Music and intelligence

[electronictiger]

I listen to almost everything, but my favorite music is techno and I'd say I'm pretty smart, I'm just really lazy.

 

[Small Waves]

A couple of years ago my sister told me that people with low intelligence... techno music.
high intelligence... Classical music and metal.

So in other words your sister's a pretentious metalhead who is too much of a wimp to step outside her comfort zone and lumps all electronic music as "techno".

If anything, electronic music is the most difficult stuff to make. You have to have a good ear and a VERY expansive knowledge of synths, drum machines, analogue equipment, etc. to make anything half-decent. It's more of a science than an art.

 

[Cinnonym]

Wouldn't it be the way one understands music that would reflect intelligence? You can apply music theory to any genre--and every genre has its gems. "Intelligent" people ought to be more likely to branch out through other genres, not be relegated to one. I personally think the study is bullshit--I know folk who love classical music who are also some of the most ignorant (and pretentious) people I've ever met.

 

[rt052192]

i listen to metal and got a 3.7 gpa

 

[BonsaiK]

A couple of years ago my sister told me that people with low intelligence mostly listened to pop and techno music and that people with high intelligence mostly listened to Classic music or metal.

I have tried this on my class and it might just be correct.
But still i wonder if she is right.. And haven't been able to find ANY articles on this, but who knows.
It doesn't apply to everyone, just the majority.

To the questions:
Is this right?
And can anyone tell me why or why not?

Discuss.

http://troglopundit.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/music-that-makes-you-dumb/

This test is accurate but not precise. You can take it for what it's worth, but the general jist is rap at the low end, the middle is a bit cloudy, and the top is classical.

Metal is mostly unrepresented. The bands labeled as "metal" are not (to the extent you would expect) metal. I would've liked to see names like Lamb of God, In Flames, Killswitch Engage, [insert name here], for metal.

Overall, the bands are almost all mainstream, names you've heard of, with a few labeled as indie or misc.

Does this help at all?

It proves nothing.

Just because where there is X (listening to certain music) there is Y (intelligence/lack of intelligence), doesn't mean that X creates Y. Perhaps Y actually creates X. Or maybe there is another factor such as Z which is creating both X and Y.

In the case of classical music, listening to classical music (X) does not make you smart (Y). Maybe people who like to listen to classical music are just older and therefore wiser because they have had more lived experience (Z). Or maybe, they go to school and learn about smartness and stuff and they discover classical music there in the study environment (Y creates X).

With rap music, it doesn't make you dumb (X creates Y), but most people who listen to it are kind of young and therefore haven't learned a lot of stuff yet so may not be smart (Z creates Y). No doubt they will grow into smarter people down the track. If they are already dumb and so stuff like L'il Wayne seems pitched to their intellectual level, so they appreciate it more (Z creates Y which then creates X).

You have a point, but they say for the study that everyone is college age, and its based on SAT scores. Age has nothing to do with it.

Well then Z might not be age, it might be some other factor. Z could be anything. The point is that just because you see X and Y together doesn't mean X creates Y.

 

[Cinnonym]

http://www.labnol.org/internet/music-taste-linked-to-intelligence/7489/

The musical taste vs SAT score chart maps the 133 most popular (out of 1,455) favorite music from 1,352 schools. In terms of music genres, it follows like this ? Soca < Gospel < Jazz < Hip Hop < Pop < Oldies < Raggae < Alternative < Classical < R&B < Rap < Rock < Country < Classic Rock < Techno in increasing order of SAT scores.

According to this study, posted on the first page, Techno actually beat out Classical.

 

[Irishhoodlum]

I think it's just personal preference since some of the smartest kids at my school listen to rap while others classical etc. But when it comes down to the writing of the music most pop/techno songs will use the same 3-4 chords, sometimes as few as 2 while in Classical and Jazz you'll have a much more complex piece. Though from personal experience again kids who listen to metal usually don't do as well. Listenting to music is supposed to help you concentrate but only when there's no lyrics (i.e classical...).

 

[Macabre9037]

My girlfriend listens to dance, techno, pop and hip-hop and has a 4.1 GPA and just received a full ride academic excellence scholarship to a university. I'd say that music preference and intelligence are largely unrelated.

 

[Berethond]

The reason they published SAT scores instead of IQ scores is because they couldn't determine a trend when they used IQ scores.

Taste in music is more dependent on someone's personality type than on their intelligence. Introverts might be more inclined to listen to classical or jazz or metal, but that doesn't make them smarter.

Being introverts is what makes them smarter.

If you trace the geneaology of music, you'll find that metal is the direct descendant and heir to the throne of classical.

What the hell? Metal derives from experimentation within psychedelic rock, which is just blues-rock + drugs. Then both rock and the blues stem from a combination of hillbilly country music and post-african folk music. Where does classical composition come into it?

