(2012-09-11) Brandt, Anthony; Gebrian, Molly; Slevc, L. Robert; Frontiers Media
Language is typically viewed as fundamental to human intelligence. Music, while recognized
as a human universal, is often treated as an ancillary ability – one dependent on or
derivative of language. In contrast, we argue that it is more productive from a developmental
perspective to describe spoken language as a special type of music. A review of
existing studies presents a compelling case that musical hearing and ability is essential
to language acquisition. In addition, we challenge the prevailing view that music cognition
matures more slowly than language and is more difficult; instead, we argue that music
learning matches the speed and effort of language acquisition. We conclude that music
merits a central place in our understanding of human development.