Here’s something that is sure to get the hairs up on some peoples’ backs. Virgil Griffith, the creator of WikiScanner and a grad student from CalTech did some research which studied the relationship between musical styles and bands and the SAT scores of the people who listened to them. He found that the smartest students listened to Beethoven (average SAT of 1371) and the students who rung in at the bottom of the SAT scores listened to Lil’ Wayne (average SAT of 889).
The average SAT score is around the 1000-1100 mark, and unsurprisingly most bands’ listeners fit into this range.
Of course the (unanswered) question is: What is the relationship?
Do you choose music based on your intelligence? Surely your personality has something to do with musical tastes, doesn’t it? Can listening to certain types of music make you dumb or smart? Do people gravitate towards a certain type of music because they are smart and think that it will make them seem smarter?
I’ll leave that for you to decide. In the meantime, here’s the chart:
Where does your Music Rank?
how many people were tested?
Gospel, below average? Hardly surprising.
I agree lol
Perhaps because Gospel is more common among the African American community, who in turn, have upbringings that aren’t as beneficial as those who are in a more finacially independent situation. Income does greatly affect intelligence. Just saying.
BTW, these are the rules posted above when you make a comment:Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.
You might want to pay attention to the first part. Have a nice day.
income affects intelligence? If that were true, you must be poor as dirt.
Income can affect education. It doesn’t affect intelligence, unless there’s some underlying issue such as nutrition.
income effects education, not intelligence. this is true. but your SAT scores are much more determined by your education rather than your raw intelligence.
@Billo666: Not really, jerk.
I wonder how I fit in there. I listen to Lil’ Wayne and The Postal Service and some of ‘em in between.
thanks .. by saying that you listen to lil’wayne and typing “‘em” in the same sentence you confirmed that this statics are 100% right
!
Corrected comment:
“Thanks… By saying that you listen to Lil’ Wayne and typing “‘em” in the same sentence, you have confirmed that I, myself, cannot even type properly when attempting to insult another’s grammar.”
Billo666 and Ravingmad are either b*****, clowns, or some sort of new-age degenerate hybrid between the two.
wat no electronic music!!!
Yea, Aphex twin and his likes are not for the majority.
Here is a perfect example of a misinterpreted relationship of determination between what seems to be cause and effect. It’s not the music that makes you dumber or smarter nor does it help you with your SAT scores. First of all, the type of music one listens to is very much influenced by one’s environment, cultural and educational level. Second of all, SATs also have very much to do with one’s background and education and not so much to do with actual intelligence. So assuming that one picks music that influences his/her IQ and that generates certain test results is profoundly wrong. For future reference, try reading sociological papers on the subject. There is a very nice example that circulates in the academic world where cities with many churches had a high crime rate. You would think the churches were somehow the cause of the crimes, right? Wrong. The cities were merely larger and therefor harder to keep under control and that is why they had high crime rates but because they were larger they also had more churches…
You are awsome. Hit the nail on the head on all accounts. Though its less about you being a genious and more about this article being really stupid and misled. Still, well said. ^.^
I’m a little [removed] but here we go an individual of a certain intellectual capacity regardless of external factors at a point will only let someone spoon feed them [removed] for so long until they understand it does not taste good so rather than say thank you sir may I have another the individual puts child’s toys away and grows. You can put a monkey in the jungle and he will become king of the jungle you put a man in the jungle and he says this jungle is [bs] how do I get out you put ghandi in the jungle and he says how may we all prosper. This is why individuals like miles Davis transcend.
That was a long, pointless run-on. You are an [removed].
Obviously the Churches weren’t helping.
Well, in answer to this 2 year old post, I’m afraid I have to disagree. First, you’re drawing an argument against a statement that you yourself have made up. Nobody said that music preference was affecting the intelligence of people. That, in fact, was part of the question that was stated. A relationship has been observed between musical taste and one measure of intelligence, and the implications of that relationship were being posed for discussion.
Secondly, SAT scores in general DO correlate with IQ. Obviously on a case by case basis you will find plenty of deviation, but given a large enough sample set, if a strong correlation exists, it is valid to say that the SAT data as a whole can be seen as a measure of IQ.
If you want to find fault with the study, then I’d suggest looking at the music categories themselves and see if there are some other traits they share that could bring the validity of the test into question. For example, it seems that some of the music types on the outer edges might be liked by fewer people on average, and thus there may have been a smaller number of colleges reporting them among their students’ favorites. If Beethoven was only among the top choices of Harvard students, for example, then that could artificially inflate its score, since it wouldn’t have any representation from the Beethoven-liking students at schools with a lower average IQ.
I think the social influence of others has plenty to do with music taste over intelligence. Let me explain. I listen to ‘some’ Lil Wayne and Beethoven. My SAT scores were slightly higher than normal. I took an IQ Test and received a 136. Some would say that I am ‘smart’. I’m also lazier, now that I have kids, and I’m probably getting dumber by the minute. (I make plenty of grammar errors now but in school it was my best subject) What does any of this have to do with my statement? Nothing; I’m wasting time. Anyway, my point is I think really smart people tend to form social groups like average and even dumb people do where they want to ‘fit in’. These groups might say it’s ‘cool’ to like Beethoven so they follow along and claim to like Beethoven and dislike Lil Wayne because it isn’t cool in their social group. The same goes for dumb people. It may be cool to like Lil Wayne and it may even be cool to do poorly on test in these groups. I believe that these ‘test’ don’t represent the mass number of people that ‘lie’ about what they like in order to fit into their group. Only people who are brave enough to stand alone will give an honest answer to their musical taste and I believe those peoples taste would be all over this chart. Sorry for the run-on sentences, but like I said before, I make plenty of grammar mistakes now.
