Musical Intelligence Essay

Does Being Musically Talented Affect A Child’s Intelligence? When people see young children play instruments skillfully, they say, “ That child must be really talented.” But have you ever witnessed or heard someone say, “ That child must be really intelligent” when they see a child who is musically talented? No right? Not many have ever really considered the concept that musical talent could be correlated to human intellect. So does being musically talented affect a child’s intelligence? According to my research, music does have a direct impact on human intellect.

What is Intelligence?

Intelligence is perceived as having the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. It is also perceived as an estimate of the quality that we attribute

Therefore, the final cause of the universe must be the good of the intelligence and that is the truth. . . . Of all human pursuits, the pursuit of wisdom is the most perfect, the most sublime, the most useful, and the most agreeable. The most perfect, because in so far as a man gives himself up to the pursuit of wisdom, to that extent he enjoys already some portion of true happiness. (6).

This ties in to Gardner’s theory of the eight human intellectual capacities that have their own level of distinction. Gardner believed that using numerical expressions to measure human intelligence does not fully capture accurate human capabilities. The table below displays Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences.

Intelligence Examples Discussion

Bodily-kinesthetic Dancers, athletes, surgeons, crafts people The ability to use one 's physical body well.

Interpersonal Sales people, teachers, clinicians, politicians, religious leaders The ability to sense other 's feelings and be in tune with others.

Intrapersonal People who have good insight into themselves and make effective use of their other intelligences Self-awareness. The ability to know your own body and

Spatial Sailors navigating without modern navigational aids, surgeons, sculptors, painters The ability to know where you are relative to fixed locations. The ability to accomplish tasks requiring three-dimensional visualization and placement of your hands or other parts of your body.

Source: "Theories of Intelligence." Theories of Intelligence. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014. <http://otec.uoregon.edu/intelligence.htm>.

This is one of the theories that suggest that people not only have intellectual extent but are also strong in other areas as well. I took the multiple intelligences quiz and my result is obtaining musical intelligence. According to Howard Gardner, individuals that have musical intelligence “are good and thinking in patterns, rhythms, and sounds. They have a strong appreciation for music and are often good at musical composition and performance.” He also states that the characteristics of musical intelligence are:

• Enjoy singing and playing musical instruments

• Recognizes musical patterns and tones easily

• Good at remembering songs and