Development of musical abilities between ages 4 and 8

Abstract

The paper examines early development of musical abilities between ages 4 and 8. This cross-sectional study involved 657 children from their second year of preschool to Year 2 of elementary school. Musical abilities are explored from the perspective of music listening; we differentiated between melody perception, harmony perception, and perception of rhythm, tone and dynamics. In addition, the implicit (perception and discrimination of musical patterns) and explicit (reproduction of musical patterns) dimensions of musical abilities are investigated. We developed a test for assessing musical abilities that proved to be of good reliability. Empirical analyses concern the age changes in musical abilities as well as the structure of the construct. Findings indicate that interrelatedness of components grows stronger in this time period and that by the age of 8 the different skills are organised into a solid system. Gender differences are also explored as well as the role of family background. A discussion of the presumed effect of music education in preschool and elementary school is followed by some conclusions drawn for the benefit of future research and the practice of music education.