I disagree, Alex. My combined verbal and math SAT score amounts to a score of 1320, and I am an avid listener of classical music. I believe there is a correlation between the type of music someone listens to and their test scores; but we must remember that correlation does not mean causation.
Its funny how those who are “smarter” listen to “white” groups and bands. Looks like this is somewhat slanted in a cultural sense.
But really, if your only measure of intelligence is an SAT score, how much can you rely on that? Take a scenario where you put a kid with a perfect European who gets a perfect SAT score who listens to Beethoven. Would his intelligence give him the ability to survive in any ghetto populated by the people (who listen to Lil Wayne) that this chart says are stupid?
Intelligence is an abstract concept, and its all in the eye of the beholder. I think the maker of this chart has a narrow definition of what intelligence is.
Its also telling the swipe they take at Christians who listen to gospel. Not all Christians are stupid, though.
The sad fact is that while black people are responsible for the greatest music to stem from their contributions (Robert Johnson,Chuck Berry etc) their current decendents have absolutely nothing creative, original, or seemingly intelligent to offer to the new generations.
If you take a look around you today, it’s painfully obvious that black people have decided to embrace stupidity maybe as a type of rebellion against white culture.
Any and all black performers with enough money can be a star regardless of talent and it’s sad to see that most people, not just black, will eat whatever mtv is shoveling into their gaping maws.
yep, it makes me sad to see mtv play music like this, maybe they don’t realize how much influence they actually have.
You know the worst part? There are black groups with creative music but no one pays attention to them. People (no matter what color) don’t want to see anything creative from black people right now. I’m a hip hop artist that gets constantly told I won’t make it because I sound white or use too many big words or not enough slang. They won’t let me be myself but apparently if I was a few shades lighter someone would want to listen. I’m not saying I’m the most talented or original by a long slot but I’m better than 90% of the music getting radio play right now (98% of the rap music excluding Eminem and Lupe Fiasco). We don’t get a chance to be creative anymore. A lot of white people don’t want to listen to me because I’m black and black people don’t want to listen to me because I’m not ‘street’ enough. (I was told this.) They say make something for the clubs like that’s the only subject to talk about on the planet. Sorry I just needed to rant.
Well, I can say the exact same thing of white musicians. Kid Rock, Britney Spears, and all those gushy boy bands play a roll in lowering the cultural expectation of American music. Talking of embracing stupidity, have you not heard of Aryan gangs? Surely, members of those gangs can’t possess great intelligence. May I also ad that a majority of Republicans are white, and we all know what party is responsible for the economic turmoil that has befallen us.
What relationship is there between white republicans and economic downturn and what does that have to do with the cr_ppy music being produced and unleashed on our ignorant mushy headed teenagers? After four years and countless lies, this is now our current presidents economy and he has nothing to do with what music one might listen to.
Jazz music as it were, falls in the lower end of this scale(pun intended) but is indeed and contrary to this whole assessment of intelligence in the same intellectual spectrum as Beethoven and classical music. Jazz is for the thinking listener and highest skilled players. So basically race in itself has nothing to do with intelligence as jazz was, at one time predominately, shall I say “a black art” while classical music was predominately listened to and performed by white people. Both genres require thoughtful listening, skilled musicianship and higher intelligence to be fully enjoyed and appreciated beyond a surface or shallow experience. If you dig deeper into today’s pop music you will find nothing there. It is as they say, “party music” or “club music”, and only exists for that purpose. Which is fine, but it is not a measure for intelligence.
Y’know? I (think I) am kinda smart. And I don’t really control the music I listen to, it just depends on the mood. I listen to maybe half of this list. Coldplay and Sufjan Stevens? Dear God, I listen to those DAILY! And they’re on top! And Postal Service–?! Red Hot Chili Peppers?! The Beatles? Ben Folds, U2?!?! Really? This ‘Virgil Griffith’ needs to stop telling me that I’m stupid cause I love these bands. Because, in truth, I’m not. And no one else is either.
I have heard about every band on this chart. I like every single one on the top. I mean, Yay For Beethoven and all, but I don’t listen to that stuff when I’m studying. WHY IS POSTAL SERVICE AND COLDPLAY ONLY IN THE MIDDLE??!?!?! That is quality music. Not all this Beyonce and J-Z stuff.
I used to be a part of the “I’m too smart to appreciate hip-hop or r&b music” crowd. I loved Coldplay, Muse etc. All through high school and a few years after university. And you know what? Once you drop your bias and delusions of genius, Jay-Z and Beyonce both bring far more to the table in their music compared to Coldplay or Postal Service.
Contrary to what narrow-minded people might think, one can easily enjoy Kanye West, Radiohead and Debussy in their own beautiful way. In fact my whole circle of friends does. Except Coldplay or U2, which is as soulless and manipulative as music gets…
How foolish.
The fact that your european guy has to survive in the “getto”shows that the lil wanye listeners are dumb cause they don’t obey the law
Really? That euro guy who had the perfect SAT score wouldn’t be living in the Ghetts my man. He’d be living in a 2 milllion dollar home that he bought with his 6 figure paying job because he went to med or law school or something like that due to the fact of that oh so perfect SAT
Yeah but his neighbor would be Jay-Z so what’s your point? If money is what we are using to measure intellect then all those rappers on the bottom of the list are living in houses as nice as that guy with the perfect SAT. The problem in this country is you can attain wealth in 2 ways. Work your A off like that smart guy or just exploit yourself like every reality TV star to ever live and WAM! you are now a millionnaire. By the way Cold Play is ‘smart’ music but Jay-Z isn’t exactly stupid. Last time I checked he had a brilliant business mind and he gets plenty of respect from successful people in other fields. It doesn’t have to be ‘deep’ in order to be ‘smart’. It only needs to make sense.
