As though we needed more proof that life isn't fair, it turns out that those with musical talent are also likely to be better than the rest of us at math. Some studies have found that people who have had musical training tend to score higher on intelligence and achievement tests, Wall Street Journal science writer Sharon Begley reported. The Siemens Foundation discovered this recently when it was talking to the winners of its science and math competition and found that 75 percent of them were gifted musicians.
So should we all run out and take up the flute? Not necessarily. While it is true that in 2001 music students scored 41 points higher on the math portion of the SAT, other studies suggest that musical training alone may provide only a minor mental boost. In a study to be published in the August edition of Psychological Science, children given piano lessons for 36 weeks did improve their IQs by six points, but a control group given drama lessons instead enjoyed a five-point gain in IQ. We'd bet that many of the children in that first group gladly would have given up an IQ point or two to avoid endless afternoons of playing the scales.
Besides, Begley noted, children who are encouraged by their parents to take music or drama lessons are also likely to be read to at an early age and expected to succeed in school, behavior that is within every parent's grasp. So let the concert pianists figure restaurant tips without a calculator. The fact that encouragement and self-discipline still work nearly as well as music lessons sounds good to the rest of us tone-deaf word people.
