Training

Playing a musical instrument is a complex combination of cognitive skill, motor expertise, and auditory perception. It requires translating symbols on a page to bimanual motor movements, which are temporally accurate relative to each other, and are synchronized between hands. Fine motor movement is essential, as is temporal precision. Auditory feedback is also involved to correct issues such as timing or tuning, with constant monitoring of audio output leading to subtle motor adjustments. In the case of performances of scored works, reading ahead during the first performance entails high working memory demands. Additionally, memorization is often employed when the piece is well known.

[Page 1140]However, musical training does not only teach musicians to play the right notes at the right time. Techniques are also learned to aid the musicality of the performance, such as analysis of musical structure to convey appropriate musical expression. Furthermore, regular practice involving prolonged periods of concentration is essential to see improvement, and numerous other dexterities are required for specific instrumentalist subsets: from breath control for wind players, to dexterity in the feet for keyboard instrument players. Not many activities involve a combination of such complex skills.

Experiments exploring the effects of musical training focus either on the differences between musicians and nonmusicians, or the changes that occur during musical training. In both cases, training has been linked to cognitive and perceptual improvements. Neurological differences between musicians and nonmusicians have been proposed to underlie these effects, several of which have been linked to critical periods during which training has a particularly strong effect on development. However, the question of whether neurological and cognitive differences result from musical training, or underlie the predisposition toward musical training, is hotly debated.

Consequently, several theories have been put forward to explain why musicians differ from nonmusicians. These include the possibility that the multimodal experience of playing an instrument contributes to such enhancements, the possibility that musicians benefit from the supplementary teaching and learning encounters that they experience through their lessons, and the possibility that cognitive or personality factors identify those who go on to begin musical training. Longitudinal studies in which participants are randomly allocated musical tuition are the most effective way of investigating this issue because random assignment removes the problem of people self-selecting musical training, and long-term study of particular individuals allows changes over time to be tracked.