This is a REALLY skewed study. first off, what are the chances someone who listens to Beethoven is also someone who values academics? Pretty high. On the other hand, if you listen to lil wayne, then most likely you hang with a group of kids who don’t give a f*** about studying, and hence will score lower on SATs…it’s really common sense…knowledge does NOT equal intelligence. Also, just putting “rap” or “pop” as choices is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. Pop can vary from sh*tty 3 chord songs with terrible lyrics to jazz-influenced stuff with deep lyrics and everything in between.
Also, there does seem to be some sort of racial thing going on here. You’re telling me students who listen to JAZZ scored that low. Jazz is the most complex music in existence, and I have yet to meet a jazz fan who wasn’t at least above average intelligence.
See my comment above in response to Claude and Robert.
Emo? Looks like the person who wrote this needs to stop listening to Lil Wayne…
Hmmm… Number one – I’m not sure SAT scores are really intended or understood to measure intelligence; they measure how educated you are. Specifically they measure to what extent the student has learned what the powers-that-be believe should be learned in a typical high school education.
And, yes blacks and other (non-asian) minorities consistently put up lower average SAT scores than whites – there has been a ton of research published on this topic and I can all but guarantee you that /none/ of it concludes “whites are smarter.” I’m sure there are numerous factors, but intelligence ain’t one of them (money, perhaps?)
But that’s not really what this chart is about. I can’t believe that anyone including its author(s) would truly suggest a /causal/ relationship between music and intelligence, and even less between music and SAT scores (unless you’re talking about when the brain is still forming – like infants/toddlers). I imagine the chart’s silly name was intended only to be attention-grabbing and not to be taken literally. What it does show is a correlation between taste in music (largely a cultural matter) and SAT scores (which are also culturally biased, as I already alluded to) so the fact that a correlation appears is hardly surprising.
Even if you were going to claim a causal relationship between listening to music and intelligence I would imagine that it makes more sense to claim it the other way around – i.e. “being dumb causes a preference for certain music,” not “certain music causes stupidity.” I still think either claim is /highly/ unlikely, though.
Cheers,
-Phil
The reason blacks score lower is because the people who tell them they should care don’t look anything like them. In my school it was always some white guy at the very top; I rarely saw anyone that looked like me. White people don’t understand this feeling because they don’t know what it feels like to be the minority. If everyone around you looks like you and everyone on TV looks like you then, as a child, you have a lot more people to aspire to be. As a black male I only had rappers and men who seemed to act subservient to whites (we call them ‘Uncle Toms’). That’s not a lot of choices. Before anyone says slavery was 200 yrs ago and we should get past it; just remember that Jim Crow Laws have been in effect since the 70′s. We are only 40 years past it versus Whites having a 400 year or so head start and outnumbering us. We really don’t stand a chance to compete; no minority does. It will take some time to convince every black person that education in a white man’s system is important. Even in history class we only got one month and it rarely went beyond us getting off the boat. The rest was learning about Europe. Why would a ‘black’ kid care about Europe? It’s not where we came from. If you are white and too insensitive to get this concept then imagine living in Africa under African rules and only Africans taught you and tested you. Now ask yourself how easy it would be as a child to not give a s*** about those ‘test’. I’m not saying we don’t need to improve. We do. A lot of issues in our communities are our faults but not all of them and it doesn’t take a scientist to realize we have some catching up to do.
As far as our music taste goes right now; I’m extremely disappointed in us.
I did well on my SAT though. Not because I cared because at the time I didn’t. I just was smart enough to score high without much effort. Not everyone has that level of intellect though and they shouldn’t be put down for it. Intelligence is a gift.
There are opportunities for minority groups to compete and do well over whites in America. You have to stop listening to people that tell you otherwise and those are most often friends, family and your community. Disengage your self imposed limitations and be free of the chains you created for yourself through self doubt. Your greatest assets to achieving your goals are drive, intelligence and belief in yourself and what you are doing. Good Luck.
You seem to be predisposed to assume blacks often receive the short end of the stick. Keep in mind it often goes both ways, man. You’ll see that African-Americans sometimes receive “special treatment,” as well. The problem lies within general behavior of society. Although this isn’t true in all cases, the slavery ordeal sometimes acts as a source of entitlement, even though nobody from this era actually survives to this date. It’s profoundly stupid, so to give any ‘race’ an edge to achieve equality is profound as well. Cultural bias and poverty rates also negatively correlate with accurate intelligence testing. (Sat scores, ect.) Maybe you should look at areas that include middle class whites and blacks that share similar cultural environments, hmmm???
You already sound lime you’re developing some sort of superiority complex. *eye roll*
Only the superior rise above their peers to achieve excellence. They must first abandon the limitations of their peer groups’ cultural bias and norms. If everyone else is doing it, ‘it’ doesn’t work. To stand out you must move beyond the average. Only a small amount moxy is needed to rise above the rest. A little thought and a lot of hard work and you will be seen as genius. Just a little music for thought.
Im just wondering if its not so much that or demographics.
B/c alot of people who listen to some of that music would never be exposed to anything but that type of music.
i might be bold to even so much as being closed minded about listening to anything new.
@Billo666: Sufjan Stevens is an openly Christian musician. He rates higher than the “musicians” you listen to.
Despite the fact none of this matters: ZING!
This seems interesting cause my girlfriend older sister listens to lil Wayne and she is a very intelligent woman.
im in between Maroon 5 and U2 but beethoven is nice also!
in this comment section: butthurt people who can’t take the fact that the music they listen to is strongly correlated to how dumb they are.
hey, you’re all pretty dumb! get over it.
where’s the jazz fusion rankings?
This article shouldn’t be taken seriously. It is not interesting, enlightening or funny. It is thoughtless at best and inflammatory at worst. Another smarmy, useless, self-congratulatory brain fart on the internet that doesn’t help anyone understand anything better about music or art, and doesn’t explore ways to understand people who are culturally and socioeconomically different than they are. How about we stop talking about SAT scores and talk about social class and how music and art are directly related to those things? Oh wait, you’re not prepared to do that. You’re prepared to “raise hairs.”
