executive director: “Being able to understand musical notes and dissect how rhythms work and go together is a very complicated thought process. The most recent study shows that constantly being exposed to this type of brain activity can improve one’s IQ level.”

“The rhythmic accuracy in brain activity that is observed when a person maintains a steady beat is also important to the problem-solving capacities measured with the intelligence tests”, says Professor Frederic Allen from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, who found a strong correlation between timekeeping on percussions and the functioning parts of the brain used for problem-solving.

Scientists have concluded that drumming can not only maintain but improve your brain’s performance and health, as it boosts brainpower.

Improves Concentration and Intellectual Development

Drum and Drumming practice is beneficial to the body because it expresses mindfulness.

Playing the drums stimulates large areas of your brain, which helps improve concentration and focus.

When you drum, your whole body, mental focus, and body execute the melody. That is what keeps your brain concentrated.

For example, when you play the drums to a consistent rhythmic meter, your concentration and focus improve dramatically because you have to be on time, play groovy, and be precise simultaneously.

This process requires a lot of concentration and has been recorded also with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) imaging in scientific studies.

Drumming is often used as a supporting method in music therapy for children with mental deficit disorder or Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to regain focus and build new neural pathways in the human brain. “Nothing activates the brain so extensively as music does,” said Oliver Sacks, M.D., a famous neurologist and author of Musicophilia.

Researchers from Stanford University have ruled that 20 minutes per day of rhythmic music boosted IQ scores and improved the concentration of a middle-school boy struggling with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).

So, in conclusion, drumming can lead to developing cognitive functioning, and younger generations can mostly benefit from playing the drums.

Increases Academic Performance (Music and Math)

The value of music in education has been proven by different studies over time, particularly the correlation between music education and improved academic performances.

It has been demonstrated that playing a musical instrument increases academic performance, and there is a strong correlation between playing a musical instrument and school performance, in particular when it comes to mathematics.

Students of rhythm and percussion understand math concepts faster and more easily because they become familiar with the repetition of patterns in music and the math that resides behind them.

In fact, drumming teaches basic counting and learning to count in cycles (1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) is a fundamental part of drumming.

Drumming and percussion also can teach students fractions and introduce the mathematics behind intervals, frequencies, and harmonics.

Seasoned students can finally learn more about and apply foundational math skills, such as counting frequencies, fractions, intervals, and harmonics, in new and more sophisticated ways.

Benefits of drumming for mental Health (Drumming Improves Mental Health

Drumming could benefit your mental health because of its positive effects on your body and mind.

When you are drumming, your whole body moves in a coordinated way, which is really beneficial for your health.

It has also been shown to improve your mood and drive, increase your stamina and help you sleep better, with many conditions, from stress, anxiety, and fatigue, from hypertension to chronic pain.

Reduce Stress (Stress Relief)

Playing the drums can relieve frustration, disappointment, and stress: consider that hitting and slapping things is a magnificent way to reduce stress.

Music generates the kind of endorphin ‘highs’” that can trigger cooperation—the sort of behaviour that was essential for human society to evolve; that’s what a study of evolutionary psychology revealed.

That’s the conclusion of a study by the University of Oxford psychologist Robin Dunbar. He and his colleagues report people who have just been playing music to have a higher pain tolerance —an indication their bodies produce endorphins, sometimes referred to as natural opiates.

Studies show that it stimulates the body’s endorphin system and reduces pain. It also provides a higher level of energy, decreases the effects of stress and reduces the rate at which you are in pain.

It can take the edge off stress and discomfort.

In one study, blood samples were taken from participants in a drumming circle.

The results were astonishing; the participants revealed a reversal in stress hormones after an hour-long drumming session.

The sound waves are powerful and can produce healing, clarity, and stress relief – often after just one session. And it’s fun, also.

Help you make new friends

rums are a really social instrument; they can help you connect with people and make new friends.

People love dancing to drums and following the beat.

When bands start to play in public venues, they need a drummer to keep the rhythm.

Most modern music genre includes drums or percussion.

Studies have also highlighted that one of the health benefits of playing the drums is the ability to make new friends.

Another reason why a lot of people join a band or start to play live music shows they actually do so is that they know to join a band will get hook up with other people.

