Effects of Training on Children's Perception of Music: A Review

Abstract

In this article research examining the effects of formal training on children's perception of music is reviewed. Consideration is given both to perception of rhythmic and tonal properties of melodies. It is concluded that training in children serves to enhance perception of more detailed aspects of melodies, to facilitate the speed at which this information is encoded, and to result in better memory for this material. Moreover, it seems to affect not only perception of rhythmic details but also organisational strategies, and to accelerate the emergence of sensitivity to diatonic scale structure and the ease of application of this knowledge to music perception tasks. Future research might be aimed at determining if these auditory processing effects are specific to musical sequences or generalise to the perception of other patterned stimuli such as speech. Empirical efforts aimed at increasing our understanding of the mechanisms mediating the effects of training are also sorely needed.