It probably wouldn’t have even seen the light of day if the results didn’t give the author a secret little thrill to know he was still in the ruling class. Let me guess; beyond a shadow of a doubt, the people involved in taking this data and presenting it were all caucasian. Ya think? You feel better about yourself now, my fellow music nerd? Hey, yeah – “black” people are dumb and “white” people are smart! Hey, more damning evidence – It’s just a coincidence that a vaulted European composer from the mists of the past “makes” you smart, while a ghetto-talkin’ negro’s music would “make” you dumb. Don’t even mention Coltrane or Miles, they are in that little bracket near the back with all the other dumb negroes. And there’s enough fuzzy area so that you can get away with it – I mean even the Beatles are *kinda* dumb right? In comparison to a few other caucasian artists. You can take a little hit there if you still come out on top – it’s the perfect crime! And the author can throw his hands up and say “hey, those are just the facts! I didn’t lie about the results!”
Well, sir. You didn’t lie about the results, but conflating SAT scores with “smart” and “dumb” is something not very far off from what nazi Eugenicists did, and not only is that dangerous, but it’s also, to use your language, incredibly dumb. Considering Einstein would by most indications likely have scored relatively low on an SAT test, I think you need to go back to the books on this one. Remember those?
I highly doubt the validity of this. How many people were tested? Also, high SAT =/= high intelligence. There is so much more to “intelligence” than can be inferred from one cognitive test. Treat this experiment and this article with a grain of salt.
Correlation does not imply causation. Like Ioa and Phil said, there are other factors that contribute to higher SAT scores.
Hi,
Is this really any mystery? I feel that it’s been obvious for decades that classical music is more complicated than other forms of music. Jazz with it’s chord progressions is the same… sophisticated and complicated. Take your average “Joe or Jane” and teach them music and you’ll see the difference. Sure this sounds condescending but so are IQ tests, SAT’s and so on and so forth. We are not created equal. Oh, the law may say we are, and famous speakers in the past may say we are, but we are not equal. So too, intelligence and ability levels in people are not equal. Face the facts of life.
“Jazz with it’s chord progressions is the same sophisticated and complicated.”
During the first 20 years of the Jazz invention it was often cited as being low brow – a music only for uneducated people (at the time that was code for black people). If you look at the chart now you’ll see that Jazz scores pretty low. However, if you’ve ever taken a Jazz theory course you will quickly concur that Jazz is sophisticated and complicated. And often visceral as well.
Rap seems to get that reputation now – however, rappers like Nas, Outkast, or Gift of Gab (a personal favorite) require a good deal of thought to digest. Perhaps not in a musical sense, but certainly in a lyrical sense.
The fact that this comes up as a race issue, I feel, is revealing. Demographically, most people purchasing Lil’ Wayne and Beyoncee records are white, female, and are between the ages of 13 and 17. And while I don’t have statistics on “The Used” it seems to fall into that neo-punk category marketed toward white males, age 15.
Soca music and Reggaeton are both largely appreciated by people who speak English as a second language – or perhaps not at all. ESL students add another factor to this chart that separates intelligence from SAT scores.
On another note – I have to wonder why Beethoven is the only classical composer mentioned. What about Mozart, Bach, Hummel, Haydn, Stravinsky, or modernists like John Cage or Philip Glass?
If you go to the website, you’ll see that the creator of this graph explains his methods of determining these data. It wasn’t the most scientific of methods, but it still seems to indicate that there is some link between intelligence and tastes in music. It is highly unlikely that music influences intelligence, as the author notes but also points out that, regardless, the implications are quite interesting. Also, to those who say that the creator did this as a way to show off his superior musical tastes, read the FAQ; the creator says that his favorite bands on the list are Tool, Radiohead, and Metallica. Two of those were not among the very top, and one ranked below the average SAT score. And finally, those who say that the SAT does not indicate intelligence are just butthurt because their music was on the lower end. Sure, it may have somewhat of a cultural bias, but overall, it measures exactly what it is supposed to do: measure intellectual capabilities.
The site: http://musicthatmakesyoudumb.virgil.gr
Also, Matt, the reason Beethoven is the only classical musician on there is that there weren’t enough data on those other artists.
I wish this test could be done with all genres of music. In my opinion, I believe that music such as classical or house music don’t bring down your intelligence simply because most of it is instrumental. Music like hip-hop contains alot of lyrics based on sex, drugs, money which makes the listeners think only about that. I’m a house music junkie and when i listen to it i dont have to focus on lyrics. I listen to the sounds in the background all combined and timing. Same for classical, you pick up on the timing and the instruments rather than the words.
Sam, SATs may INDICATE some intellectual capabilities, but it does not act to accurately measure “intelligence” to any significant degree. As some others have noted, there is so much to intelligence, that one test that tests verbal and simple math abilities cannot hope to accurately measure it. For example, think of all of the creative geniuses out there who seem unlikely to score very high on the SATs.
As far as the data in this experiment goes: this is one test with …
… a relatively small and limited sample population (Facebook users who volunteered to take part – to improve your next experiment, choose a significantly larger and RANDOM non-voluntary sample) …
… a severely limited number of bands (think of how many bands are on that list, and now think of how many bands there are in the world – also realize that the vast majority of the bands on that list are included in large part due to their popularity) …
… a limited number of genres (ambient? IDM? Industrial? Noize? Etc. etc. …)
… and the list goes on.
It’s evident that this test was not conducted very scientifically so I’m not sure why some people actually seem to think it’s useful for implying anything significant about music vs intelligence.
