Are pianists (or musicians) more intelligent?

[dolcejen]

Answer any way you like. I'm simply curious as to the general concensus around here.
Are pianists (or musicians in general) more smart?

[rimv2]

Mah thoughts is:

Those who have an unnatural talent for it are not very smart as they have to do little concentration, but those who practice like mad are because they have to concentrate mad hard.

[Barbosa-piano]

 I am not sure, but to me it seems like musicians (Classical) in general are more organized, and conservative, but I guess intelligence varies from person to person...
I don't think there is any example showing the intelligence in the history of the pianists, off the top of my head...

[Bouter Boogie]

Intelligence varies from person to person. There are pianists who do think they're intelligent, but they often practice harder than the most talented pianists. It's hard to judge pianists on their intelligence anyway. It's so different from person to person.

- BB

[pianobabe_56]

I need the ego boost that comes from assuming I have something to offer society. So, at the risk of sounding arrogant: Definitely. 

[rimv2]

Mah theory still stands and ah have met a few pianist who solidate it as law.

[RealPianist]

I think usually if i see people arround me, if they study music usually their school is in good mark, and they usually cleaver.

[stevie]

of course we are 

[perfect_pitch]

of course we are 

DAMN RIGHT WE ARE!!!! We are involved in a higher art form.

[pabst]

i thinks we is

[gilad]

i'm new to piano, half a year.
what i can say with certainty is that the users of this board come across as extremely brainy, especially if compared to many other forums i've visited over the years.
my teacher reckons that musicians score near the top of the distribution in intellegence scores.
now that i think about it, friends of mine that are musicians are very bright.

[stevie]

*insert witty remark here*

[Tash]

i can't say this thread represents any kind of intelligence, it's riddled with bad grammar and spelling mistakes!
intelligence is relative, i know 500 times more about music than the smartest of my friends do, but they're still smarter than me. however smartness doesn't necessarily suggest intelligence. there are music students i go to uni with who are idiots in all aspects and there are non-music students who aren't idiots. in the end everyone's the same, there's no difference between music, science, law, humanities, commerce, engineering, fine arts etc etc etc!

[m1469]

*** RIGHT WE ARE!!!! We are involved in a higher art form.

Is there a higher art form than Life ?  It seems to me that we are all pretty involved with that one 

[prometheus]

Music does require intelligence. The more intelligent you are the more potential there is. But brains are flexible. With hard work even people with not very powerful brains can be excellent musicians.

I don't think pianists are smarter than other instrumentalists or singers, etc. Neither that musicians are smarter than people that do math, science, literature, chess, Go, programming, etc. Maybe painting is more intiutive and less brainy than music and math and stuff.

But, why can't incredible stupid people be musicians or play the piano? Surely the fact that someone plays piano doesn't mean anything. Now, if a person plays the piano really well, thats another story.

I do believe that playing, listening and creating music stimulates the brain and that it will help intellectual development. But I don't see why music is special in this aspect. A person that limits herself or himself to music only is probably less intelligent as a person that develops broader skills.

[perfect_pitch]

Is there a higher art form than Life ?  It seems to me that we are all pretty involved with that one 

Technically how can life be an art form... You saying that idiots like Bam Margera and George W Bush are higher art forms?      

[prometheus]

I also don't understand how life can be an art form. Every one is forced to live, we have nothing to choose or to express.. And you can't really compare the life of an ant to that of a human. But why wouldn't the life of an ant not be art and a human life would?

[m1469]

Well, I think it would be silly for me to further this discussion.  Maybe even more silly than me egging on the guys in the "am i sexist" threads.... he he.  Probably I should've resisted the temptation to have said anything in the first place.   

In a nutshell, though, I do not perceive what we are "doing" in music (or anything else for that matter) as separate than living itself.  Probably though, if we want to start a discussion on that particular thing, we should start a new thread instead of taking over this one.


m1469

[rimv2]

i can't say this thread represents any kind of intelligence, it's riddled with bad grammar and spelling mistakes!
intelligence is relative, i know 500 times more about music than the smartest of my friends do, but they're still smarter than me. however smartness doesn't necessarily suggest intelligence. there are music students i go to uni with who are idiots in all aspects and there are non-music students who aren't idiots. in the end everyone's the same, there's no difference between music, science, law, humanities, commerce, engineering, fine arts etc etc etc!

