Instrumental Music and Stress Relief

Instrumental music has positive effects on cognitive development in children, according to researchers at Boston College. It helps to increase concentration and makes it more enjoyable to do work, thus reducing stress. While researchers at Wichita State University have found that people who listen to classical music seem more involved in tasks because of the relaxing nature of the music. Here is an instructional video on how to play the theme song from the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks. It is a version of the song for beginning piano players and can even be learned by those who have never taken a class in piano. Having played piano for about 10 years, I find that playing piano helps to reduce my stress even more than just listening to music because I am actively involved in the creation of the music. I hope that you find playing the song as relaxing as I do, and if you like to sing along to music, just check out the lyrics for the song.

For those of you who wish to learn how to play piano, there are plenty of free and helpful videos available online.