Does Music Make You Smarter?

Have you ever wondered why some of our parents played Baby Beethoven or Baby Mozart when we were kids? Why did it become so popular among parents? Why was music encouraged in our classes during lower and upper prep?

This significance given to music is a product of the famous “Mozart Effect”; a study (Rauscher, Shaw, & Ky, 1993) published to explain the benefits of music. It proved that participants who listened to Mozart’s music showed superior cognitive skills to those who sat and did the same actions in silence. The widespread belief that music would make kids smarter was followed by a distribution of CDs for parents to purchase. However, this supposed “IQ increase” turned out to be short-term (10-15min), which wouldn’t be convenient.

Even though this first study didn’t prove that music made you smarter, there were additional studies that proved this true. An effectively controlled study (Schellenberg, 2004) gathered one-hundred-forty-four 6-year-olds to take an IQ test (WISC-III) before entering first grade and again in second grade. During the time between both tests, two groups of children received keyboard or vocal lessons. The two other groups received drama lessons or no lessons at all. After the second IQ test, both groups increased due to an additional year in school however, the IQ increase of the music group was greater than the control group. This music group had larger increases across the four abilities measured by the IQ test. This research proved that music lessons and involvement increased intellectual abilities, especially cognitive abilities including increased math, reading, and verbal skills. It was also proven that the time you dedicate to music is proportional to an increase in intellectual abilities.

A statistical analysis gathered 147 children and 150 college students to test whether the duration of music lessons would positively correlate with an increase in intellectual quotient. The children’s IQ was tested with WISC-III, standardized tests, and school grades. The number of months in music lessons showed a positive association with scores, showing better scores for children involved in music. Adults' IQ was tested with WAIS-III; the association between the people who played music for years and their IQ was smaller than the children’s, but it still proved to have a difference.

A key aspect to explain this effect is Bloom’s Taxonomy, which is present in almost every classroom at school. This pyramid gets more complex as it rises, from remembering to creating. Music students have to apply all layers of the taxonomy, which gets more complex. From basic music theory and instrument fingering to remembering that the director wants altos to make a “crescendo in bar 14”. If you start learning music theory, you’ll realize that it all piles up from learning the notes in a pentagram to chord inversions. Then you later end up sight reading and even creating your own pieces and applying theory to your work. Music forces you to apply Bloom’s taxonomy and not use just a single layer.

In conclusion, the massive purchases of Baby Einstein CDs and the “Mozart effect” were not far from the answer to the intellectual effects of music. Exposure to music from childhood is crucial to creating a complete individual, not only for the intellectual effects but also for the values and passions it allows you to build.

---

Author Isidora Bustos is an eighteen-year-old writer living in Chile with a passion for music and literature. She enjoys spending time with friends and eating different types of food.