According to research cited by Discover Magazine in their “Top 100 Science Stories of the Year” (this one was #58), being able to keep a steady beat correlates to your IQ:

Drum Tech Nightmare No. 459, courtesy of Drum + Drummer

Investigators from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and Umeå University asked 30 men recruited from the general population to listen to the steady clonk of a sampled cowbell [MORE COWBELL! -Ed.] and then tap out the same plain beat on a drum pad. The test was repeated at seven different tempos, and the results were then compared with the recruits’ IQ scores. Although the subjects’ deviations from the test rhythm were too subtle to be detected by the ear, the study found that the subjects with the highest IQs kept closest to the beat.

By now, I’m immediately skeptical about any claim that starts with “research shows” but I can see some sense in this one, given their explanation. The theory is that this ability comes from better wiring in the brain, so to speak. The all-too-brief article also raises the point of making a distinction between testing higher cognitive processes (which is what just about every intelligence test does) and figuring out what’s happening in the machinery basement. It’s like trying to figure out how much of a Grand Prix winner’s victory is due to the driver, and how much is due to the car. Tough problem.

I’ll also point out that this research took place in Sweden, which my personal recollection tells me has one of the highest good-band-per-capita ratios in the planet (New Zealand tops my list). Go ahead and argue with me about it in the comments.

“Do you know where I’m coming from? Go ahead. Bang the drum.” —Railroad Jerk