I really wish it were that easy, but sadly there is no evidence for this. Listening to music may be relaxing, pleasurable and even culturally educative, but Radio 4’s Mind Myths series broadcast on November 9 was pretty clear that it does nothing for your IQ. However, psychologist Claudia Hammond did find that there is evidence that LEARNING a keyboard instrument for 12 months DOES boost IQ. It might only be by 4 points, so not enough to earn you that Nobel prize, but it’s reassuring to know that all those hard hours put in learning scales is at least making you that little bit smarter.
If you’re reading this soon after publication, the Mind Myths program is on the BBC i-player to listen again.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016wzs9
I also found this paper from a very erudite Canadian evaluating the value of learning music.