Anyone Can Play Music: Unlock Your Musical Potential with the Laws of Brainjo

by Josh Turknett

A neuroscience-based approach to musical instruction for adults, engineered to help grow, protect, and restore brain health

You can learn to play music, no matter what you've been told about your musical talent or aptitude. Each and every one of us has been gifted with a fully customizable brain, one we can mold to learn anything, at any age. With the right instruction and methods, learning to play music can be an endless source of joy and fulfillment. And learning to play music isn't just fun, it's also the ideal brain fitness activity. 
    Dr. Turknett, a neurologist, self-taught multi-instrumentalist, and the founder of Brainjo and the Brainjo Method of instruction, which has been used successfully by thousands of people, distills the principles of learning to play music down into a set of universal "laws" that can be applied to any instrument. His innovative and proven approach synthesizes the latest in neuroscience and skill-building theory, emphasizing practicing smarter, not harder, recognizing that there is no failure, only feedback, and leveraging the immense power of subconscious learning. 
    Success or failure in learning to play music, just like anything else, is driven by how we learn. More specifically, it is driven by how well we engage our brain's remarkable ability to change itself. Anyone Can Play Music is about the fundamental principles of learning, an owner's manual for molding a musical mind.
    The benefits of learning an instrument extend beyond the immense pleasure that it brings. Recent research indicates that stimulating neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to change itself, leads to brain growth, reverses brain aging and even restores youthful brain function. The more areas of the brain that are stimulated, the greater the benefit. And when it comes to a whole brain workout, nothing beats playing music.
    While much of Dr. Turknett's detailed instructions are music-specific, the strategies underpinning this book apply not only to learning to play music, but to any kind of skill building. Our plastic brains are capable of so much more than we realize, as long as we can learn how to learn.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Audiobook

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 18, 2025

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb. Run...don't walk...to get your copy of this book!!!

[Logan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal look into how we learn anything, but specifically in this case, music. In my opinion, this is essential reading for any musician, music educator, or educator in general. 10/10

[Lorin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reads like the first draft of a book. There are helpful ideas in here, but you have to wade through some repetition, weakly-made points, and a few straight-up typographical errors. I wish it had gone further and given more detail on the practical advice (it felt sometimes like a preview of their brainjo course, and I wish there’d been more “meat” in the book). The ideas are interesting and it’s an easy read, so if you like the topic you’ll probably still be glad you read it.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, easy-to-read synthesis of how much of what we now know about brain plasticity and the neuroscience of learning can be applied to learning a musical instrument, including all the usual subjects (spaced repetition, deliberate practice, etc). Also a nice plug at the end for the philosophical shift of thinking about taking up music (or anything new/challenging) for reasons other than intending to achieve “mastery”, which is something I think about often.

How could it be better?

First, this book is a cleaned up re-issue for a more general audience of an earlier book more overtly targeting banjo players, which in turn was a lightly edited collection of previously published essays. Which is fine - better out there in the world than not! - but also means there’s some repetition that doesn’t feel as intentional as the preface wants to pretend it is.

Second, the whole thing occasionally feels like an advertisement for the author’s other business, an online music instruction site. Again, this is fine, and obviously many readers will be interested in learning from the author, but it gives the whole book a bit of a salesy gloss that hurts it as a standalone book.

Lastly, recognizing that it’s hard to do this in a book aimed at players of many levels on many instruments, I always find it frustrating to read things that provide a lot of abstract instructions on how to practice without providing sample practice plans that implement this guidance. The section on spaced repetition for tune memorization is best here, but even there it’s not clear how best to combine this information with the “space different technical skills out by 4 hours” guidance, and other sections of the books that speak to specific dimensions of deliberate practice. Here, we know the author actually does have specific opinions about what good practice patterns and skill progressions might look like for different kinds of players, but instead of providing some sample practice roadmaps in an appendix, we’re directed (as long as we play banjo, old time fiddle, etc) to the Brainjo instructional site. Again… fine. But it makes the book as a standalone resource, and as a resource for different audiences (e.g. music instructors) a bit less helpful.

[German · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book and OMG. I have to say that together with atomic habits, I believe it to be one of the greatest books I've ever read in my life. First, it is not a book about learning music, but rather a lesson in how to maximize your own potential as a human being by using your brain correctly.
The tips and laws that this book lays forth are definitely the things that we need to integrate in our daily learning process not just for music, because if you have a brain and if you set out to learn something new, then you most definitely need these rules.
This book gives you perspective and it will help you focus, and I am thankful to the author for taking the time to write both about our incredible brain and our incredible ability to form habits, because in the end we are an endless machine of habits formation, and music is nothing more than a habit which can elevate you.
Thank you Josh Turknett.

