Photo: Mian Rizwan

Do you need high IQ for piano?

People who can learn a tune more easily have higher intelligence, research suggests. People with higher IQs were able to learn to play “Happy Birthday” on the piano more accurately in the study.

spring.org.uk - A Simple Musical Sign Of High IQ - PsyBlog

What does jazz do to your brain?

When you listen to jazz, the music stimulates a calming effect on your body, signalling your central nervous system to lower your respiratory rate...

Last updated Jul 5, 2019

How can I find a music teacher?

Here are some of the ways you can ensure the teacher you hire is the best fit for the student. Ask around. ... Don't be afraid to ask questions....

Last updated Sep 16, 2021

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

A Simple Musical Sign Of High IQ

People with higher intelligence tend to have this musical ability.

People who can learn a tune more easily have higher intelligence, research suggests. People with higher IQs were able to learn to play “Happy Birthday” on the piano more accurately in the study. Whether or not people believed they could improve did not seem to matter.

Instead, pure intelligence predicted how well they did, not a ‘growth mindset’.

A growth mindset is a belief that basic abilities can be improved through hard work. Musical aptitude was the only other factor that mattered, said Mr Alexander Burgoyne, the study’s first author: “The strongest predictor of skill acquisition was intelligence, followed by music aptitude. By contrast, the correlation between growth mindset and piano performance was about as close to zero as possible.” The study included 171 people who had little or no experience playing the piano.

All were given tests of their mindset and their intelligence.

They followed a video guide that taught them to play “Happy Birthday”, which contained 25 notes.

Afterwards they were rated on their performance of the simple song.

The results showed that IQ mattered most in predicting who did well.

When IQ was taken into account, even musical aptitude paled into insignificance.

Mr Burgoyne said:

“The results were surprising, because people have claimed that mindset plays an important role when students are confronted with challenges, like trying to learn a new musical instrument. And yet, it didn’t predict skill acquisition.”

There were also some interesting patterns in the results:

Some learned quickly within six minutes.

Some were poor at first, but soon improved.

Some faded away as they lost motivation.

The rest could not work it out at all.

Mr Burgoyne said:

“Our study examined one of the earliest stages of skill acquisition. Early experiences can be formative, but I would caution against drawing conclusions about skilled musicians based on our study of beginners.”

The study was published in the journal Intelligence (Burgoyne et al., 2019).

What kind of music makes us happy?

Jolij has found that songs from the 80s and before are more “feel good” than songs composed in later times. However, just as music is personal,...

Last updated Jul 14, 2021

What should I do after writing a song?

Six Things To Do When Your Song Is Finished Finalize Your Lyric Sheet. An accurate lyric sheet is a great place to start once your song is done....

Last updated Feb 13, 2019

Promotion

What is the easiest pop song to sing?

Here is a list of ten simple songs to get your singing juices flowing: Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers. Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis...

Last updated Sep 7, 2018

Does the Bible mention music?

The Bible mentions many uses of music including songs of praise, songs of victory, songs of mourning, and above all the Psalms. Dances were also a...

Last updated Mar 2, 2022

Promotion

Why you shouldn't put your kid in timeout?

Parenting experts have criticized the timeout technique in recent years, saying that it might neglect a child's emotional needs. Most experts agree...

Last updated Feb 7, 2022

Promotion

What is the smoothest key switch?

Red keys are linear keys that provide smooth presses with no clicks. That doesn't mean they're silent, but they're usually among the quietest of...

Last updated Nov 12, 2018