Although research has shown that youngsters who take music lessons are more likely to be top of their class, psychologist Glenn Schellenberg claims this link is misleading.

 

Instead, improved academic performance may be because brighter children from privileged backgrounds are more likely to learn an instrument, rather than music classes helping¹ to boost their intelligence.

 

'Music may change you a bit, but it's also the case that different children take music lessons,' said Professor Schellenberg of the University of Toronto, who added that parents' education was the most influential² factor on musicality.

 

'Children who take music lessons come from families with higher incomes, they come from families with more educated parents, they also do more extra-curricular activities, they have higher IQs, and they do better at school.' 

 

In tests on 167 children who played piano or other instruments, they found their answer to personality tests could predict how likely it was for them to continue their music lessons. 

 

Those who were more outgoing and conscientious³（认真的，尽责的） were more likely to continue to play.

 

'We were motivated by the fact that kids who take music lessons are particularly good students, in school they actually do better than you would predict from their IQ, so obviously something else is going on,' Professor Schellenberg told the American Association for the Advancement⁴ of Science (AAAS) annual conference in Boston. 

 

'So we thought that personality might be the thing. 

 

Asked if so-called helicopter parents were wasting their money sending their children to music lessons in the belief they could boost their school results, he said 'yes'.

 

'Clearly studying music changes the brain, but so does any learning. In fact, that is what learning is,' he said.

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