Are musicians smarter?

Participants were asked to complete several tests, one of which was the WAIS-II intelligence test. Musicians had a higher IQ than amateur musicians, who, in turn, had a higher IQ than non-musicians. However, only the higher IQ of musicians was substantially larger than that of non-musicians.

futurelearn.com - Adult musicians versus non-musicians - FutureLearn

What is the most famous instrument in the world?

The 10 Most Popular Musical Instruments Piano/Keyboard. Some experts separate the two, and they do have different uses, but the basics are very...

Last updated Jun 7, 2022

What is it called when you only play the black keys?

The scale is called the pentatonic scale. Depending on where you place the root note, the pentatonic scale that involves all the black keys is...

Last updated Jul 29, 2020

Promotion

Explanation of the results; studies that compare the intelligence of adult musicians and non-musicians We saw that young musicians tend to be more intelligent than young non-musicians. Although we can’t conclude that music training boosts intelligence, the results are indeed interesting. And there is a particular result we didn’t stress so much: the fact that the relationship seems weaker when the age of the participant is older. Let’s stop here for a second and assume that music training does improve your intelligence and that, as the literature suggests, it does it in a linear way: the longer you undergo music training, the smarter you become. If this were true, what should we expect when the training takes several years? Then we should expect more and more intelligence. In practice, since it takes years to become a musician and because the music training seems to boost intelligence the more you train, we should expect that in adulthood, musicians should be much more intelligent than non-musicians.

So, are you an adult musician? Do you think you are much more intelligent than your peers? Do you know any adult musicians? Do you think they are more intelligent than their peers?

Susanne Brandler and Thomas Rammsayer asked exactly these questions and investigated whether adult musicians would perform better in an intelligence test than adult non-musicians. Musicians and non-musicians were adults with an age ranging from 25 to 30 years of age. Interestingly, musicians had all received musical training as instrumentalists for at least 14 years. Both groups were asked to complete the Cattell’s Culture Free Intelligence Test. The results revealed no difference in intelligence between musicians and non-musicians, but a few differences between musicians and non-musicians could be observed only in a limited number of subscales of the test: verbal memory was significantly better in musicians than in non-musicians; in contrast, non-musicians were superior with regard to performance on reasoning tasks. In a more recent study, Criscuolo and colleagues (Criscuolo et al. 2019) conducted a similar investigation. The authors recruited a group of participants that was divided among non-musicians, amateur musicians, and musicians as a function of the number of years of music training received by the participant. Participants had an average age of 28-29 years and musicians had an average of 21 years of music practice. Participants were asked to complete several tests, one of which was the WAIS-II intelligence test. Musicians had a higher IQ than amateur musicians, who, in turn, had a higher IQ than non-musicians. However, only the higher IQ of musicians was substantially larger than that of non-musicians. In brief, it may be possible that music training boosts intelligence but the results gathered on the effects of music training across various age groups seem mixed at best. At a young age, music training seems to have a clear relationship with intelligence. At an older age, the results seem more confused. This last result is problematic because adult musicians have many and many years of music training on their shoulders so here, after many years we should clearly see an effect of the music training on intelligence. In contrast, the effect of music training seems larger at a much smaller age.

References

What are the 2 easiest chords on guitar?

Why E major and E minor are first two guitar chords you should learn first. 1. The E major and E minor open chord shapes can be moved up the guitar...

Last updated Jan 11, 2022

When should kids start violin?

between 5-7 years old In general, however, the best age to start violin for my students is between 5-7 years old. I've started students as young as...

Last updated Nov 5, 2018

Promotion

Does loud music affect autism?

Loud noises may be painful for those with autism. They may also have trouble concentrating when there is background noise.

altogetherautism.org.nz - Sensory sensitivities in people with autism

People with autism may also have sensory sensitivities. It is quite common and now recognised in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-V) under restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour. People with autism may have one or more sensory sensitivities. They may be hypo – or hypersensitive to certain stimuli. They may be affected by a dog barking but not bothered by loud music. They may find all loud sounds aversive but seek out interesting smells. Sensitivities can be fluid where they change day to day or are dependent on the environment. There are seven senses that can play a role in how we feel:

Can Home Depot copy a broken key?

Yes, the Home Depot can use its Minute Key Kiosk automated machines to laser-cut car keys, provided a suitable blank is available. However, Home...

Last updated Dec 30, 2019

What is the easiest guitar chord?

Basic Em Guitar Chord (E Minor Chord) Em is the first beginning guitar chord you should learn. It's one of the most basic guitar chords not only...

Last updated Mar 4, 2019

Promotion

How do you sing without crying?

Crying can be prevented while singing by doing the following: Control your breathing. Relax your facial muscles. Focus on the technical aspect of...

Last updated Mar 23, 2019

Join almost HALF A MILLION Happy Students Worldwide

Pianoforall is one of the most popular online piano courses online and has helped over 450,000 students around the world achieve their dream of playing beautiful piano for over a decade.

Learn More »

Promotion

Why is Chopin so good?

Chopin has a reputation for being an exquisite miniaturist, but he was much more than that: his approach to playing and composing for the piano and...

Last updated Apr 8, 2022