Musical potential (original) (raw)
Related papers
NATURE VERSUS NURTURE: A REVISITED EXPLANATORY SYNTHESIS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSICAL ABILITIES
Almighty C. Tabuena, 2020
This article iterates and synthesizes findings from literature reviews that intended to describe and present the development of musical abilities. In this matter, the ability of music could be both influenced by society and/or by blood, in terms of genes; both science and experience contribute to this development. This study employed a descriptive method to gather information about present existing conditions through a library method and literature review. The data were analyzed using explanatory synthesis. Based on the literature review, the researcher identified two comparative views on the development of musical abilities: nature and nurture. The researcher used four criteria in synthesizing reviews such as cognitive development, intelligence, the relationship between nature and nurture, and musicality is nature, musical ability is nurtured. In conclusion, when it comes to musical ability, nature works in tandem with nurture; musical talent takes nature and nurture. The result of the perception in the origins and appearance of both the intelligence and action dwells in the discernment of how hereditary and social factors are involved in the active and interactional processes that specify and direct its development. The source and power of music could be some determined by association and/or by ancestry, in terms of genes; both scientific discipline and natural event impart to the development of musical abilities. Key words: Development, Explanatory Synthesis, Musical Abilities, Nature, Nurture
Frontiers in Psychology
Musical prodigies reach exceptionally high levels of achievement before adolescence. Despite longstanding interest and fascination in musical prodigies, little is known about their psychological profile. Here we assess to what extent practice, intelligence, and personality make musical prodigies a distinct category of musician. Nineteen former or current musical prodigies (aged 12–34) were compared to 35 musicians (aged 14–37) with either an early (mean age 6) or late (mean age 10) start but similar amount of musical training, and 16 non-musicians (aged 14–34). All completed a Wechsler IQ test, the Big Five Inventory, the Autism Spectrum Quotient, the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire, the Dispositional Flow Scale, and a detailed history of their lifetime music practice. None of the psychological traits distinguished musical prodigies from control musicians or non-musicians except their propensity to report flow during practice. The other aspects that differentiated musical prodi...
Zbornik radova Filozofskog fakulteta u Pristini, 2021
The development of musical abilities and the space given to music education is determined by various factors. Disagreement in opinions about the role of some factors carries the danger of neglecting some activities that would contribute to the development of musical talent. In that sense, the aim of the paper is pointed at understanding the importance of hereditary and environmental factors for the development of musical abilities, with special emphasis on determining the activities of adults in the function of music education and achievement, but also overall development. Applying the method of theoretical analysis, a comparison of different conceptual approaches was performed, as well as of the results of the conducted research and the conclusions of the authors. After considering these issues, it is concluded that although debates about giving preference to certain factors still exist, there is no dilemma that innate and environmental factors are both important, but not in themse...
Musical Prodigies: Past, Present and Future Perspectives on Exceptional Performance and Creativity
This study engages with historical sources, videos on YouTube and research literature to inquire into exceptionality and creativity in the performances of musical prodigies. The first chapter discusses the workings of the “Mozart figure” in historical and scholarly references to prodigies. It is argued that the name of Mozart functions as a figure of exceptionality that shapes and limits the possibilities of exceptional performance by prodigies in the present. The second chapter addresses musical prodigies in the present through a survey of twenty-three YouTube videos. In a move away from the privilege of Mozart-like creative skills of composition and improvisation, this chapter approaches prodigious creativity in terms of the “capacity to amaze.” The third chapter and final chapter offers a theoretical response to Feldman's “co-incidence” theory of prodigies. Feminist materialist perspectives are used to re-frame certain findings and material from the earlier chapters. In a close reading of Feldman's work, it is argued that prodigies demand a revision of ordinary conceptions of “human,” “individual,” and “domain.” [Extended Summary below] This Master’s research thesis inquires into the nature, history and cultural implications of the figure and phenomenon of musical prodigies, which have attracted public attention through exceptional performances from the late 18th century to the present. With an interdisciplinary ‘new materialist’ approach, uniquely adapted for this study, the thesis sheds new light on core concepts in music aesthetics, the psychology of giftedness, contemporary cultural studies, and feminist theory. Most importantly, the study reveals a contradiction in both musical aesthetics and contemporary psychological understandings of creativity and giftedness, which excludes the musical prodigy from creative performance in other than “Mozart-like” ways. Simply put, this means that audiences hold a higher regard for prodigies who compose and improvise compared to those who “merely” perform existing works with exceptional virtuosity. The research has a theoretical and a methodological purpose. On a theoretical level, the thesis provides a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of musical prodigies and a demonstration of how musical prodigies expose particular challenges to theories of exceptionality and creativity. On a methodological level, the thesis demonstrates the workings and potentiality of third wave feminist and new materialist theories as an interdisciplinary approach in the study of music performance. The thesis contributes to exposing some of the persisting stereotypes and myths that surround musical prodigies in contemporary popular and scientific discourse. This is an important step in the direction of a more rigorous explanation of the attributes and issues that frame the phenomenon labeled “musical prodigy”. The research is developed in three chapters with a respective emphasis on historical, contemporary cultural, and psychological-philosophical perspectives. The first chapter discusses the implications of frequent and accustomed references to Mozart in written historical and scholarly responses to prodigy performances. Such references to Mozart are not straightforward expressions of praise. Most frequently, the child performer under review ‘loses’ the comparison to Mozart by way of appearing to be a less exceptional and less creative manifestation of exceptional child musicality. On the other hand, all prodigies are “Mozart-like” to the extent that they share with Mozart the remarkable achievement of being a child musician and performing at a level that is found to be exceptional. The chapter gives an overview of the various ways in which the “figure of Mozart” resonates and returns in prodigy performances throughout the 19th century and up