Neuromusical Research and The Legend of Tone Deafness: IDEAS for Musical Intelligence in All of Us
Are all humans capable of being musical? What does it mean to be musical? Is tone deafness real? What are the implications of neuroscience research for how people learn to be musical? This webpage is about music, the brain, and the evidence for musical intelligence in all of us.
Recent advances in brain research offer insights into the substrates of the central nervous system and the basis of human intelligence. Based on an extensive review of research from multiple disciplines, including cognitive neuroscience, anthropology, education, and psychology, there is consistent evidence supporting the existence of an inherent and potentially specialized musical intelligence in all people. A summary of this evidence can be organized into a three-stage model of musical intelligence: Inherent musical intelligence, Developmental Experiences serving the Acquisition of musical abilities; and potential Specializations of musical abilities (IDEAS).
Except for rare cases of congenital amusia (i.e., the cognitive inability to process musical information), all humans possess the aptitude to be musical. Although cultural anecdotes of people claiming "tone deafness" may suggest otherwise, it is likely that reported limitations of musicality are more founded on socio-psychological phenomena than on genetic factors. Part of the basis for debunking the legend of tone-deafness comes from how we define what it means to be musical. To begin with, musical intelligence comes in many flavors and activities. The more obvious examples are performing on an instrument or writing a song, but there are more basic ways that musical intelligence guides all of us on a regular basis. If you can adjust the tempo of your gait to step onto an escalator without disastrous effects then you've got rhythm.Ben Zander is fond of saying that if you can tell that someone is from Texas or from Rome based on the way he speaks, or if you can answer the phone and immediately tell by the sound of your mother’s voice what sort of mood she’s in then you can’t also be tone deaf.
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