Is music the key to compassion?

Teaching kids to play music notably increased their levels of empathy.

Via psmag.com:

In a year-long program focused on group music-making, 8- to 11-year old children became markedly more compassionate, according to a just-published study from the University of Cambridge. The finding suggests kids who make music together aren’t just having fun: they’re absorbing a key component of emotional intelligence.

And:

While not definitive, researchers note that the findings provide “more than tentative support” to their theory that intelligently structured group music-making can promote “day-to-day emotional empathy.”

There’s a lot of evidence that playing music can make you smarter. (Listening to classical music might increase your IQ as well.)

It’s interesting that playing music improves empathy because, ironically, popular music has been getting more narcissistic over the years.

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