to the present. The Mozart figure works as an “abstract machine” through biographical, historical, symbolic, musical, musicological or socio-cultural resonances to the name or any other aspect of the historical assemblage of which Mozart was a part. The key finding of this chapter is that the name of Mozart functions as a material-discursive figure of exceptionality that shapes and limits the possibilities of exceptional performance by prodigies in both past and present. The second chapter addresses how the virtual stage of YouTube has changed the conditions under which prodigies showcase their talents in the present. Among the vast amount of competing high-level music performances that are available on YouTube today, only a few have the capacity to amaze a large audience by standing out as exceptional individuals. A sample study of 23 videos reveals that many aspects of the Mozart-like expectation of prodigies discussed in chapter 1 remain consistent across two centuries. Performance conditions, on the other hand, are increasingly varied. Two aspects distinguish the present stage: “Asianness” and commercialism. These two material-discursive forces unequally limit the perception of truly transformative, or “prodigious creativity” in performances of musical prodigies on YouTube. The third and final chapter addresses the future of prodigy performance with a theoretical response to David H. Feldman's “co-incidence” theory of prodigies from 1986, which was the first comprehensive theory of the prodigy phenomenon. Feldman’s co-incidence theory is read alongside feminist materialist and critical insights on the boundaries of notions such as “human”, “individual” and the musical “domain”. The main argument states that prodigies challenge the presumed privileges of adult, human, and man-made culture in a nature/culture dichotomy. Furthermore, they express an unusual and unstable form of temporality. That is, they exist only within a specific age frame, and sometimes it may retrospectively be said that they were not “real” prodigies after all. The YouTube sample survey, discussed in chapter 2, provides concrete examples to support the thesis that Feldman’s co-incidence theory offers a feminist politico-philosophical potential through its careful consideration of individuality and temporality. However, the conception of the cultural domain acts as a vessel for the power of the “adult expert” who decides whether a given child is worth the title of prodigy or not. Simply put, if we do not accept the possibility that the child performer may be rewriting the rules and boundaries of the genre in which it performs, any transformation will be far less likely to become a reality. In line with the affirmative nature of the new materialist approach, the thesis concludes that musical prodigies deserve to be taken seriously as active subjects of their own performances. Their truly transformative potential remains hidden as long as we view the prodigy as a passive product of either unusual genes or a fortunate mix of environmental conditions. As active subjects, however, musical prodigies prove their relevance as a phenomenon that enables a post-individualist, a-teleological and ethically informed perspective on exceptional performance and creativity. This conclusion is relevant to a broader field than feminist new materialism alone. It addresses precisely some of the structural limitations in (non-feminist) psychological and musicological research, which have come to the fore in discussing creativity and the nature of exceptional performance. As an often excluded, ignored or transcendentalized phenomenon, the perspective of prodigies enriches and challenges both feminist and musicological debates through a particular material-discursive entanglement with the figure of the child Mozart -a figure of both exceptionality and extra-ordinary creativity.
Scholars Crossing, 2023
Despite literature investigating the effects of ecology on student development, very little research has been conducted concerning the influence of the adolescent living environment on the development of musical skills related to music performance. Gaining a clear understanding of adolescent environmental factors' influence on musical skill development will afford more students the opportunity to participate in music education and performance. Through a qualitative research approach, this study aims to investigate the effect of adolescent living environment on musical skill development by interviewing eight professional opera singers. In exploring the findings from this research, similarities in adolescent living environment have been evaluated, their effects on skill development has been investigated. This study illustrates how environmental factors related to the individual’s circumstance, opportunity, education, and ideology influences musical skill development rather than innate talent in predicting professional success and expertise. This research provides evidence of the universality of music education for all learners and highlights the capacity of all human beings to develop skills. Utilizing this research, educators across all disciplines can provide data supporting the influence of environmental factors on skill development. Understanding how misconceptions of talent discourage music participation and providing evidence that all students have a capacity towards musical skill development, this research affords music education a valuable tool in advocating for musical opportunities for all learners.
Individual differences in musical ability among adults with no music training
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Good musical abilities are typically considered to be a consequence of music training, such that they are studied in samples of formally trained individuals. Here, we asked what predicts musical abilities in the absence of music training. Participants with no formal music training ( N = 190) completed the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index, measures of personality and cognitive ability, and the Musical Ear Test (MET). The MET is an objective test of musical abilities that provides a Total score and separate scores for its two subtests (Melody and Rhythm), which require listeners to determine whether standard and comparison auditory sequences are identical. MET scores had no associations with personality traits. They correlated positively, however, with informal musical experience and cognitive abilities. Informal musical experience was a better predictor of Melody than of Rhythm scores. Some participants (12%) had Total scores higher than the mean from a sample of musically tra...
The genetic basis of music ability
Frontiers in psychology, 2014
Music is an integral part of the cultural heritage of all known human societies, with the capacity for music perception and production present in most people. Researchers generally agree that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the broader realization of music ability, with the degree of music aptitude varying, not only from individual to individual, but across various components of music ability within the same individual. While environmental factors influencing music development and expertise have been well investigated in the psychological and music literature, the interrogation of possible genetic influences has not progressed at the same rate. Recent advances in genetic research offer fertile ground for exploring the genetic basis of music ability. This paper begins with a brief overview of behavioral and molecular genetic approaches commonly used in human genetic analyses, and then critically reviews the key findings of genetic investigations of the components...