Different kids have different interests. Some kids like to play sports, some love to draw, and some are happiest when they’re singing and dancing. But what attracts particular kids to certain activities but not others? In collaboration with Dr. Glenn Schellenberg at the University of Toronto, we wondered whether children’s personalities would influence their likelihood of taking music lessons and sticking with those lessons for many years. Two personality characteristics interested us the most: conscientiousness is the tendency to be self-disciplined, organized, and achievement- oriented (such as getting good grades in school), whereas openness-to-experience is the tendency to be curious about learning new things, to appreciate art, music, and poetry, and to prefer variety over routine. We found that 10- to 12-year-old kids who were high in conscientiousness and openness-to- experience were more likely than other children to take music lessons for many years. For younger kids (7- to 9-year-olds), we found that those most likely to take music lessons had parents who were high in openness-to-experience. Our research suggests that being curious and willing to try new things is one of the most important factors in learning to play a musical instrument.