Let’s say it out loud, being in a band makes you cool and more desirable.

A healthy social life has been linked to lower rates of depression, better self-esteem, and, believe it or not, healthier weight.

When you play, your body is one with your mind, and that’s when it is the most beneficial.

Mood Enhancer

When a musician gets excited about playing their own drum set, it is like getting into the groove.

That status of excitement could be assimilated into meditation because the drummer feels their own body and the intimate connection with their own soul, the music and the public.

When you play the drums fast and powerfully, you act like you are performing a full workout, where your all body is involved.

That’s why we can consider drumming as a mood enhancer.

If we consider the Greek origin of the word “rhythm”m, it means “to flow.”

That’s why drumming allows you to flow with the rhythms of life by simply feeling the beat and aligning your mind and body with the natural world surrounding you.

You have to practice to get to this stage and own all the fundamentals and basic skills of drumming.

It helps develop confidence and release negative feelings

When you are good at your instrument, your confidence will get better.

It’s like proving something to yourself that you can do it… and in a really good way, too!

You will learn how to keep the groove, go with the right tempo, build up a solid foundation and dominate your instrument.

Practising can also provide a way to accessories a higher power, discover your innate abilities and discover what you are good at.

The act of drumming can help in releasing negative feelings, and it can serve as a form of self-expression.

Think this way. You can drum away your feelings.

When held, negative feelings can form an obstacle to your energy, the so-called energetic impasse.

The physical exercise of the physical stimulation of hitting the drums could help remove those blockages because of the movement, which causes a release of lower cortisol levels.

That’s why drumming has been used therapeutically to help addictive behaviors for people that have trouble regulating or deal their own emotions with their emotions.

This suggests that people who are physically active are more able to monitor their stress levels and make well-timed changes in their activity to avoid excessive cortisol and to improve their mental well-being.

Benefits of Drumming for your body

The action of drumming and hitting cymbals, toms, hi-hat, kick, and the whole drum set is a physical exercise.

That’s why it’s beneficial for your body and could help you to shape your body and keep you fit.

Drumming Improves Physical Health

Drumming is a powerful way to help your body get fit and model your shape.

Every drumming session is great for making you sweat while you are having fun.

Drumming is also a very useful skill to improve your playing.

And even though you will not go as fast as the professionals, your playing will become smoother, and you will have more fun in the process.

Improve your physical shape, help you get fit (and you might lose weight)

According to one study, “Just by playing the drums with hands and feeling the beat, people can burn an average of 270.4 calories in less than half-hour.”

In addition to the calorie burn, rhythmic performance can dramatically impact stress reduction and wellness. It is really good, so why don’t you try it?

You can get fit while playing the proper rhythm and dancing to the music.

Helps control chronic pain / Reduces pain, and gives relief

Practice drums are considered good for your wrists and your articulations.

Note: remember to do good stretches and exercises before you start practising or performing because if you don’t, you can cause damage to your muscles and tendons.

It helps you relax / Induces deep relaxation

Rhythms and percussion music can help you relax and concentrate, so you can be more productive when you are studying or working!

I played this amazing Relaxing Drum Music from Best Relaxing Music while I was writing this article, and it was so good that I decided to embed the video here and share it with you. Please, relax while you are listening, and Feel the beat!

Drumming Boosts your immune system

There are amazing benefits to learning drums. If you practice regularly, as I do, it seems drum practice increases blood flow to the ears, especially when trying to focus or pay attention.

Community Effects and Social Reasons for drumming and cardio drumming

These are the social effects caused by regular practice and  so-called “social practice” with friends and your community:

• Help you make new friends
• Help you bond with people
• Improve communication skills
• Creates a sense of connectedness/drum circles
• Help to know different Styles and Cultures
• Drummers are always in demand

Life Quality Effects (Overtime benefits of drumming)

Drumming also has incredible effects on your entire life, as it could help to:

• Enlarge your horizons
• Develop your skills over time
• Allows for personal transformation
• A starting point for learning new instruments
• keep learning
• help you make money
• Transferable Skills to other Instruments

Those are some of the benefits of playing drums that we can get. Starting from the benefits for social life to physical and mental health. Hopefully this article can help those of you who are still hesitant to start playing drums.