Playing the guitar requires hand-eye coordination, creativity, memory, intuition, improvisation, and countless other functions of the brain. Anyone who has ever tried learning the guitar knows just how difficult it can be, and even professional players struggle sometimes. It seems that common bond goes beyond the frustrations of playing, however. In fact, according to a scientific study, all guitar players’ brains share a special chemistry.
One of the findings concluded that guitar players have the ability to “sync” their brains, and essentially read each others’ minds while playing and even anticipate what is to come. This all has to do with neural networks and brain chemistry, which explains the phenomenon of a band seemingly being a single functioning unit, and perhaps even makes it clear why there are so many successful bands made up of family members. In other words, the closer the brain chemsitry, the better the band chemistry.
Another common conclusion from
one of the studies is that guitar players happen to be more intuitive than most and thus have exceptional
improvisational skills.
According to Mic.com, researchers found that “when a guitarist shreds, he or she temporarily deactivates the brain region that routinely shuts down when achieving big-picture goals, signaling a shift from conscious to unconscious thought. And when mere mortals (non-musicians) attempt a solo, the conscious portion of their brain stays on, which indicates that real guitarists are able to switch to this more creative and less practical mode of thinking more easily.”
It seems obvious that musicians are more artistic, right-brained people, but these studies show just how special guitar players are in particular. According to
a Vanderbilt study, guitar players are better than other musicians at understanding a song via observation or listening than just reading the sheet music.
In the end, it all happens in the brain, but for guitar players, it seems their brains are just a little different. As if we didn’t already know!