Musical talent and heredity

It is possible to suppose that musical abilities have a more direct relationship with biology and genetics than the abilities of a lawyer or a bookkeeper. Music appeared much earlier than many other human occupations; familiarisation with and mastery of various musical forms happened and happens spontaneously, involuntarily, in a process that might be called musicalisation — a process that requires no special educational institutions. Psychologists have tried to predict the degree of musicality of a child based on a known level of musicality of the parents, with little success. One experiment showed that the absence of active ‘musical stimuli’ in their childhood did not prevent certain individuals from demonstrating significant musical giftedness in their years of study in school. This chapter reviews studies that focus on the role of heredity in musical talent, whether a musical ear can be developed, the role of education in instilling in children a love and understanding of music, and the phenomenon of the musical wunderkind.