And no, I’m not throwing a fit because this experiment indicates the bands/genres I regularly listen to correspond with lower intelligence. In fact, no genre I regularly listen to is even present on that list! And before anyone bashes me about the possibility that I obtained a low SAT score, my SAT score was a 1510/1600. But let me stress again, intelligence cannot be measured by the SATs, IQ tests or any such tests alone. I am inclined to think that intelligence is largely immeasurable.
i find it kind of humorous that everyone seems to be taking this test so seriously. Multiple people ‘defending’ their own intelligence by degrading SAT validity because their favorite band is fall out boy (or some other lame band lower on the scale.)
sure,
the SAT isnt a completely accurate test of intelligence or knowledge.
sure,
there are many factors that regard to intelligence.
and no,
neither music/intelligence directly relate.
take it for what it is, an interesting study. consider what youre looking at here, most of the music on the lower end of the scale are (generally) top 40′s mainstream… concluding that the listeners (POSSIBLY) dont care what they listen to- will follow a bandwagon and will listen to music simply because they are told to like it or because it has no challenging lyrics, basic song structure (verse chorus verse bridge chorus…etc), basic chord progressions/instrumentation and provide no REAL innovation amongst their genre.
whereas the higher part of the scale are (generally) more elusive indie bands that create the music THEY want to challenging the listener with innovative soundscapes, metaphorical lyrics, dynamic song structures and overall conceptual albums – typically not played on the radio. meaning their listener has discovered them through searching.
You totally said it they way no other person could.
however,
beethoven WAS deaf. so to say that one is influenced by the other (possibly) but not exclusively. a deaf person is just as capable of being intelligent as a regular individual.
speaking in more general terms once more, bands featured on the lower end of the scale typically write about themes such as sex, drugs, money (as stated above by another member) as well as teen angst, a shallow concept of love, and are generally played on the radio often in the top 40 (as i mentioned prior) – meaning that MOST people arent in fact especially intelligent as a nation. as far as the united states is concerned, MANY people are uneducated and can identify with concepts such as these. the demographics that the bands reach for should also be considered.
to the user mentioning a “white european boy in ‘the ghetto’” and being able to survive: naturally you are stereotyping a ghetto being populated by another race other than white (despite there being many white ghettos), if you are implying the aggression stereotyped in these ghettos (especially such aggression and hostility towards a different race); is that not racism and generally accepted as ignorance, arrogant and most importantly unintelligent ?
Here’s the thing about SAT. It may not measure your IQ perfectly accurately since there is so many types of “intelligence” to measure. However, what the test does do is test your ability to figure out ways to solve problems and overcoming obstacles; which to me, is very important in life. The smart people, and again when I say smart people I mean the ones who go off to good colleges and make it somewhere in life, figure out ways to overcome the test. So yes, I support the legitimacy of this test.
And also, if you look at the artists on that chart, it makes a shitload of sense
Yes
Im fine then, my fave bands are the beatles, aerosmith, red hot chili peppers, nirvana, the ramones, bon jovi and ac/dc and theyre average to high so im good
i listen to a various amount of music. how can these be true then? i’m not sure this data is valid.
I would like to know is how can a study like this be given out and NOT have Frank Zappa listed as one of the bands listened to. A lot of his music so complicated it rivals those of the masters of classical music.
Frank Zappa may be a genius but he is just too damn wierd, he probably will have a harder time as his music ages because people resist esoteric fusion space cadets that don’t have any easy to understand ‘hit’ songs.
It’s sad I know, there are many that have fallen through the cracks because of this but even someone as enlightened as i am, can’t handle the Zapp master for too long. I rather listen to the bizarre genius of Mr.Bungle.
This chart is a makes me sad.
I did my thesis on this premise and this web site has the listings:
musicmakespeoplesmart.blogspot.com you can see the studies and the journals for over 50 years that have been done to show a relationship between people who ‘study and develop music skills’ score higher on their SAT scores than the average person w/0 such training. One study has an entire school district (over 1,000 kids in upper grades) as part of the results – distrubuted at the MENC convention to music teachers. Even though this person has ”some” knowledge, there is so much more information out there to prove the case.
Wow. I’m considered to be a relatively smart person, and I listen to a VERY wide range of music listed here. I have a really diverse taste in music, and am very open to new stuff. Like my one friend just introduced me to CAKE. I thought it was great. But I also love Lil’ Wayne, Queen, Imogen Heap, Rihanna, and Nickelback. I don’t believe there’s really a verifiable correlation between the music people listen to and their I.Q.’s.
LOL, why the best is Beethoven music ?
He is not smart because he death in poorness
He can’t make money from his song, So I think he is not creative
Are you [removed] or what. Just because he doesnt make money? God, i swear i live in a world of idiots
@Zephyr Beethoven wasn’t thinking about making money.
my playlist consist of Johan Sebastian Bach and Beethoven. I grew up in a anti-classical and unmusical family, still I learned about it and got an interest in it. But if we are talking about creativity in the music itself, then Beethoven and JSB are probably one of the champions in west European history.
But I’m not sure to believe in it this.
I do believe in that there is an link between musical intelligence and what you listen to. People with high musical intellect probably listen to more intellectual music. and those with no experience with playing or composing music will probably listen to the bands on the left side of the chart. there are a lot of factors that play in when we are talking about intelligence, and I can not be sure that this is true from SAT scores. I know a lot of people who have an average IQ and still listen to Beethoven, and some people who have an IQ of 125 that still like to listen to lil’ wayne.
you guys don’t have to let this chart define how intelligent you are.
