Musical Intelligence

Development of Musical Intelligence

It seems clear that infants are predisposed to enjoy and to generate music. The universality of rocking and singing to babies would seem to indicate a very early receptivity to music. At 2 months, babies can match the pitch, intensity, and contour (the pattern of pitch within a melody) of songs. Babies recognize pitch and tempo differences, and they prefer songs they heard when still in the womb to unfamiliar songs. That babies show some level of musicality is clear. What is less clear is the nature and origin of individual differences in musical intelligence, and when these differences become noticeable.

Gardner cited the very early accomplishments of child prodigies as evidence that some individuals are biologically predisposed to high musical achievement. Other authors have noted the unreliability of accounts of very early achievement, and have pointed to intensive instruction and practice as key components in the early development of these prodigies.

There is a widely held belief among students and music educators that without innate musical talent, a child is unlikely to ever achieve musical excellence. On the other hand, some recent research evidence has suggested that, in general, accomplished musicians differ from less accomplished musicians not in early indicators of exceptionality but, rather, in opportunities and in hours of practice. Some have argued that such research indicates only that instruction and practice are necessary but not sufficient requirements for excellence in musical performance—that is, without some requisite level of musical ability, opportunity and hard work are unlikely to yield excellent levels of musical achievement.

Given the substantial heritability of other cognitive abilities (e.g., about 50 percent for general cognitive ability), it seems likely that there would be at least some genetic influence on musical ability. Behavioral genetic studies of musical ability and/or achievement are few and limited by available criterion measures, but seem to suggest a heritable component to musical abilities. For example, a study of identical and fraternal twins suggested that genetic variation accounted for at least 70 percent of the differences between people in musical pitch recognition ability; in contrast, the effect of the family or household was zero. Studies of musical achievement, however, have suggested substantial influence of the shared family environment. It is likely that musical achievement is more influenced by upbringing than are many other cognitive abilities, partly due to the relatively unequal exposure to musical training across families. At this point, it seems reasonable to assume that both genetic and environmental influences are involved in the development of individual differences in components of musical intelligence.

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