Does music make us smarter?

I was watching an interview with the Russian conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, where he stated thus. Ashkenazy is an Icelandic citizen and we're very proud of him. He lives in Switzerland along with his Icelandic wife.

Is it true? You can watch the interview by clicking here. It starts in Icelandic but don't worry the interview is in English. He starts talking about this in the third minute, but you may want to see the interview in context, it's only about five minutes. They are mostly talking about the new concert hall being built in Reykjavik.

I totally agree. Because music broadens our mind, and that makes us smarter. And the best of music touches our heart, and that makes us better people, I hope.

And with that note, and keeping in tone with the interview, I'll share a small piece of music, to which I cannot listen without being greatly moved:

Yeah it raises the effective IQ, especially when memorize using mental play/mind play. Anyways, read The Fundamentals of Piano Practice if you want to know more.

If you're dumb it'll only make you smarter ^_^

Music works on the memory, speech, understanding of rythm/tones. It's proven that music enhances the brain, and that students of music do it better in tests than other.

In general all use of brain improves it, but playing music is like working out, it requires the brain to work harder. I still havent seen any improvements in my math skills tho, but I guess that's because math is boring. The more you work with music, the more the two hemispheres of the brain blend.

Jytte, Placído Domingo is always good. VictorCS, that is what Ashkenazy said in the interview. He was talking about research that showed that children and teenagers who were taught classical music did better in other subjects.

Thought I'd share with you two videos of Vladimir Ashkenazy. First he is playing Beethoven Piano Concert nr. 5, then conducting in Roayl Albert Hall, Janine Jansen violin, European Union Youth Orchestra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4zpyTi_MTw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1L55AqsFIA

Wonderful, thanks for sharing.
Funny, I've always loved watching concerts, but now that I'm learning to play, I find that I look at pianists performing in a new way.

You're welcome, Mozart's Violin Concerto nr. 5 is one of my favorites and the Dutch woman violin player is very good.

Ashkenazy will probably be conducting the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra when the new concert house is ready next summer. I think I will attend that concert, if God willing.

I don't know if I watch pianists differently after I started practising myself, sometimes I try to notice which chords they are playing.

I used to find it annoying, when they'd zoom in on a pianist's hands during a concert, now I find myself longing for them to do just that.
I imagine, if I was playing the violin, I'd be eager to have a closer look at that section
I find studying how people play interesting, and makes me even more motivated to learn to play much better myself.