Photo: Anna Shvets

Do people who play piano have a higher IQ?

Study says learning a musical instrument increases your IQ by 10 percent. Picking up a musical instrument gives you a higher IQ, according to a new study of more than 4,600 volunteers. New research has claimed that learning to play a musical instrument increases intelligence by 10 percent.

classicfm.com - Study says learning a musical instrument increases your IQ by 10 ...

Why is the keyboard layout so weird?

The "qwerty" keyboard arrangement stems from mechanical typewriters. The keys are arranged to make fast typing difficult as old typewriters would...

Last updated Jun 15, 2022

Why are white pianos more expensive?

Polyester and professional piano varnish are based on resin – this method of varnishing the instruments is longer, time-consuming and definitely...

Last updated Sep 28, 2020

Join almost HALF A MILLION Happy Students Worldwide

Promotion

Study says learning a musical instrument increases your IQ by 10 percent

By Sian Moore

Picking up a musical instrument gives you a higher IQ, according to a new study of more than 4,600 volunteers. New research has claimed that learning to play a musical instrument increases intelligence by 10 percent. In a six-month study co-ordinated by DIYS.com, the world’s largest DIY community, 4,694 volunteers chose a new hobby to take up during coronavirus lockdown. Among the chosen hobbies were knitting, exercising and learning an instrument. The volunteers then took an IQ test, before being grouped according to their chosen activity. After six months, they were retested, and researchers indexed and averaged their scores. The highest IQ increase came from the music-makers, averaging a score increase of 9.71 percent. Before they took up an instrument, the new musicians’ average IQ score was 103. When they were tested again, six months later, it had increased to 113. Scores for IQ tests, which are used to measure various cognitive reasoning skills, average around 100 in general. Music-making trumped other hobbies including knitting, which had an average score increase of 9.68 percent, exercising (7.37 percent) and reading (7.07 percent). According to the study, the most popular instrument was the guitar, with 31 percent of volunteers choosing to learn it. The cognitive impact of playing an instrument has been widely studied. A 2014 Ted Talk delivered by brain development and music learning researcher Dr. Anita Collins, which has been viewed over 10 million times, explains why “fireworks” go off in musicians’ brains when they play. Collins explains that when a musician plays an instrument, neuroscientists have seen multiple areas of the brain “light up” as it processes different information in “intricate, interrelated and astonishingly fast sequences”.

“Playing music is the brain’s equivalent of a full-body workout,” Collins adds.

A more recent study, led by experts at the Stanford University School of Medicine, found that musicians who started playing an instrument at a young age have more ‘connected’ brains. Using a sample pool of 153 musicians and non-musicians, researchers found a significant difference in brain structure in the musicians. More so, the team found that those who had starting playing at a young age had stronger brain connections than those who only started in later years. We’ve opened voting for the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2021! Tell us your favourite music and you could win a smart speaker, iPad and luxury hamper.

What scales to use over jazz chords?

The Dorian minor scale as a b3, natural 6, and b7. It is the most commonly used minor scale for improvisation in jazz music. It works over any ii...

Last updated Jun 25, 2021

How many pitches can a chord have?

three notes Furthermore, as three notes are needed to define any common chord, three is often taken as the minimum number of notes that form a...

Last updated Mar 11, 2020

Promotion

HOw many years does it take to master piano?

If you want to be a professional classical performer, you're looking at a minimum of 10 to 15 years of concentrated study with a master teacher,...

Last updated Jun 23, 2018

What is the saddest scale in music?

minor scale The minor scale is the pattern in western music typically associated with sad feelings. It includes three different variations called...

Last updated Jun 11, 2020

Promotion

What is the number 1 most played song of all time?

It was never a hit single and got almost no play on Top 40 radio. There's even a dispute over the exact title. Yet “It's a Small World,” also known...

Last updated Jun 6, 2019

Promotion

Why do pianists crack their knuckles?

All it is is excess air that accumulates inside your joints. "Cracking" your knuckles is actually just the sound of the air being pushed out. Feb...

Last updated Dec 19, 2018