Music Lessons Help Make Children Smarter

A new study reveals that children who take music lessons have higher IQs. The psychology professor who conducted the study two main theories to explain this:

1. Music lessons are a type of schooling, and schooling increases IQ.

2. Music lessons are composed of number of small components, including practicing, memorization, learning structure and scales, reading music, expressing yourself emotionally, and much more.

Another study by James Catterall found that children who are involved in music were more successful in school.

"The work on what the arts mean in terms of academic achievement and social development is definitely inspiring people to think more about keeping the arts in and putting more arts in the schools," says Catterall. "And one outcome is that you have more art in the lives of kids. That to me is very important and valuable in its own right."