These are the 3 ways that playing a musical instrument can improve your health and wellbeing, says Casio

Casio Music UK has launched a new wellness page on its website, naming three key areas in which music - and, specifically, playing a musical instrument, such as a keyboard - can improve your life.

First up, it points out that music can make you smarter, citing studies that show that learning to play an instrument as a child can improve reading, the ability to learn languages, hearing, concentration skills, coordination and memory capacity.

There’s also the happiness angle; playing music has been shown to help alleviate stress and reduce anxiety, and cope better with depression and mood regulation There’s also some evidence that listening to calming music can reduce your heart rate and improve your sleep.

Finally, there’s the health aspect. As you grow older, playing a musical instrument can help you to maintain a better memory and stay on top of your speech processing skills, while music-making has been shown to be an effective complementary therapy in the treatment of dementia, depression and the after-effects of a stroke.

Above, says Casio, playing an instrument is fun, and can be hugely rewarding. You'll get no argument from us on that score.

Find out more on the Casio UK website.