First of all this study isn’t saying just because you listen to lil wayne means your stupid. I’m sure the test was a list of all of these artist and people were asked to circle the three that they like the most. I’m sure there were many lil Wayne listeners that did really well on the sat. But because lil Wayne has so many listeners I’m sure there were a lot more people that did very poorly on the sat. So therefore this study may be nipping at the heels of a big educational breakthrough. I find this study to be very interesting and I think that they should do a study with a little more credibility. Personally I believe that musical artist are modern day profits like the profits in the bible. One of an artists top songs probably talks to more people than the presidents speeches. The most popular artist sing about sex drugs and money and look at how much our world is turning to that lifestyle rather than the ideal American lifestyle. Just something to think about
people who listenes kanye west are more into the streets and gangsta sh*t people who listenes beethoven are more into studying its not a sociological complex problem or anything they just dont care much for school doesnt mean they couldnt get higher notes if they were to study hard enough as the ones who listenes beethoven
If you want to know your IQ do IQ-test and find out.
I know some people that listen to almost everything and what you would say? How much is their IQ? I think that there is maybe some relation between Music and Intelligence, but it depends on characteristics of SONG(rhythm, melody, instruments, etc.) because if you listen to some band it doesn’t mean that you like all their songs. I know some friend of friend of mine that listens to everything from rock to metal and he is very intelligent. You could easy notice intelligent people because they in most cases know math and such subjects that need THINKING-POWER.
I think that you should like variety of music genres to be ready for every situation:
-if you need fast thinking before math test you should listen some hard rock to speed up brain and of course drink some alcohol but not too much
-if you need to relax and calm down you should listen some classical music
I recommend that this research should be done again but to pay attention of which are the favorite songs students listen to and sort them again.
Oh of course, lil Wayne( being sarcastic) would be in the bottom. I don’t listen to him but I don’t think his music could make anyone less intelligent. Gosh, I’m tired of these Elitist tests designed to keep people on their high horse. Sometime, I wish i wasn’t human apparently we aren’t the best, brightest species.
Music doesn’t actually affect intelligence. People who listen to Beethoven, over Lil’ Wayne, only do so because it is music that has a challenging beat to it. Lil’ Wayne has a simple beat, with a simple rhythm, with a simple harmony and a simple melody. Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligence proves that you can excel in one area and completely bomb another
A better test would be music genre preferred vs. felony crime committed. There is for sure going to be a correlation vs. causation issue but I’ve got the feeling there will be strong correlation.
All Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas are a musical adventure. Listen to Beethoven’s Piano Sonata no. 23 Op. 53 ‘Apassionata’ (esp. 3rd mov.), or Piano Sonata No.21 Op. 53 ‘Waldstein’ or any of his last sonatas No. 30 to 32 to understand what superlative creative genius is.
I listen to Lil’ Wayne all the time and i am a very well-read individual who is on average smarter and more educated then my peers. I doubt this has been done using proper scientific testing.
[...] is a comment by Ralphy123 in response to Music vs intelligence: Can music make you dumb? posted on 2011/06/02 at 5:50 am [...]
NO WAY IN HELL IS JAZZ THAT FAR DOWN ON THE LIST. MOST PEOPLE CANNOT EVEN UNDERSTAND JAZZ. Jazz is the highest form of music, even more so than classical because it is “music on the spot”. To be a good improviser and incidentally a good jazz musician one must memorize many different scales and know when to play “blue notes”. In addition Jazz music is unpredictable so why is it close to repetitive “philistine” music. I personally scored a 1300 on the SAT. I listen to Jazz and Classical as well as Metal and Rock. I used to listen to rap but do not any more (my personal preference). Furthermore, derp derp derp the average SAT score is 1000 and most of the music, including what is considered “pop” music falls within that range. Fewer high school students listen to Beethoven and few score in that higher range.
I refuse to believe that listening to Counting Crows and Ben Folds makes you more intelligent than listening to Rage Against The Machine and Hendrix. Besides, there’s only one person as intelligent as me within a parsec of here, and that’s me. I discarded Beethoven years ago since his music is facile, boring and predictable.
Perhaps this study only works on teenagers, since most of what they do (including the choices they make in music) is done for the wrong reasons.
Music doesn’t make you dumb, as long you get feeling of happiness when listening to it.
I know people who are dumb minded and are happy with that too.
What does the size of the bar for a band mean… some have a much larger range than others, more results, or something else?
I think one possible finding is that people who name specific bands are probably more intelligent than those who will say “Rap” or “Alternative.”
I also think Third Eye Blind, Lifehouse, and Goo Goo Dolls are nearly identical because it’s the same wussrock fans (like me) listing them all.
I got a 1000 on the SAT, but I listen to Beethoven and other classical composers all the time. I also listen to Sufjan Stevens frequently. SAT scores absolutely do not reflect the level of your intelligence; your score just reflects your test-taking abilities. I am offended by this article. I hate all of the bands listed in the range in which I tested.
i lisen to slipknot and in flames and its not listed in there does thath make me stupid
I thought it was interesting at first, but the more I looked at it the more I realized it was bull. 2 things- 1) I listen to 75% of the bands up there, so what would my SAT score be? You certainly would not be able to tell from the chart and 2) Why is Beethoven at top but classical is at the 956 mark? Beethoven IS classical!
I think that the type of music that you listen to affects your mood, which affects your preformance and your intellegance.
This chart is funny. I think its the perspective of the listener before he takes a test.. not the perspective of the musician grabbing the emotion. People commenting seem like their “musicians.” If you studied Beethoven scores or any musical scores.. art is art and yes Beethoven had traditional approach down. You cant post this fucking chart without explaining why you posted it. I believe the guy who did this is a fucking moron and a pretentious nuero-scientist who listens to Beethoven and masterbates his craft with pointless experiment such as this.. nice contribution..
Art is art.. this is also sort of racist
I believe jazz is such an insane art form of music now.. go listen to Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra or some vintage John Coltrane (Equinox).. and tell me that’s not equivalent or more emotional and enlightening than Mr. Beethoven
So…. L.Beethoven and classical music is apart from each other? Wow.
