My child is good at math and music.

I was very good at math and work in a math related field. I have no interest in music and was not talented despite being forced to take lessons. Two of my siblings and DH were in a variety of top orchestras and bands. All still play as adults. All claim to hate math and none took calculus.

Kids in the top orchestra are likely to have parents who got them private lessons and pushed them along the way. These same parents also push them to be high achieving academically.

The general AP Calc population includes both the students with parents who push their kids to be top at everything and the students who just happen to be good at math.

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. As the PP noted, there is some overlap in the skills used for math and music. But math is required, and music is an elective, so you wouldn't expect to see all good math students in music. Those students might have other hobbies, or might not really enjoy playing music, even if they were/would have been talented musicians.

So actually you agree with OP and PP.

My sister went to Juilliard pre-college and met tons of kids (mostly Korean) who were excellent at math and also excellent musicians.

As one who is very good at music and simply doesn't understand any math past Algebra 2, I disagree.

That said, I'm very good at word problems involving logic and I'm extremely pragmatic. I often wonder if I just had very poor math teachers and gave up on it too early.

Disagree. As the PP noted, there is some overlap in the skills used for math and music. But math is required, and music is an elective, so you wouldn't expect to see all good math students in music. Those students might have other hobbies, or might not really enjoy playing music, even if they were/would have been talented musicians.

Yes, there's a simple explanation:

Music ability is dependent on a good sense of pattern and rhythm, especially when playing in a group where synchronization is the top priority. Studies have shown that the same part of the brain is involved for mathematical reasoning and music playing.

Since music is an elective, there will be math-oriented students taking advanced math, but not necessarily taking music. Whereas musicians are required to take math classes, and will find it easy to place on the advanced track.

Where my kid goes to high school, the vast majority of students in the top orchestra are taking, or have already taken, AP Calculus and passed with flying colors, but most of the students who are taking, or have taken, AP Calculus, are not in orchestra at all, let alone the top one.