I was always involved in music and my husband has little to no musical training and he has much better math and reasoning skills than I do. I never pushed my son to play an instrument and a year or so ago he requested to take up guitar. He has always had very good math and reasoning skills like his father. I don't know how much it directly affects that skill development. Some people are better at some things than others naturally and maybe people who have good math and reasoning skills are drawn to music because of what it entails (the counting and rhythm) but our family refutes that theory.

I am an active parent and I placed my oldest 2 children in piano when they were fairly young. 3 and 5, they are now 11 and 13 and are A students. I put them in piano initially because of reports I heard that "children who take piano do better in math apposed to those who dont. I am awful in math and wanted them to have an advantage. My 13 yo is now a wiz in math however my 11 yo has trouble with decimals. My 13 yo stopped taking piano when she was 11 and now plays clarinet. My 11 yo still plays piano and is now trying sax (so far she prefers piano. I think it is due to her instructor). My son is only 5 and has not taken any music lessons at all. His K class has not really started math so only time will tell. Each child is different I guess. I am starting to think that music is not as important as I first thought. I do think that i will eventually put my son in some sort of music training anyway. Just because I think its fun.............and I am tired of hearing him just bang on his drumset. AArgh!

I think I'm completely tone deaf so I would obviously not see the benefits if at all! My husband on the other hand can pretty much learn to play any instrument within the first 20 min (what can I say, it's a gift!). Both my boys are musically inclined and can play without any lessons or training. I don't believe that makes them any smarter (based on that fact that they can play!).

I agree with MagnetMom, I see playing a musical instrument as any other activity that requires dedication, time, sense of achievement, as well as discipline. Of course, that also helps with cognitive skills. I think I would like to have my boiys take lessons if they like (they haven't asked so far) and I think it's important because I feel that it relieves my stress soemtimes just to listen to some mucis. Perhaps, it'll be a great stress reliever if they learn to play more regularly!

My son started playing clarinet in 4th grade and continued through 5th grade. When he started 6th grade in middle school, the principal of the middle school cut music altogether. Since then, my son hasn't played consistently, but he'll pick up the clarinet and play every once in a while.

I would also agree that those kids who play an instrument have parents who are actively involved in their children's lives. Math is my son's strong suit, so music, and reading music, came naturally to him.

MagnetMom and healthy11, I think you bring up great points about the influence of family culture on these results. How do we know that it's music education that's impacting these skills and not overall encouragement or other influences from parents, for example, that's making a difference? In other words, are parents that encourage their kids to play an instrument more apt to encourage them in other ways that contribute to their academic success?

When I see studies like this, the first thing I think is that the same kids who play musical instruments have parents who are actively involved in other areas, and make sure the kids get other advantages.

My son never asked to play an instrument, and I never pushed. In high school, he asked to play bass guitar, and that was fine. Last year, my daughter wanted to play violin, so this is year two.

I personally don't see it as anything aside from an activity they enjoyed. It's nice that they know some music, but it's not something I'll push.

I did not read the "article", but my son, did do better in MATH, after playing the "clarinet".

somewhat surprised. I would think playing an instrument would help their Math skills because reading the notes take someone with reasonable math skills.
I did not read the article but I am guessing by playing the music. You enrich your vocabulary just by going through the songs
Two of my children have played more then 8 years each.

I've perused the study, and while it's interesting, by their own admission, "The existence of a transfer effect between music training and language skills has been supported by experimental studies, although the evidence is not unequivocal."

This particular study involved 59 kids from the Boston area, and they admit in the "Non-Causal Explanation section" that it could be family dynamic factors that explain the results, and not just the fact that kids who scored higher on tests had taken music lessons.... "Children whose parents enroll them in music lessons may be more engaged with their children's education, and provide more enriched environments than do parents who do not enroll their children in music lessons."

Anyway, my son did take several years of piano lessons, and he's scored highly on IQ tests, yet he is dyslexic....My husband and I initally enrolled him in music lessons to give him exposure to a variety of things and figure out where his talents and interests were. He stuck with lessons about 4 years, but has rarely touched a keyboard since.