There's alway someone who bring up bad grammer. It's the internet. No one care about  grammer or spelling. To even correct some one or even bring it up is really a waste of time. Grammer dont got nothing to do with intellegence anyways.

  (wish there were a smiley like this but with the middle tooth missing)

[gilad]

  i'd quite like one with only the middle tooth.

[Tash]

There's alway someone who bring up bad grammer. It's the internet. No one care about grammer or spelling. To even correct some one or even bring it up is really a waste of time. Grammer dont got nothing to do with intellegence anyways.

  (wish there were a smiley like this but with the middle tooth missing)

i know, thus emphasising the waste of time of this thread. i'm feeling narky so don't mess with me!!

[pianolearner]

i know, thus emphasising the waste of time of this thread. i'm feeling narky so don't mess with me!!

I agree. Trying do define and measure intelligence in a way that satisfies eveyone is difficult enough. People would argue that there are so many aspects of intelligence that simply saying "more intelligent" is meaningless.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_%28trait%29

[rohansahai]

All people involved in a pure knowledge stream (pure sciences, arts, music etc etc etc..) are in general more intelligent since each of these require original thinking and creativity. There are exceptions of course, but in general that's the way it goes ....so Engineers, Businessmen, Management executives etc etc....'WE ARE MORE INTELLIGENT THAN YOU !!! ' 

[dolcejen]

I think it would depend on what type of music the pianist practiced and played. Of course, if they filled their minds with pop drivel I doubt it would help their intelligence level. However, I have heard that classical music helps the mind quite a bit.

[stevie]

I think it would depend on what type of music the pianist practiced and played. Of course, if they filled their minds with pop drivel I doubt it would help their intelligence level. However, I have heard that classical music helps the mind quite a bit.

as pretty as you may be, jen, that statement was biased and a bit silly.

intelligence at its core - cognitive ability - doesnt really develop at all after adolescence, but anything more complex, classical music, maths, etc...while growing up will help stimulate the brain and help the development....but after youre an adult it cant really do anything.

remember theres a difference between knowledge and intelligence

[dolcejen]

Oohhhhh! You're SO right (said quite demurely with hands folded under chin)...
Sorry, rack it for another stupid blonde idea. Oops, I guess it's more like brunette with Alzheimer's.
Let me try to explain my somewhat trite comment of the last post.... (Basically I was just trying to bump the thread and put the first thing that came to mind, sorry to bother the more intellectual people around here)
I do agree that cognitive ability is an inborn core trait. But I do believe that most people are not developing or properly using the cognitive ability they do have, and perhaps destroying it with poor mental habits. The intellectual makeup of classical music if studied and understood could perhaps help in sharpening the cognitive processes. I'm open to people disagreeing with my hypothesis, I have not spent long hours studying it or confirming it. 

[rc]

I figure that classical music would attract people with intellectual leanings, in the sense that we're the bunch that is more stimulated by thinking/pondering-types of activities (reading, deep conversation, philosophy...). Maybe even with emotional leanings as well, that's the first impression music gives (emotional) that might make us choose music over computer programming.

But I do believe that most people are not developing or properly using the cognitive ability they do have, and perhaps destroying it with poor mental habits. The intellectual makeup of classical music if studied and understood could perhaps help in sharpening the cognitive processes. I'm open to people disagreeing with my hypothesis, I have not spent long hours studying it or confirming it.

An old math teacher proposed the idea that the brain is like any other muscle; use it or lose it. This was her theory to why some people get... dim, as they age, while others can stay sharp - because they didn't get lazy and let their minds turn to mush. The brain will adapt to whatever tasks are routine. Athletic people have brains will adapted to physical coordination, someone who reads a lot will be good at creating meaning from words and imagining situations, and a couch potato is good at watching TV.

...Everything I say is based on intense research and study. Don't even try to disagree with me.