[C.A. Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I played piano all growing up. I got really good, too--but all I could ever do was read music. I'd always wanted to learn to improvise, but that wasn't the way that any of my teachers taught me. Eventually I stopped playing (just got busy with life), but every few years I always pick up a book or try to create a curriculum for myself to learn improvisation, and the musical theory foundations that I somehow never got. This book essentially is what I was trying to create... written by a neuroscientist musician, no less! I thought I'd just reread the book, use the notes and create the curriculum from there, but then I realized that the author already did it for me (the book is in that way kind of a pointer to his online courses, which is quite clever). But so far I'm impressed with that too, as I purchased it: the videos are short and sweet, very much like the "Duolingo" app for learning languages. A great and inspiring read.

[Porsche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book – it uses brain science, medical brain studies, neuroscience vocabulary to explain
how and why certain studying behaviors works or doesn’t work. For example, the brain can only learn/take in about 20 minutes of *new* material, so, trying to learn/study for an hour is pointless because the brain is not receiving/retaining/keeping the information past 30 minutes of the study time.

Other parts of this book were technical about musicianship, which is why I picked up this book. Regardless of the subject focus on musicianship I found this book to be very helpful in the perspective of using neuroscience to better understand how to learn any new topic.

I will likely buy this book to keep in my home library.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for anyone trying to learn an instrument. Written by a Neurologist (who I follow for his music lessons), has an excellent understanding of how the brain changes when learning an instrument. He articulates these changes with a number of great suggestions, analogies and examples to help you to get over roadblocks, optimize your practice sessions and enjoy the journey. A big plus is that he also covers the positive impact that playing an instrument has for brain health. I will certainly incorporate his suggestions.

[EmberJenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an encouraging book with some decent tips about how to get the most out of practicing playing an instrument. I think the techniques can be applied not only to playing an instrument but other types of learning, too (like learning languages, etc.). I liked the neuroscience bits the best, especially the tips about the time needed for practice and how to take advantage of how the brain processes info! It's a quick and worthwhile read for an adult music student.

[Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

It does manage to include some interesting insights even for someone who already knows how to play an instrument but feels stuck at a certain level.

My biggest issue is probably how unnecessarily wordy this book is. Some of the padding isn't even the usual drawn out way to make a point but straight up filler paragraphs where author is saying how he's about to tell us something amazing, instead of getting to the point.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically, this book is about learning to play music. But the neuroscience backed method and evidence the author uses can be applied to learning a new language, learning to read, in essence, how to learn. I know have a few more facts to support my reading and writing curriculum! Thanks Josh Turknett!

[Matthew Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good ideas, but long winded. The essential premise that there is no such thing are talent is of course ridiculous. Its tiresome to read a book by a doctors who says I have no talent, I just learned how to learn. He's obviously been gifted with a smart brain. Still he does have some good ideas and insights a few that were new to me. But most of it is fairly well knows or obvious.

[Jennifer Lesyna Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love this book! So many amazing nuggets that were perfectly timed to my new piano learning journey but are also so relevant in supporting my child as they begin acquiring new skills and learning. Such an empowering book!

[Glaistig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredibly fascinating lesson on the wonders of the human brain and our capacity to learn. It reads like a university-level neuroscience class, a music lesson, and a down-to-earth positive pep talk all rolled into one. May we all successfully cross the Gap of Suck!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

VERY good book. The specificity and completeness of instruction, supported by science, is exactly what I was hoping for. It is encouraging, informative, and fun all at the same time. Grateful to the author. This is the first review I’ve ever felt compelled to write!

[Deanna Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting! Some of the “laws” are pretty much common sense, but others helped me see not only learning to play music but learning in general in a new way.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A neuroscientist – banjo player breaks down music learning for us!

[Kevin Demel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book that uses spaced repetition for leanring music and has some other techniques.

[Mark VanderWerf · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s hope.

Neuroscience meets music. A really helpful - and hopeful - book that is really about how learning works.

Process over product.

[Kedar]

Could have been much shorter. Not that its not useful but you’re probably better off getting the gist and spending more time practising than reading the entire text

[Sienna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounding up because I enjoyed the brain-music connection. Good tips on how to learn new things, & why.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good information and research, but really nothing to help learn to play music. More 0f an advertisement for the author's product.