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Play the Drums; Raise IQ
A Canadian study proves what I already know: Playing the drums makes you smarter.
According to the study by E. Glenn Shallenberg at the University of Toronto, IQ test scores of 6-year-old children significantly improved after receiving drum lessons. Shallenberg recruited a group of 144 six (6) year olds and separated them into 4 groups: those receiving drum lessons, voice lessons, drama lessons and no lessons. Children receiving the drum lessons showed significant improvement in their IQ tests, gaining an average of 7 IQ points. Meanwhile, children receiving voice lessons increased 6 points, those receiving drama lessons increased 5 points and children receiving no lessons improved 4 points. In his article in Psychological Science, Shallenberg concluded that musical training, in particular, was responsible for the extra IQ points.
Interesting that the drummers showed the highest gain in IQ points. But not surprising. 
And as an extra added bonus, studies have also shown that drumming can boost the immune system, too.
Technorati Tags: drums, IQ, education, music education
Smith Dobson V
A third-generation jazz musician, Dobson credits his parents with providing his initial musical inspiration. He and his younger sister, vocalist Sasha Dobson, were barely in grade school when they became gigging musicians with the family band, performing widely in classrooms in the Santa Cruz area and South Bay. By the time he was in junior high, Dobson was a regular busker on Santa Cruz’s Pacific Garden Mall in a duo with trombonist Scott Larson.
Like many young musicians, Dobson was something of a social misfit. When most of his peers were just starting to figure out their musical tastes, he was holding down the drum chair at a jam session led by the inventive pianist Graham Connah. He escaped from high school by passing the General Education Development exam, and continued his studies with the highly regarded educator Ray Brown at Cabrillo College in Aptos.
Bringing Jazz to Education
From the time I first started taking drum lessons, jazz has been what I love to play most. It’s been hard to get other kids to hook onto it though — until they actually started to play it, they didn’t get it. Part of that is because they’re tuned into the metal bands and other more mainstream “kid stuff”. When they actually start hearing it and playing it, they all seem to think it’s cool. It’s just not something enough people get exposed to.
AllAboutJazz has a great article talking about some of the different education programs out there (especially in New York) for kids.
…educators as well as people from all walks of the jazz lifestyle need to think outside of the box (the Bach’s?) in order to find fresh ears, new sources of inspiration and fuel for the creative fires. It’s time to improvise.
Roth may play on Van Halen Tour
From Vintage Vinyl News:
…it appears David Lee Roth will be up front during Van Halen’s 40-show tour this summer. It is expected that the contract will be signed before the week is over. This would be Roth’s first tour with the band in over twenty years. The balance of the band will be all family with Eddie Van Halen on guitar, his 15-year-old son Wolfgang on bass and brother Alex on drums.
