Listening to Mozart won't make you smarter, but trying to play it or sing it is another story

Three University of Vienna researchers have sifted through all the studies they could find on the brain-boosting effects of listening to the music of Mozart and have concluded that, essentially, it's a placebo.

What a surprise. You can read more in a news article from Science Daily.

Because it's outside the scope of the study, the babble over the Mozart effect doesn't mention how participating (learning and making) in music -- of any kind -- has been acknowledged as beneficial by any and every researcher who has ever looked into the matter.

From toddlers to kids with Down syndrome to elderly people ravaged by Alzheimer's, there's even a beneficial effect for people not able to connect with an instrument or their voice in a traditional way.

Here's Oliver Sacks, offering one of thousands of compelling tales: