Practice Does Not Make Perfect: No Causal Effect of Music Practice on Music Ability
Mosing MA, Madison G, Pedersen NL, Kuja-Halkola R, Ullén F · 2014
grade Btwin-adoptionindependentunreplicatednumbers spot-checked
Sample
10,539 Swedish twins; 1,211 MZ + 1,358 DZ complete pairs
Population
Swedish Twin Registry STAGE cohort, ages 27-54 (M=40.7); general population including professional musicians
Design
MZ co-twin control removes genes and shared environment. Outcome is the Swedish Musical Discrimination Test (auditory discrimination), not instrument performance; authors concede domain-specific motor/notation skills may still respond to practice.
Key findings
Music practice is itself substantially heritable (A=69% men, 41% women). Practice-ability correlations (r=.18-.36) are entirely genetic (rA .33-.57); nonshared-environment correlations .00-.06, all ns. Within MZ pairs discordant for practice (gaps up to 20,228 hours), the twin who practiced more was NOT better: rhythm p=.64, pitch p=.24, melody p=.43.
Genetic confound
Design targets it directly: MZ discordance holds genotype constant. Residual concern is error in retrospective self-reported practice attenuating within-pair effects.
Effects
| Outcome | Metric | Value | Measure | Timing | Vs | Horizon | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifetime music practice hours (heritability of the practice itself) | h2 (ACE) | males .69 [.56,.75]; females .41 [.26,.56] with C .21 [.05,.35] | mixed | adulthood, retrospective lifetime practice | none | not-applicable | behaviour |
| Music discrimination ability (SMDT rhythm, melody, pitch) | h2 (ACE) | females: rhythm .52, melody .61, pitch .30; males: .41, .31, .12 | standardized | adulthood, single assessment | none | not-applicable | domain-skill |
| MZ intrapair difference: does the twin who practiced more score higher? | regression t, effect r | rhythm t(705)=0.46 p=.64 r=.02; pitch t(687)=1.18 p=.24; melody t(698)=-0.79 p=.43 | standardized | cross-sectional co-twin control | none | not-applicable | domain-skill |
| Decomposition of practice-ability covariance | rA vs rE | genetic rA .33-.57 (significant); nonshared-env rE .00-.06 (all ns) | mixed | cross-sectional | none | not-applicable | domain-skill |
Cited by
- Deliberate practice and the 10,000-hour rulemixedconf: highgc: medium
- Does learning music make children smarter or better at school?mixedconf: mediumgc: medium
- Does teaching music produce musical skill?moderate supportconf: mediumgc: medium
- Talent and trainability — what is heritable, and what that does not licensestrong supportconf: highgc: low