Respectfully, I disagree on both. Reading is easy, it's like watching TV. Sure you can read books geared to higher intellect, but you're still getting spoon-fed.
And as to an instrument.... you're doing something wrong. At your age at least. Put something on and just try to play along. That's the only way you're gonna get good.
That said, if your attempt to learn that instrument is based on the mechanics of music theory etc... absolutely... but even a deep understanding of that won't burn the required synapses that connect the brain to your fingers. BUT.... teaching your kid classical piano.... hands down will unlock things in their brain that even if they never have a public performance and they suck at it.... will still pay off in spades. I don't know what it is, but there is definitely something there.
I know I say I'm right about a lot of things.... but I am 100% right about this.
Some people love to bash folks of the Jewish faith, but there is no denying the levels of achievement obtained in the last 100 years by those that came up in even the poorest of Jewish households.
There's one thing that seems to pervade all of these success stories. And you can call me crazy... but it's a fact... they all had pianos in their homes when they were children, and their parents made them spend time on them. Whatever, but it's a fact.