Famous metal guitarists learn jazz and classical before learning metal.

That's because learning jazz and classical forces you to become a better musician by requiring the use of your ears.

In fact, you'll find that jazz musicians are the best in the world, because they use their ear so much.

 

[SonicKoala]

Self-reporting is always a bit iffy.

It could just be "those with higher intelligences are more likely to say they listen to classical music" rather than any kind of correlative (much less causal) link.

It's a selection bias. People who are more intelligent may (and in my experience, do) be more sensitive to the trappings and mis-en-scene of being intellectual, and so say they listen to more "intelligent" music than they actually do. I think a large part of it may be that classical music has a history and reputation of being more sophisticated and aristocratic, so self-styled intellectuals would report they listen to it, even if they're bopping out to Basement Jaxx.

I think it's safe to say that this "study", if you want to call it that, has little to no scientific merit. I definitely agree that those who are intelligent, particularly those who are conscious of it, are far more likely to pick a more "intellectual" genre when asked what their favourite type of music is - honestly, most people who spend any time on the internet are ashamed to admit they like artists such as Beyonce and the like. There's nothing wrong with liking those artists, and I really wouldn't take anything the study says very seriously. I just posted it because I was reminded of it after seeing the OP.

 

[SonicKoala]

I know what she's talking about - I remember seeing this study where they compared student's test scores (SATs, in this case) with the types of music they listened to, and found (in general) that student's who did better in school tended to listen to classical music.

http://www.labnol.org/internet/music-taste-linked-to-intelligence/7489/

In my experience, I've found that this actually does tend to be true. I work with a lot of stupid people, and everytime they bring their iPods to work, I get to listen to a bunch of shitty modern hip-hop.

Since when were the SATs a measure of intelligence? That test is more useless than an online IQ test.

Just so you know, I'm not supporting the study in anyway, I was just reminded of it after seeing the OP. Being Canadian, I don't really know much about the SATs anyway. From my understanding, it just tests your abilities in Math and English - if I'm correct, I agree that such a test is incredibly narrow and isn't in anyway an accurate representation of how intelligent a person is.

 

[SonicKoala]

http://www.labnol.org/internet/music-taste-linked-to-intelligence/7489/

The musical taste vs SAT score chart maps the 133 most popular (out of 1,455) favorite music from 1,352 schools. In terms of music genres, it follows like this ? Soca < Gospel < Jazz < Hip Hop < Pop < Oldies < Raggae < Alternative < Classical < R&B < Rap < Rock < Country < Classic Rock < Techno in increasing order of SAT scores.

According to this study, posted on the first page, Techno actually beat out Classical.

That just goes to show what I've always thought - any pretentious douche can "appreciate" Classical music, but it takes a true genius to appreciate the awesomeness that is Techno.

 

[Marbas]

Don't buy it. Also, the music that makes me happy isn't anywhere on that list! Nobody loves the Noiseheads.

 

[Marbas]

From my understanding, it just tests your abilities in Math and English - if I'm correct, I agree that such a test is incredibly narrow and isn't in anyway an accurate representation of how intelligent a person is.

The test doesn't even test your mathematical abilities well. Or linguistic ones. The test is very superficial.

 

[Kris015]

A couple of years ago my sister told me that people with low intelligence... techno music.
high intelligence... Classical music and metal.

So in other words your sister's a pretentious metalhead who is too much of a wimp to step outside her comfort zone and lumps all electronic music as "techno".

If anything, electronic music is the most difficult stuff to make. You have to have a good ear and a VERY expansive knowledge of synths, drum machines, analogue equipment, etc. to make anything half-decent. It's more of a science than an art.

This discussing is NOT about my sister.
And i were the one who called it "Techno".And i already said it was something she read god damn it!!!

http://www.labnol.org/internet/music-taste-linked-to-intelligence/7489/ This MIGHT be it.. Okay so stop fucking saying things like that!

 

[The Buck Stops Here]

i'd have to agree that modern day hip-hop is one of the stupidest forms of music I have listened to, unless you dive into the underground in which case it is a bastion of free thought and expressive, powerful poetry

this study reeks of being silly, however. Correlation =/= causation. How was this study conducted? What was the sample size? How did environmental factors affect the candidates polled? All questions that need to be asked before making such blatant assumptions about musical genre and intelligence.

 

[johnnydeath]

I know a lot of stupid guys that listen to metal. Don't get me wrong, I'm 50% a metalhead-- I love Manowar and Iron Maiden. I would say that most goths are pretty smart, since they keep mostly to themselves.

 

[Lucifron]

It's presumptuous asshattery to equate musical tastes with intelligence. I'd guess that some kind of correlation isn't improbable, but the why's are anyone's guess.