Musical Beginnings

From where, and by what mechanisms, does an individual's musical ability originate? This is a subject of major interest both to developmental and music psychologists, heightened by the recent research into prenatal perception of sound. This timely volume brings together authoritative reviews on central issues, beginning with prenatal auditory experience, through infancy and early childhood. The chapters chart the developmental progress with reference to the child's changing environment: from the uterus, through the intense and semi-exclusive mother-baby bond, to the wider contexts provided by family, school, and society at large. The book provides the most up-to-date integration of developmental and music psychology.