A new study has shown that knowing a language that uses tones to convey meaning can help with learning music. The study was conducted at Baycrest Health Sciences’ Rotman Research Institute with a group of musicians and two non-musician groups. The non-musicians included English and Cantonese speakers, since Cantonese involves understanding six different tones. The participants in the study were given complex musical and cognitive tests. The Cantonese speakers did practically as well as the musicians and 20% better than the English speakers and other non-musicians. The New York Times reports that the findings do not apply to all tonal languages. Read more here: Really? Musical Training and Language Skills Enhance One Another