Interesting article about musician's brains. The comments are also funny because of the typical pop vs. classical discussion. As one who has played on both the pop musuic and classical sides of the fence it seems to me classical probably provides much of the boost, but don't discount the value of improvisation and playing by ear in building a smarter brain, but you don't have to be smart to play 16 bars of G (as I did when I learned one ZZ Top song).

http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/05/18/do-musicians-have-better-brains/

Does that study apply to accordion players ... and singers?

It appears to apply to amatuer and professional classical musicians (including violists and tubists). Here's a link to the summary, sadly the full article costs $31 to download a pdf.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110505083421.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Was this study funded by piano dealers?

Yay, just what this forum needs. More classical > pop snobbery.

Snobbery is a fine line, but I really do think that a LOT of pop culture is very lame (especially compared with the stuff that history remembered). My elitism is tempered by the knowledge of how incredibly unfashionable I am in every sense, heh.

Well, the article itself doesn't even compare classical vs. popular musicians, so the people getting their panties in a wad in the comments section (on the linked website, not here) are way off the mark. The article *also* doesn't compare musicians vs. nonmusicians, so it's not possible to argue that music confers a brain advantage from these data. Last but not least, the article is correlational, so it's impossible to draw any sort of causal conclusion about the role of advanced musical training. It could be any number of cognitive, motivational, and personality factors that are associated with becoming a professional musician that led to the differences.

In short, the data are intriguing but inconclusive.

Thats something I suppose lol

I knew it all along!

Words of wisdom from Monica!!