Question
Does learning music make you smarter?
Short answer
Probably not in the way people hope. A 2020 meta-analysis of 54 studies and nearly 7,000 children found that, once study quality is accounted for, music training has about zero effect on general cognitive skills or school achievement. Small apparent benefits showed up only in weaker study designs.
Want your own number? The test is 25 visual puzzles, about 12 minutes, no sign-up.
The claim being tested
Music lessons are often promoted as a way to make children smarter overall: better at math, reading and reasoning, not just at music. The idea is that a demanding skill trains general mental abilities that carry over to everything else. Psychologists call that carry-over far transfer.
What the evidence shows
Giovanni Sala and Fernand Gobet pooled 254 effect sizes from 54 studies involving 6,984 children. Once they accounted for the quality of each study's design, the overall effect of music training on cognitive and academic skills was about zero, and that null result was highly consistent across studies (Sala & Gobet, 2020).
The studies that did show small benefits shared two weaknesses: children were not randomly assigned to music or no music, and the comparison group did nothing rather than another activity (Sala & Gobet, 2020). Without random assignment, families who choose music lessons may differ in other ways. Without an active comparison, any new activity with adult attention can look like it helps.
Try one · Abstract Reasoning
Which tile completes the grid?
Tap the option you think is right, or show the answer.
Show the answer
The missing tile has three solid squares (option 2).
How to solve it
- Start with the first column and name what changes from tile to tile.
- Every row and every column contains each shape (cross, square and diamond) exactly once.
- Every row and every column contains each number of shapes (three, one and two) exactly once.
- The fill (solid) stays the same in every tile.
- Check the rules on the second column, then apply them to the third.
- So the missing tile has three solid squares.
That was 1 puzzle. The full test has 25.
What does have evidence
The best-supported way to raise measured intelligence is plain schooling: a 2018 meta-analysis estimated about 1 to 5 IQ points per additional year of education (Ritchie & Tucker-Drob, 2018). Specific add-ons, from music lessons to brain-training apps, have a much weaker record. See does education increase IQ, the Mozart effect and brain training games.
Choosing activities for a child
If a child loves music, the evidence gives no reason to stop: the skill, the enjoyment and the discipline of practice are real benefits. Just do not choose lessons expecting a higher IQ score. For a fuller look at what moves intelligence, read can you raise your intelligence.
Sources
- Sala, G., & Gobet, F. (2020). Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis. Memory & Cognition, 48, 1429-1441. doi.org/10.3758/s13421-020-01060-2
- Ritchie, S. J., & Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2018). How much does education improve intelligence? A meta-analysis. Psychological Science, 29(8), 1358-1369. doi.org/10.1177/0956797618774253