Mozart’s mathematical musicians

Maths and music have always had an enduring relationship: a romantic tale that has stood the test of time (or at least supposedly). Perhaps the most well known manifestation of this relationship is the ‘Mozart effect’, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to most: simply play Mozart to your child when young, and they’ll grow to be a talented mathematician whose intelligence knows no bounds.

Is it all music to parents’ ears?

Proponents of this theory will tell you that this is no mere supposition, but that it is in fact backed by science: a study published by Nature found that children who had been played music by Mozart became more intelligent and better mathematicians than children from a control group. Perhaps that’s why, in 1988, Zell Miller, the Governor of the state of Georgia in the U.S., requested that money from the state budget be set aside so that every newborn baby could be sent a CD of classical music. But Mozart’s powers seem to be not only confined to homo sapiens. In fact, Sergio Della Sala, psychologist and author of the book Mind Myths, after visiting a mozzarella farm in Italy, proclaimed that buffalos that were played Mozart three times a day produced better milk. Incredible!

So, as someone who has no natural mathematical or musical ability, I thought it would be interesting to investigate this from an impartial perspective.

Is a little bit of Mooooozart too much to ask for?

While being able to increase your child’s intelligence by playing Mozart might be an appealing prospect to parents looking for a simple way to increase their child’s intellectual horsepower, it might just have been blown out of proportion: studies relating music and mathematics abound. Students who are “musically trained have been observed to have higher mathematics grades and standardised test scores, compared with students who have not studied music” according to Scientific American. Of course, this link can be explained by the fact that students who can afford to learn musical instruments might also be able to afford better schooling and grow up in an environment with increased parental involvement and a larger focus around education. But research by Nadine Gaab and Jennifer Zuk (Associate professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Doctoral student at Harvard University respectively) also suggests that the link “may be driven by high-level cognitive-processing skills” that are “necessary for both subjects, such as executive functions, which allow individuals to adjust to changing task demands.” These “executive functions” are a “strong predictor of academic achievement, even more so than general intelligence.”

Perhaps all is not as good as it sounds

A study by Nature, however, found that “listening to music does lead to a temporary improvement in the ability to manipulate shapes mentally, but the benefits are short-lived and it doesn’t make us more intelligent.” Perhaps, after all, Mozart wasn’t so amazing.

Another blow to the Mozart effect came in 2006, when a study involving 8,000 children was conducted. The group was split into two halves: one listened to ten minutes of Mozart’s String Quintet in D Major and the other listened to a sequence of three pop songs: Blur’s “Country House,” “Return of the Mack,” by Mark Morrison and PJ and Duncan’s “Stepping Stone”. After listening to the music, the children’s ability to predict paper shapes was measured. Surprisingly, those who listened to the pop music did better than those who listened to Mozart. So, when measuring cognitive performance, does the music genre or composer matter or is it simply the fact that one is listening to music? Apparently not. A simple bit of cognitive arousal (i.e. warming up your mind to make it more active) should do the trick. In which case, physical activity or a cup of joe should work equally well.

But does music train us to think more analytically?

While any sort of cognitive arousal might improve cognitive ability, perhaps listening to music can improve our analytical skills. On the surface, both share common themes. For example, both mathematics and music deal with abstract structures. Therefore, becoming good at one might suggest becoming better at the other. But many subjects involve abstract structures. Take linguistics, for example. One must understand grammar and syntax, two abstract structures. So why is there no conception that linguistics and mathematical ability are interlinked?

Upon further examination, there are a few more characteristics that music and mathematics share. For example have all come across those dreaded questions in aptitude assessments, where we are asked to solve pointless problems such as “Finger is to hand, as toe is to X?” Meant to test logic and reasoning, this sort of logic is central to not only mathematics but also music. For example, the second phrase of Eine kleine Nachtmusik, is an answer to the first. In this case, one could see a similar question asked regarding the first and second phrases. Music and mathematics, therefore, are both full of puzzles.

What has been proven about the musical mathematician?

As we have seen, although there are many theories, one thing is for sure: playing a musical instrument does increase IQ. While simply playing music to your child might not have an effect on their intelligence and mathematical prowess, learning to play an instrument can. In fact, Jessica Grahn, a cognitive scientist at Western University in London, Ontario, found that “a year of piano lessons, combined with regular practice can increase IQ by as much as three points” (next time your child doesn’t want to practice the piano, remind them of this one fact!). That said, listening to music from an early age can foster a life-long love of music. In turn, this can translate into a desire to play an instrument and increased IQ.

What are your thoughts? Let us know here, we’d love to hear them!

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