Music Acquisition and Effects of Musical Experience

Abstract

Rather little is known about how children acquire musical knowledge. However, everyday exposure to the music of one’s culture does lead to implicit knowledge about its pitch and rhythmic structure, just as exposure to a particular language leads to implicit knowledge about its structure. While all children attend school with the goal of becoming literate, some children engage in formal music training whereas others do not. Thus music offers the opportunity to compare the effects of a wide range of experiences (Trehub and Trainor 1998). This chapter examines the effects of musical experience on the development of three aspects of musical structure: pitch organization, rhythm, and emotional expression. For each aspect of musical structure, this chapter (1) selectively over- views what is known about how it develops, in cross-cultural perspective where possible; (2) examines how adult musicians and nonmusicians differ (the end- state of development); and (3) reviews the evidence for the role of experience in causing these differences. Finally, the effects of musical experience on other cognitive domains are considered in relation to whether it has general benefits across many domains or specific benefits in a few domains such as reading or visual–spatial skills, and what the mechanisms might be for such transfer. Engaging infants and young children in music appears to be a cross-cultural universal, and it has been suggested that music, like language, is a species-specific behavior important for complex human social interaction (e.g., Trehub 2000, 2003). As recorded music becomes easier to produce and distribute, the nature of human musical engagement is changing, and the speed at which new musical compositions and styles are evolving appears to be increasing. In this context, it is important to consider the nature of musical development and the effects of different kinds of musical experience.