Does classical music make kids smarter? What the studies say

No. Listening to classical music does not raise a child’s intelligence. The 1993 study behind the idea tested college students, not children. It found a small gain on one kind of puzzle, and the gain faded within about 15 minutes. Later reviews found little support for a special effect of Mozart. Music lessons are a separate question, and there the research is mixed.

Where the idea came from

In 1993, three researchers at the University of California, Irvine, published a one-page report in the journal Nature. Their names were Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw, and Katherine Ky.

They tested 36 college students. Each student did three sets of spatial puzzles, such as picturing how a folded and cut piece of paper would look when opened. Before each set, the student spent ten minutes in one of three ways: listening to a Mozart sonata for two pianos, listening to a relaxation tape, or sitting in silence.

Scores were higher after the Mozart. In IQ terms, the gap was eight to nine points on that one kind of task. The researchers reported that the effect lasted ten to fifteen minutes.

The study did not test babies or children. It did not measure general intelligence. It did not claim a lasting change.

How a small finding became a big claim

The finding became known as “the Mozart effect.” Within a few years, the claim had grown into “classical music makes babies smarter.”

In January 1998, Governor Zell Miller of Georgia asked his state for 105,000 dollars a year to send every newborn home with a tape or CD of classical music. Shelves filled with albums and videos that promised to build a baby’s brain.

The 1993 study gave no support for those promises. It had not tested babies.

What later studies found about listening

Other labs had trouble repeating it. In 1999, Christopher Chabris pooled 16 studies in Nature. The average gain came to about one and a half IQ points, and it showed up only on certain spatial tasks.

The boost depends on mood. In 2001, researchers in Toronto compared a lively Mozart sonata with a slow, sad adagio by Albinoni. Scores rose only after the Mozart. When the researchers accounted for how alert and cheerful the listeners felt, the difference disappeared.

A story works too. In another Toronto study, listeners did as well after hearing a story read aloud as after hearing Mozart. People did better after whichever one they liked more.

The largest review found little left. In 2010, a team at the University of Vienna combined nearly 40 studies with more than 3,000 people. They found little evidence for a special, performance-raising effect of Mozart’s music.

Rauscher has said that enjoyment is the key. As she told NPR in 2010, “If you hate Mozart you’re not going to find a Mozart Effect.”

So why did the scores go up at all?

The simplest answer from the research is mood and alertness. Music a person enjoys can leave them more awake and more cheerful for a few minutes. A person in that state does a little better on some tests. A favorite pop song or a good story may do the same.

That is a real effect. It is also small, short, and not special to Mozart or to classical music.

What about music lessons?

Learning to play is different from listening, and it has been studied on its own.

One well-known experiment found a small gain. In 2004, Glenn Schellenberg of the University of Toronto placed 144 six-year-olds, by chance, into four groups: keyboard lessons, Kodály voice lessons, drama lessons, or no lessons. The lessons ran for 36 weeks at The Royal Conservatory in Toronto. IQ scores rose in all four groups. The two music groups gained about 2.7 points more than the other two. The drama group, and not the music groups, improved in social skills.

A large review found no effect. In 2020, Giovanni Sala and Fernand Gobet pooled 54 studies with 6,984 children. In the studies with the strongest designs, music training had no effect on memory, reasoning, or school results. One of the authors added that music training may still help children in other ways, such as social skills or self-esteem.

Another review found a small one. In 2022, a team led by Rafael Román-Caballero looked only at programs that taught children to play an instrument. Across 34 groups and 5,998 children, they found a small benefit. They also found that children who chose music scored a little higher before the lessons began. The authors wrote that good studies are still scarce.

Why this is hard to study

Children who take music lessons differ from children who do not, before the first lesson. The 2022 review found that gap in its own data. Families who choose lessons may differ in other ways too. A simple comparison of music students with other students cannot separate the lessons from everything else.

The fair summary today: lessons may give a small lift to thinking skills, or none. Researchers do not agree.

The claims and the evidence

Claim	What the research says
Playing Mozart to a baby raises IQ	No study supports this. The first study tested adults.
Listening to classical music makes children smarter	Reviews find little or no effect beyond a brief change in mood.
Classical music works better than other music	The short boost follows what the listener enjoys.
Music lessons raise IQ	One experiment found a small gain. Large reviews disagree.
Music lessons teach music	Yes. This is the one result no one disputes.

What music does give a child

These need no study to defend them.

• A child who listens often comes to know pieces by name and by ear
• A child who sings learns to match pitch and hold a tune
• A child who takes lessons learns to read music and play an instrument
• A family that listens together shares something to talk about

Those are reasons enough.

What this means for your family

Play music because it is worth hearing. Skip any product that promises a smarter baby.

Choose pieces your child enjoys. Enjoyment is the part the research supports.

Do not worry about starting early enough. A child can meet this music at any age.

Choose lessons for the music. If thinking skills rise a little, count it as a bonus.

Sources

Checked in November 2026.

• Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., and Ky, K. N. (1993). Music and spatial task performance. Nature, 365, 611.
• Chabris, C. F. (1999). Prelude or requiem for the “Mozart effect”? Nature, 400, 826 to 827.
• Thompson, W. F., Schellenberg, E. G., and Husain, G. (2001). Arousal, mood, and the Mozart effect. Psychological Science, 12(3), 248 to 251.
• Schellenberg, E. G. (2004). Music lessons enhance IQ. Psychological Science, 15(8), 511 to 514.
• Schellenberg, E. G. (2005). Music and cognitive abilities. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(6), 317 to 320.
• Pietschnig, J., Voracek, M., and Formann, A. K. (2010). Mozart effect, Shmozart effect: a meta-analysis. Intelligence, 38(3), 314 to 323. See also the University of Vienna summary.
• Sala, G., and Gobet, F. (2020). Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: a multilevel meta-analysis. Memory and Cognition, 48(8), 1429 to 1441.
• Román-Caballero, R., Vadillo, M. A., Trainor, L. J., and Lupiáñez, J. (2022). Please don’t stop the music. Educational Research Review, 35, 100436.
• NPR (2010). “Mozart effect” was just what we wanted to hear.
• The Spokesman-Review, from The New York Times (1998). Governor: Beethoven is for babies.

Next steps

Start with how to introduce kids to classical music. For the youngest listeners, see classical music for babies. If you are weighing lessons, read the parent’s guide to music lessons.