Cognition and learning, childhood

Children demonstrate a capacity to process certain musical features from birth, while an understanding of other aspects of music is acquired gradually with age. This suggests that music cognition is partly biologically hardwired and partly acquired through exposure to the music of their culture. Children appear to progress through a series of natural stages of musical development characterized by differing ways of engaging with music and changes in perceptual foci. Natural developments in the acquisition of musical skills can be augmented by formal music training.