5 good reasons to take up music — a teacher's observations from Espoo

When a student sits down with a guitar in their lap for the first time, my job is simple: get them to play a chord they recognise from a song themselves. It works almost every time within three minutes. Those three minutes decide whether the guitar becomes a hobby or gathers dust in a corner.

Here are five reasons why a music hobby is worth starting — and what guitar specifically offers. I’m writing this from Kivenlahti in Espoo, where I’ve now been teaching for several years, and where I see these benefits play out in real life every day.

1. The guitar gives instant feedback — and that makes learning addictive

Brain researchers talk about the “dopamine loop”: the brain rewards us each time we get something done. The guitar is excellent here, because the feedback is immediate. Press a finger, hear a sound. Change a chord, hear music.

Many other instruments have a more demanding early phase. With the violin you first have to learn to keep the tone clean. On the piano, coordination between left and right hands takes time. On the guitar, the first genuinely recognisable song lands within the first 2–3 lessons for most students.

This doesn’t mean the guitar is “easy” — mastery still takes the same 10,000 hours as any other instrument. But it does mean motivation stays alive, because feelings of success arrive every week.

2. Practice builds long-term focus that school doesn’t teach

The Finnish comprehensive school is excellent in many ways, but it has one structural weakness: a child gets feedback on most tasks within a few days. Tests are once per term. Grades arrive twice a year.

Playing is different. When you practise a difficult chord change, you see a concrete difference between 200 repetitions and 2,000. This is learning you can’t shortcut. I’ve noticed that students — especially middle-schoolers and adults — often say that regular guitar practice has improved their focus in other parts of life, too.

3. Music is the best way to get to know your own emotions

When I teach a student a new piece, I often ask: “How does this sound?” The first answers are usually technical — “It moves fast” or “It’s in a major key.” But after a couple of months the answers shift: “This sounds wistful” or “This feels hopeful.”

This is a vital skill that isn’t taught much elsewhere. Recognising an emotion, naming it, and then either expressing it through music or doing something else with it. For young people in particular, with pressure at school and in social circles, playing is a way to handle feelings that don’t yet have words.

4. The bilingual-brain phenomenon — but it applies to musicians

Multilingualism is famously linked to better cognitive skills. Playing an instrument activates an even broader brain network: hearing, motor skills, mathematical thinking, and language processing. Several studies have shown that regular musical practice is associated with better working memory and attention, especially in children.

I’m not claiming guitar lessons earn a better grade in mathematics — but I have seen enough before/after stories to believe that something concrete happens in the brain when you train it regularly with music.

5. The guitar is a social instrument — and that’s its superpower

Pianists usually play alone. String players in groups, but typically with sheet music in front of them. Guitarists are different: the guitar is the instrument you take to the campfire, the party, the gathering of friends. It’s the instrument that draws people closer.

This shows up in lessons. When a 14-year-old student learns to accompany a song they can sing, they don’t just gain a new skill — they immediately gain a social tool that lets them join others. The same applies to a 45-year-old returning to the hobby and discovering that the guitar is a shortcut back to connection with people.

How to get started

If you’re looking for signs that now is the right time to start — read this section over again. There is no “right age” to start playing. I teach 6-year-olds and 60-year-olds, and both groups have their share of persistent students and students who quit. What matters more is starting at a low enough threshold.

That, for us, is the trial lesson: 30 €, 45 minutes, no commitment to continue. In that time, both of us will know whether this is your thing — and if it is, we’ll build a path forward that suits you.

Book a trial lesson →

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Yunjia Liu is a Master of Music in classical guitar (Hochschule für Musik Detmold) and the teacher at WE Musiikkikoulu in Kivenlahti. Teaches guitar in five languages.