5 Healthy Reasons Why You Need to Play Drum

Since the earliest times, drums and their rhythm have been at the center of social and cultural activities all over the world. It is said to be man’s oldest musical instrument. However, drums have not always been used for creating music and entertainment. In African tribal cultures, drums bore an important role in the use of ritual ceremonies. Throughout history, drums have been used in warfare, as means of giving signals to the soldiers and to create noise and drive fear into the enemy. In the Native American culture, drumming is a deep and sacred element of believing the beat of the drum to be in sync with the heartbeat of mother earth.

Nowadays, drumming has improved its power in the scope of health. These are 5 healthy reasons why you need to play drum:

1). Improve immune function

Bittman’s research results, drumming can improve immune function. When Ginger Graziano loses his 19-year-old son to cancer, an enormous wave of grief hits him, setting him into erratic anger and depression. With no way to channel her grief, the pain became unbearable. One time he heard the rhythm of percussion, a hand drum. He quickly got a very profound response. Although he had never played drums, he bought a djembe, a drum from Africa. His feelings told him that whatever he needed to heal himself could be answered by playing the drums. The first time he sat down and started to beat the drums, he felt the ferocity of his anger pouring through his hands that were beating the drums. Gradually, his anger began to turn into sadness, then his sadness turned into acceptance of the situation, and finally into happiness. The drumming, and the monthly routine of beating, gave Graziano the channel to let his feelings out and make himself the way he was.

2). Reduce stress level hormones

Indeed, conventional medical procedures often underestimate music as a unique alternative to healing. Music is considered as mere entertainment rather than for healing. There have been studies that show the benefits of drumming to restore fitness. In 2001, Barry Bittman, MD, of the Mind-Body Institute in Massachusetts, USA, completed the first research on drumming. The result? If someone beats the drum in a group, the hormones associated with stress levels can be reduced. In the study, the participants had their blood samples taken before and after a drumming session to see if there were any psychological changes in them. At the cellular level, the study showed a significant improvement in immune function. After undergoing a drumming process called composite drumming, an activity session that uses drums and other rhythm instruments, the activity levels of natural killer cells and lymphokine cells in the participants’ bodies increased. The promising conclusion is that doing a variety of drumming activities can be an innovative way to reduce stress levels and treat overall health conditions.

3). Promote an increase in mood

A year later Bittman completed his first research by conducting a second study involving 125 workers who were concerned about long-term health. There are accountants, employees, and cleaning staff. In both of his studies, Bittman never focused on how to produce music that was pleasing to the eye. He chooses music that expresses a person’s self, which can be called a non-musical sound. In addition to the combined drumming technique called the composite drumming protocol, Bittman also introduces two additional elements. Using the drum alone, participants were asked to express their responses to two different questions each week. One of them was the question, “What did you bring to your work environment today from your personal life and how did it sound?” Each session ends with improvised drumming or talking about the physical or emotional changes experienced by each individual. At the end of the study, there was a significant reduction in the participants’ anger levels and an increase in mood, which was associated with reduced health costs for workers.

4). Keeping your brain healthy

Keep Your Brain Playing the drums can not only make you live longer and control your emotions, but it can also keep your brain healthy. “Drum rhythms are widely processed throughout the brain,” says Barry Bernstein, MT-BC, a music therapist. This explains why an advanced Alzheimer’s patient can concentrate on playing the drums for 30 minutes. This is the natural attraction of drum rhythms in influencing the brain to digest drum rhythms, especially the cerebellum, which remains active even though the cerebrum is attacked by Alzheimer’s disease.

5). Release emotional problems such as anger or sadness

For someone who suffers from emotional problems such as anger or sadness, drumming can be a way to release those feelings without having to find the right words to express their feelings. Beating the drum can be a direct link between a person and his emotional state. So, for some people, beating the drums imperceptibly will eliminate their problems. With the emotional inhibition removed, pleasure can enter in the form of a strong rhythm. As happened to Graziano, every participant who has attended the therapy feels that playing the drums can lead them to change from despair into strong and strong self-confidence.

So, above all, why not release the soul of music hiding in your mind? Hit the drums and find your way to fitness!