Most people are familiar with romantic movies that show a cowboy playing the guitar to impress a lady, but there are many other (and possibly more practical) benefits of learning the instrument other than wooing women.

Whether you recently found some new guitar tab sheet music to learn or you have not yet begun your guitar playing journey, all guitarists can use more inspiration. If you find yourself getting frustrated during practice, do not give up. Instead, refer to this article and keep these eight awesome benefits of mastering your guitar lessons in mind.

1. Improve Your Memory

If you need to boost your memory, learning an instrument is an excellent idea. According to psychological research, guitar playing improves the brain’s gray matter which in turn, improves memory. By memorizing chords and patterns, your brain receives a good workout.

2. Improve Hand and Eye Coordination

While reading chords and patterns is important, it is only half of the equation. The other half, of course, is in your fingers. In order to get your hand to recreate the patterns you have learned, your eyes and fingers need to coordinate with each other. This can be challenging at first but improvement comes with practice.

3. Increase Concentration

In general, there is no question that playing instruments aids in positive psychological development. With that said, you might still underestimate just how good the guitar can be for your brain. In addition to helping you remember more, regularly playing the guitar also increases your concentration. This can be great for anyone who needs to focus more.

4. Improve Listening Skills

Because listening is essential when you learn to play the guitar, your ears will become better at it. By consistently practicing, you will eventually be able to recognize chords with little effort. As a result, playing the guitar undoubtedly makes your hearing sharper.

5. Relieve Stress

For anyone who is passionate about their guitar playing, the instrument often offers a type of stress relief that is incomparable to many other solutions. For a lot of guitarists, a simple 15-minute practice session can completely turn a stressful day around. Think of it like a very good friend who is always ready to give you a warm hug during your next lesson.

6. Strengthen Your Arms

When you first start playing the guitar, you might immediately notice that doing so makes your fingers and hands hurt. Do not worry. With time, you can learn different hand exercises to strengthen your strumming abilities and improve the flexibility of your hands. Additionally, regularly playing will also make your shoulder blades and wrists stronger. Keep in mind, this takes time though.

7. Boost Your Confidence

Although the first time you try to play the guitar may not go so smoothly, do not give up. Eventually, you will get better and your confidence will increase. You will not experience heightened confidence at first, but as time goes on and you consistently practice, becoming more confident is inevitable. This is because your performance quality will undoubtedly improve if you keep with it.

8. Reduce Anxiety

Another huge plus of guitar playing in terms of mental health outcomes is the reduced anxiety that comes with doing so. Even if you are the type of guitarist who gets nervous before playing in front of others, regularly practicing can drastically change that. Because playing helps people express their emotions, it works very well as an anxiety outlet as well.

Learning to play the guitar takes some discipline, but it is well worth the effort. After consistently practicing for a while, you will soon start to experience all of these benefits.