This is not surprising.
One would really have to have a low intelligence to be able to listen to the garbage that Lil Wayne, 50-cent, Kanye West and the likes spew out.
I will admit that back in my highschool days i liked 50-cent, Eminem etc.. but as people age and mature (or at least should), they should develop more refined tastes.
Similar to how people prefer different fashion senses. Highschool i wore baggy pants and shirts, while in university i adopted form fitting, flattering clothes
I believe that its the peoples choice to what music they choose to listen too. It should not be judged. My opinion: The way someone feels or the persons emotions causes on what music they listen and adapt too. Also music is poetry, lets not forget that. Listening to music is listening to literature. Music THESE DAYS are so dumb down. Many people today pay attention to what their listening too, and that is highly wise. Others don’t. I believe A person who simply listens to a song and accepts it with out taking a second look at the lyrics is also highly unwise.
Ask your self,” Is this music speaking of reality or illusion?” Wiseness is not the magnitude of intlligence. Wiseness is meditating and making the best decision you are capable of.
I encourage anybody to do research on how music affects the mind. You just might be surprised on the findings you make.
Music, of course, does not make people smarter.
People, of course, should not be judged at all basing on what they listen too.
But i believe music that talks about slapping hoes, getting money, party everyday, not caring of the world, and not caring of domestic unity is simply oblivious, blind, and injudicious. Of course, its just my opinion.
Jazz below Country Music????
HAA HAA HAAA!
LOL @ this white mediocre pseudo scientific test.
I find this chart quite accurate for the fact that the human mind can easily be influenced by what’s absorbed through our senses and in this case, we’re specifically talking about the ability to hear. Hearing comes with the option of listening and whether we know it or not, we’re always interpreting and absorbing information that influences our day-to-day actions. I feel that Lil Wayne fans have the lowest score because of the information he delivers. Now not to diss him as a person because he is a highly goal-oriented guy and very passionate but at the same time, being a heavily mainstream artist, he’s focused on sales and majority of the population in the U.S. aren’t geniuses. So with that being said, people are buying more of what they enjoy absorbing. Everyone who’s favorite artist is low on the SAT scores doesn’t mean that they are “dumb” but in my opinion, it matters how much music is a concern in your life. Since music has been a major influence in my life, I feel that I should be more considerate of what I listen to if I want to achieve more through knowledge. Anyway, I’m just talking & over here listening to beethoven which probably caused me to write this long comment in which I never comment on posts. It feels nice to add input but hopefully no one takes my opinion of this chart to heart and if so, oh well, lol. Take care!
My musical taste ranges from underground rap to Bach, and my SAT score was in the top 20% of my class… now what?
Hmmm…I’m sure this has already been said but:
1. Does anyone else find it strange that genres of music score quite low but exponents of that specific genre relate to persons with higher scores? E.g. Reggae is low but Bob Marley (definitively Reggae) is 200 points higher, same for Jazz and Nora Jones…pop and most of the bands here…etc….maybe I’m just reading this incorrectly…
2. SAT score is educational level not IQ.
3. I’m not a statistician, but even I know that anything can be proven to be a cause of something else, because in some way everything is related (simple e.g. – 6 degrees of separation). It’s the level of significance of the interaction that’s important…remember your Bell curve (the Gaussian function, not the book) and critical p-value.
4. Funnier still is the fact that many artists with the same producers and very similar sounds are pretty far apart on the chart.
5. It would be intriguing to figure out what this is really saying though! It could mean so many things…
Is it possible that genres and bands scoring similarly have simlar rhythmic or melodic content; Could certain types of sounds, rhythms, melodic ranges etc act on or even resonate in different areas of the brain?…
I find it interesting that more rhythmically complex music consistently seem to be related to lower scores, while more melodically complex music relate to higher scoring individuals…it brings to mind the most basic idea, that ethnic musics tend to be percussively superior while european musics tend to be superior melodically. Again…this raises the more disturbing possibility that this table could be displaying more of a measure of educational attainment among the races…
However, there also seems to be an age-related element, more recent musicians seem to be related to generally middle to lower scores, while older groups seem to be related to middle to higher scores. Does that mean that far from being ‘dumbed-down’ the SATs may actually be getting harder, OR could it be true that we are all marginally less well educated than our parents…what does that say for the school system?
ALL OF THESE ARE POSSIBLE CAUSATIVE FACTORS THAT CAN BE DERIVED FROM THIS TABLE. BUT ONLY FURTHER RESEARCH CAN DETERMINE WHETHER THEY BEAR ANY SEMBLENCE OF DIRECT RELATION TO THE FACTORS THAT WERE MEASURED.
I hope my point is clear.
By the way…I’m a black, Christian and musician, who listens mainly to soca (and calypso), reggae, classical music, jazz, gospel and quite like Justin Timberlake.
Why the [removed] is classical music correlated with a low SAT score? I smell BS.
What the [removed] is this for nonsense…
The goal of this ‘research’ was to investigate some kind of a correlation between the music choice of people and their intelligence, but the outcome is that he doesn’t know… I would say: go on until you know. Research is not some course on how to make a stupid graph…
And for the next time: take some real metal bands, ffs!
WOW……Well I guess as a musician I’m smart and dumb at the same time according to this chart, only for the fact that I listen to all music styles from Classical to Hip Hop music. Anyone else care to weigh in on this senseless article!
So I can only speak form personal experience. I used to listen to a lot of metal and rap my freshman year of college. After stumbling on to an article about the “mozart effect” I decided to try it out for myself and see if it makes any difference. After reluctantly forcing myself to listen to Mozart, Beethoven and Vivaldi for almost a year, no joke a year. I can honestly say my ability to focus improved exponentially. I can do calc for two, three hours at a time and not get distracted or bored. Not to say they there aren’t other variables but I personally feel much more focused on days that I do not listen to rap then on days that I do.
