The benefits of learning an instrument
Read The benefits of learning an instrument and check the IELTS Reading answers. Are music lessons the way to get smarter? That’s what a lot of parents and experts believe: studying an instrument gives children an advantage in the development of their intellectual, perceptual, and cognitive skills.…
Passage preview
Are music lessons the way to get smarter? That’s what a lot of parents and experts believe: studying an instrument gives children an advantage in the development of their intellectual, perceptual, and cognitive skills. This may, however, turn out to be wishful thinking. Two highly convincing trials carried out recently have found no evidence to support this idea; the IQs of pre-school children who attended several weeks of music classes as part of these studies did not differ significantly from the IQs of those who had not.
Vocabulary from this passage
11 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- cognitive decline noun
The gradual loss of mental abilities such as memory, attention and reasoning, often associated with ageing
Regular social and intellectual activity may slow cognitive decline in people over the age of seventy.
- discern verb
To recognise or distinguish something that is not immediately obvious, using the senses or the intellect
Older listeners often find it harder to discern individual consonants when several people speak at once.
- facilitate verb
To make an action or process easier or more likely to happen
Digital tools can facilitate collaboration between researchers who work in different countries and time zones.
- grey matter noun
The darker brain and spinal cord tissue that contains the cell bodies of nerve cells
Scans revealed a measurable reduction in grey matter among participants who had experienced chronic stress.
- impaired adjective
Weakened or damaged so that something functions less effectively than it normally should
Patients with impaired hearing often struggle to follow conversations in crowded and noisy environments.
- motor control noun
The way the nervous system coordinates muscles to produce precise, purposeful movements
Practising the piano demands fine motor control, since each finger must move independently and accurately.
- perceptual adjective
Relating to the ability to become aware of and interpret things through the senses
Early exposure to music may sharpen children's perceptual skills, including the ability to distinguish similar sounds.
- robust gains noun
Strong and substantial improvements in performance or ability that are clearly visible in test results
After the training programme, the group made robust gains in both reading speed and comprehension.
- synthesise verb
To produce a sound or substance artificially, or to combine separate elements into a coherent whole
The laboratory can synthesise human speech sounds electronically for use in hearing experiments.
- verbal fluency noun
The ability to produce words quickly and smoothly, usually measured within a particular category or time limit
Tests of verbal fluency are often used to detect early changes in the thinking skills of older adults.
- visuo-spatial adjective
Relating to the ability to process visual information and understand how objects are arranged in space
Architects usually rely on strong visuo-spatial skills when they imagine buildings before drawing any plans.
Answers with explanations
- 27. NOT GIVEN
The statement says many parents **indicate** that their children **struggle** to learn an instrument. The passage says only that a lot of **parents and experts believe** studying an instrument gives children an advantage in their intellectual, perceptual, and cognitive skills. That is a belief about benefits, not a report about how hard children find lessons. The writer never mentions difficulty or struggling, so the text is silent on this claim. Answer: NOT GIVEN.
- 28. NO
The statement claims that the findings of the recent research into pre-school IQs are **unreliable**. The writer calls the trials **highly convincing**, which shows that the writer trusts the findings. This contradicts ‘unreliable’, so the answer is NO. Be careful: the writer says the idea that music makes children smarter may be **wishful thinking**, but that doubt is about the belief, not about the quality of the research. NOT GIVEN would need no opinion on the trials, yet the text gives a clearly positive one. Answer: NO.
- 29. NOT GIVEN
The statement claims that the **main reasons** people take up an instrument are enjoyment and creativity. The passage mentions **expressing yourself** and **having fun** only as advantages that are not the only ones, and it then moves on to benefits for the brain. It never says why people actually choose to start learning, so there is nothing about their main motivation. Mentioning possible advantages is not the same as stating the main reasons. Answer: NOT GIVEN.
