Objective: cognitive reserve (CR) is defined as the brain's ability to tolerate and support neuropathologies before reaching the threshold that gives rise to clinical manifestations. Due to the increase in life expectancy, this concept arises with the purpose of identifying factors that maintain the functionality and independence of the elderly, thus favoring the quality of life in this population group. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between the time of exposure to directed musical practice and the cognitive performance of healthy older adults. Methodology: Observational, descriptive study including 11 healthy, older adults with a history of guided musical practice. The Cognitive Reserve questionnaire was applied and neurocognitive performance was evaluated using the K-BIT intellectual capacity test and the NEURONORMA COLOMBIA battery. Results: in people with musical training, cognitive reserve was associated to better performance in tasks of denomination, visuospatial and verbal working memory, focused and alternating attention, phonological verbal fluency and semantic performance. On the other hand, the time of exposure to directed musical practice was associated to better performance in semantic language and favored working memory and in the long term. Conclusions: time of exposure to directed musical practice, age, and educational level favor cognitive reserve in the linguistic and mnemonic domains.