I understand arguments about this being a causation fallacy but I also think a lot of people, not all but a lot, that argue against this theory are simply attached to their music so much that the idea of their source of pleasure making them less intelligent is appalling.
If someone told me when I was a freshman that listening to my music made me have worse grades. I would’ve been like [removed], you don’t know what your talking.
Also proof by my grammar I’m not intelligent by any stretch of the imagination.
I had a 1760 on my SATs and I listen to everything on there but the rap. So, you can’t make this chart and have individual bands as well as genres. There has to be either a genre OR band chart, not both. Also, there are different other variables such as upbringing, schooling, financial status, etc.
There is no solid judgement in this study. There may be correlations, but they may or may not be related.
This experiment, though interesting has quite a few flaws. Being a MENSA member with a PH.D in psychology I do not see the SAT as a great way of gauging one’s intellect.
I listen to lil wayne and I never study , but I got a 1660,
sooooooooooo…?
I am fairly certain the table above is only accounting for the reading and math portion, so make sure your excluding your writing portion whilst bragging.
I completely agree with the study. While there are some exceptions, people who typically listen to garbage music that contains no intellectual stimulation (ex. Lil’ Wayne, basically all rap music, today’s pop music) are generally less intelligent and successful. I grew up listening to classical music, movie scores, folk, blues, jazz, classic rock, and good indie music. I limited rap music to a minimum. I ended up doing very well in high school, the SAT’s, and graduated from UCLA.
There are exceptions, but generally if you listen to brainless, ghetto music, you end up mirroring the same brainless garbage that is spewed out of the artists’ mouth.
I listen to Lil wayne and eminem so my sat score should be between 876 and 1036. yet my score was 1300 so get off me.
I believe there is a stronger connection between music preference and upbringing/environment, which in turn can affect education and how you do on the SAT. I consider myself quite intelligent, yet I listen to Christian metal. Both Christian music and metal fall directly in the middle of the chart. While I have no particular dislike for classic, I certainly wouldn’t freely listen to it, especially if I had other options. I have friends who listen almost solely to rap, yet they are quite intelligent. I also have a friend who listens to and writes classical music, who is very smart(He’s the only person I know to listen to classical). Perhaps proficiency in and complexity of music preference can be factors, but I really don’t know.
B**** please! I had a 720 in CR and 760 in Math and I listen to, play, perform, compose classic rock nearly all the time…
The Doors at 900-1000 on the chart?
The lead singer, Jim Morrison, had an IQ of 147 and his lyrics/poetry is widely known as highly intelligent. That kinda blew it for me. Maybe this was tested on Americans only, which would explain my wondering
This is very interesting, but I can’t seem to find such bands as Slipknot, Rise Against which is really popular… Also is metalcore smart? I started listening to metalcore recently.
I think that that music does effect test scores, because if I listened to Beethoven will aspire to try to be kind of like him.
And same for the people that listen to lil Wayne, and all of you guys are right in someways and this is just my opinion on this. but If you listened to lil Wayne you would be more likely to have a more “reckless”? life style then someone that would listen to classical or Beethoven, and your life style would affect what and how you do things. Like study habits, people who listen to Beethoven are more likely going to study, people who listen to lil Wayne are not likely going to study as much. Now I could be wrong & I might be? But, what I’ve said makes sense to me.
I’m A little disappointed that Jack White wasn’t on this list, because it would have been one of the highest scores
He would have been a lot better than the shins..
Sorry but this doesn’t fit with me.. I listen to Almost ALL music styles. Ok, i gotta admit that i listen owl city and classic music. But green day and sum 41 also fit in my alley. And by the way study also shows that most of the intelligent people listen to music like metal or music that doesn’t get listen to often. I listen to metal when i’m bored but that doesn’t make me some violent men that’s gonna destroy everything to the ground. I’m actually pretty much against unnessacery violent. It’s only a experiment but that doesn’t mean that it applies to all kind of students.
Looking through the comment section I expected this typical dribble. People complain about this chart being created by misinterpretation when they cant even interpret it correctly themselves. If these results surprise then you’re either not paying attention or you have big prejudices. I personally listen to all types of music with the exception of much of those in the bottom and few of those in the middle. My mother was a music teacher and I probably got my sophisticated ear from her. I listen to music practically every day for several hours and over the years my interests were vast. It is very clear to me that to recognize the complexity and emotion in music you need certain parts of your brain to be developed. Whether this directly correlates with parts of the brain that deal with logical reasoning and calculations is very very unlikely, but there definitely are indirect relationships. Classical music for instance relaxes your mind and gives positive emotions which allows learning to happen easier. Furthermore clearly people who are more intellectually inclined are much more likely to listen to music of depth and sophistication rather than music of the likes of rap and pop. I think the relationships are extremely clear. People here are talking about IQ for reasons I do not. IQ is a single number meant to (poorly) describe the quality of many different parts of your brain.
this is purely about social class.
social class = predictor for interest in academics
social class = determinant of exposure to type of music
btw.
sat =/= predictor for success in life
ps. i never had to take an sat. if i did i’d have to score terribly because i used to listen to lil wayne, t.i. and beyonce.
i love how there’s all these different bands. and then techno is put into one little box -_-. you can’t put david guetta listeners in with listeners of armin, tiesto, aly and fila, ABOVE AND BEYOND?
First of all, intelligence is determined mostly by genetics, music taste is determined basically by personality, so I’m not really sure if there’s enough relation between the two to make a valid conclusion. Second, I scored a 1670 on my SATs and I listen to rap music. So stick that in your statistics! oh wait, the scale doesn’t got that high! Bing! Bang! Boom! I win.
green day is jazz? da fuq ?
The statistical chart is accurate, you’re just color blind.