- 30. YES
The statement claims that **evidence** about the **long-term advantages** of learning an instrument is **increasing**. The passage confirms this by saying that a **growing number of studies** show that learning an instrument in childhood can provide benefits **as we age**, such as an added defence against memory loss and cognitive decline. ‘Growing number of studies’ matches ‘evidence is increasing’, and ‘as we age’ matches ‘long-term’. The writer clearly holds this view. Answer: YES.
- 31. D
The first paragraph describes trials that found **no evidence** for the idea that music lessons make children smarter, because the **IQs** of children who had classes did not differ significantly from those who had not. This **casts doubt** on a widespread belief about the effects of lessons. The option saying the studies confirm a link is the reverse of the findings, the option about misleading information is not suggested because the trials are called convincing, and there is no mention of undiscovered benefits. Answer: D.
- 32. A
The second paragraph says you may get the benefits even if you **haven’t picked up your instrument in years**, or if you **take up music for the first time in mid-life or beyond**. This matches the option about people who **begin learning in adulthood**. The other options are not supported. The paragraph does not mention learning the correct techniques, practising regularly, or playing several different instruments as conditions for the benefits. Answer: A.
- 33. C
The phrase **this might well be the case** refers back to the previous paragraph, where Balbag says playing music stimulates many **brain regions** and has **ripple effects through the decades**. The evidence that follows shows that musical training affects the brain in **later life**. This matches the option about a **lasting impact on brain function**. The option about physical well-being is wrong because the studies measure memory and cognition, and the option about neurological features deciding who can learn reverses the cause. Answer: C.
- 34. B
In the fourth paragraph, the first study divided people by the **number of years** they had played. The **follow-up study** added a new variable: **starting musical training before the age of nine**. This means the **age at which the person began** having lessons was the new aspect examined. The number of years played was already part of the first study, and the paragraph says nothing about how people practised as children or how long ago they last played. Answer: B.
- 35. A
The passage says the group with the **lowest level of general education** showed the **greatest gap in scores** between those who had studied an instrument and those who had not. Hanna-Pladdy suspects that musical training **made up for the lack of cognitive stimulation** these people had. This supports the idea that music **compensates** for a limited education. The other options say too much or the opposite: educational performance is not discussed, highly educated people are not said to benefit more, and musical ability is not linked to education. Answer: A.
- 36. D
The question asks what Hanna-Pladdy believes causes the cognitive benefits. In the second paragraph she says the **time spent learning and practising** specific types of **motor control and coordination** contributes to the **brain boost** later in life. The ending about **acquiring the particular set of physical skills** paraphrases this. The ending about playing for a long time is tempting because other studies stress years of playing, but her stated reason is the physical skill. Answer: D.
- 37. A
The third paragraph says Schlaug found that the brains of adult **professional musicians** had a larger volume of grey matter than the brains of **non-musicians**. His research therefore **compared** two groups: people who play for a living and people who do not play. This matches the ending about comparing the brains of people who had never played with those who played for a living. The other endings describe the work of other researchers, such as Balbag and Bugos. Answer: A.
- 38. B
The question asks why Balbag says playing an instrument is **unique**. She says that it **requires a wide array of brain regions** and cognitive functions to **work together simultaneously**. The ending about **activating many different parts of the brain at the same time** paraphrases this closely: many different parts matches a wide array of regions, and at the same time matches simultaneously. The ending about physical skills is Hanna-Pladdy’s idea, not Balbag’s. Answer: B.
- 39. F
Nina Kraus found that adults responded fastest if they had **trained the longest**, between **four and fourteen years**, even though none had played for 40 years. She links this to hearing, because the fast response matters for understanding **conversation**. The link is therefore with having **played an instrument for a considerable length of time**. The other endings describe the work of other researchers, such as Schlaug’s brain comparison or Bugos’s lessons for older adults. Answer: F.
- 40. C
The text says Bugos studied the impact of **elementary piano instruction** on **adults between the ages of 60 and 85**, and that after six months those who had **received piano lessons** showed more robust gains. This is a study in which a group of older people was **taught to play an instrument**. The ending about comparing brains describes Schlaug’s research, and the ending about playing for a long time describes Kraus’s subjects, so neither fits Bugos. Answer: C.