Any correlation between intelligence and musical preference.

[quote]le veritable wrote:

Tell us of your musical preferences.

I enjoy country music. Also, Adele and bands like Nickelback.

I'm quite well educated, decently well-published academic, placed very highly in international mathematics competitions when I was younger, am a highly-rated chess player, and most people would consider me very "intellectual" as well. I like some classical music, but to be honest I listen to more top 40/hip hop/punk than any of that, and my favorite genre is country - nothing irks me so much as when someone expresses surprise that I'm a huge country fan, or when I would be on dates with girls and they say they like "any music but country."

m/ wrote:

The only correlation between intelligence and music that I can see is that fans of standard radio pop and/or most music on the Country Music Channel are morons.

I rest my case.

I've met tons of classical musicians. And even though they obviously love classical music most of them also listen to all kinds of music. That includes country, Celine Dion, Metallica, Rammstein, folk, mainstream pop, etc. They have as varied taste as non-musicians. I can't remember anyone who had a deep interest in non-classical music though. It's more like a good chef who eats pizza and hamburgers at home.

In my experience, musical taste is more a function of personality than it is of intelligence. People who have an IQ that's more than 2 standard deviations above the mean may be more likely to share some personality traits, so this may explain why there's also a correlation between intelligence and musical taste, but personality is the key.

Now, I would say that people who are huge music fans tend to gravitate towards more complex song arrangements and deeper lyrics within the genre that they listen to. You can be intelligent and still enjoy stupid top-40 songs and bands, it likely means that you don't really care about or listen closely to the lyrics and enjoy the music at a superficial level.

samemichael 1415 wrote:

well I have seen a very strong correlation between people who listen to rock in general there seems to be a preference to this genre due to its strong compositional and lyrical content which is more expressive than those of other genre. people who have high IQ tend to relate to genres message

This seems a very flimsy argument, especially the bold part. Sounds to me more like circular back patting. "I prefer rock music, therefor it is more expressive. People who like the same must have very high IQs."

i see lots of people referencing phd's and such. How much more intelligent do you guys think phd holders really are though? To me a phd is more a testament of hard work and determination than raw intelligence. A friend of mine is a phd astro physics student. He's in a class of about 5 other post grad students (all of whom i've spent plenty of time around) and they work hard and have learned lots but i don't consider any of them to be of exceptional intelligence. Same goes for my two friends with masters. On the other hand, my friend who graduated just a bachelor of comp sci with me, who took 6 years to do it and overall just put no effort into school, is one of the most naturally smart people i know. Hes just always one thought ahead of his peers

This isn't to bash phd holders at all. I struggled just to get a bachelors so i respect phd holders probably more than anyone. Its not to say there aren't brilliant people with them either. I just think people hear thinks like phd and instantly think "genus" when thats not really the case from what i've seen. Even when i tell people i have major in comp sci and minor in math they always assume im a super smart guy and its like uhhh, i barely scraped by school lol. Titles don't come with intelligence imo, they come with hard work

to say something actually on topic though, I think theres probably a mild correlation. People with greater musical intelligence probably differentiate rhythms and sounds better than others so are probably less likely to be into a lot of the mindless music you here on the radio. I don't think they all like classical or anything though. I wouldn't be surprised if you get a lot more people who are of the "almost brilliant" variety who are into classical just because they think it makes them smart and liking the idea of fitting that stereotype

Dummier wrote:

I enjoy country music. Also, Adele and bands like Nickelback.

You are appropriately named.

Well considering that people who have relatively high intelligence due to social ineptitude and lack of being relatable draws them to metal music and other rock genres which give an alternate life style which the listener can understand and relate to better than other genres. I am not saying listening to rock makes you more intelligent than people who listen to other genres.And I am not saying you are smart because you listen yo it. I have met very intelligent people who listen to rap/ hip hop and other genres. Taste is also part of it but the personality and life style of high iq people makes them gravitate towards it.

I remember seeing an article stating "Smart people listen to Radiohead and dumb people listen to Beyonce." The article looked at study that looked at the musicians people liked on facebook and their SAT scores. In general, people who liked alternative musicians had higher scores than people who liked hip-hop , rock, or rap artists. The most interesting about the study was that people who just listed a genre (rock, country, alternative, rap) had significantly lower scores than people who actually listed musicians from that genre.

Link to article:

http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/10/smart-people-listen-to-radiohead-and-dumb-people-listen-to-beyonce-according-to-new-study/

I think that this sums it up pretty well, intelligent people don't tend to listen to what is played on the radio station that plays just the hit music (beyonce, taylor swift, the weeknd), they develop their musical taste for themselves, which often happens to be alternative to the mainstream ie Radiohead.

As a fan of Radiohead, Arcade Fire, and Modest Mouse, I know that my favorite bands have been pretty famous, but they have never been spoon fed to people like many of the very popular artists. I've never met a dumb Radiohead fan and most people who have similar taste in music to myself do well in school.

I recently saw the movie "The Big Short". In that movie they portray investor Michael Burry holed up in his office constantly blasting some kind of speed metal music. I assume that was a real life portrayal of what he listened to because it would be too weird to make up.

Burry was a genius but also probably has Asperger syndrome. Apparently, he predicted the housing bust by getting hold of all the thousands of mortgage contracts within mortgage bonds and reading every one.

Just an interesting tidbit.

As for the OPs question. Of course there is a correlation. smart people tend to go to college. In college you tend to get exposed to classical music. Also, classical music is almost by definition quality music with depth. Classic Rock terms Mozart was like the equivalent of Jimi Hendrix in his day. Classical music dismisses whatever the equivalent of the Monkees was in the 18th century. So yes there is a correlation between smart people and classical music.

There is no cause and effect between style of music and intelligence. Just look at jazz musicians like Charlie Parker. A total genius. He had little or no exposure to classical music and he was known to like listening to country music in his spare time. Even some of the old country bluesmen in the segregated rural south were probably geniuses based on listening to their music and anecdotal evidence.

The people in this thread have taken a giant step in the wrong direction and are dissecting the wrong parts of the music. The shift in genre won't alone deliver a distinction in the results. Instead, classifying the sounds in the music provides a much more robust approach.

New test questions for the thread:

Any correlation between intelligence and instrumental musical preference?

--vs--

Any correlation between intelligence and lyrical musical preference?

There's a semi-recent study concluding the following:

"After statistically correcting for socioeconomic factors, the researchers found that higher IQ did, in fact, predict a preference for instrumental over vocal music. "

http://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2011/02/09/iq-and-musical-taste/

Not an end to the thread but something to pocket as you move forward in the discussion.

If you don't listen to Chuck Mangione you are an idiot

As long as you don't think Billy Joel is a talent you'll be okay.

I also read that study and the premise seems to be flimsy basing aggregate info of facebook. It bases itself on the assumption that vast majority of people use facebook and that they list all Thierry preferences. I also saw what range it put me in. Which was off by a very significant margin of 700 points. I don't see how it could measure the correlation effectively

Has anyone here ever heard a person say their IQ is under 100? I haven't. So where are all the people with the IQ's that bring the average down to 100?

In the South.

Maybe because people feel that them telling people their IQs will lower Thierry social staffing tend to lie. They are practically everywhere

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Nope. There's no correlation between intelligence and musical preference.