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Title: Infant Musical Development and Primitive MusicAuthor: Bruno NettlSource: Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring, 1956), pp. 87-91Published by: University of New Mexico
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INFANT MUSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND PRIMITNE MUSIC
BRUNONETIL
I
N A
STUDY
by Roman Jakobson some statements are made concerning the
relationship between infants' linguistic development and the distribution of
phonemic distinctions throughout the world. It is the purpose of the present paper
to examine the possibility of similar relationships in music. Jakobson believes,
and
demonstrates, that those phonemic distinctions which are most common in the
languages of the world also appear earliest
in
children's speech.
For
example, the
distinction between vowels and consonants
is
found in all languages and
is
also
the first distinction made by children when learning
to
speak. This paper compares
some of the developments in the performance of
~ u s i c l
traits by small children
with their distribution in non-Western and folk music.
Although both children's speech and the music of non-Western cultures are
not
as well documented and as definitively analyzed as language, it seems possible
to make some statements on the basis of what is already known. Some interest in
this area has been shown by musicologists, notably Curt Sachs, who says:
It
is
exciting experience to learn that the earliest known stage of music reappears
in the babble songs of small children in European countries. For once the ontogenetic
l w is
fully confirmed: the individual summarizes the evolution
of
mankind. (Later,
Sachs asserts
J
These children could not
be
suspected to have been influenced by a single
trait of our own music. Thus
we
cannot but accept their babbling
s
an ontogenetic
reiteration of man's earliest music and, inversely, conclude that the music
of
today's
most primitive peoples
is
indeed the first music that ever existed.
2
This
paper, however, is not concerned with the evolutionary aspects of the
problem. The author neither accepts nor rejects such an approach. It
is
certainly
possible to interpret whatever parallels there are between children's singing and
primitive music in ways other than the ontogenetic recapitulation of phylogeny, but
interpretation is beyond the scope of this paper.
The
most important study in the field of infant musical development
is
by
Heinz Werner,
3
whose work was concerned with the creative efforts of children
1 Kindersprache Aphasie und allgemeine Lautgesetze (Uppsala Sprakvetenskapliga Sal
slcapets Handlingar, 1940-42A).
2 he Rise of Music in the Ancient World (New York, 1943), pp. 43, 44.
3
Die melodische Er{mdung im friihen Kindesalter
(Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien,
Philosophischhistorische Klasse, SitzUngsberichte 182 [1917], no. 4 .
87
VoL. 12, 1956
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88
SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY
between two and
five
His conclusions on the various stages of musical develop
ment are based entirely on the created improvisations of children,
not
on the way in
which they handled songs which were taught them. The present author has largely
corroborated Werner s findings, using a single, younger subject of his own, with
the additional scope
of
learned songs.
This
consisted
of
observing which musical
traits the subject learned earliest, which ones appeared late, and with what accuracy
they could be negotiated.
In
order to compare the order in which these developments appear in children
with their frequency in non-Western music, the various aspects
of
musical style
are separated and presented individually. A number
of
common ones, such as
harmony and polyphony, do not appear here because they are not found in infant
musical behavior. Furthermore, the ages
at
which the developments take place are
omitted because, while the author and
Werner
agree in general on the order, the
actual time of emergence differs greatly. Following
is
an outline for the order of
appearance of various stylistic traits in infants music.
Form
1
simple repetition
of
a single short phrase, with slight and unsyste
matic variation;
2 short strophes, made
up
of two, three, or four phrases, with little
variation. Some of the phrases in a strophe are usually identical;
forms like
AABA
and
ABBA
are common.
Rhythm
The
only characteristic type
is
a series
of
notes
of
equal length, fol
lowed
by
a longer note at the end
of
the phrase.
Melodic
contour 1
descending;
2 undulating without specialization;
3. arc-shaped, with ascent followed
by
gradual descent;
4 ascent, followed by two peaks and descent.
Intervals
1
minor thirds and major seconds;
2
major thirds and minor seconds;
3
neutral third (between major and minor third ;
4. intervals smaller than half-tones; quarter-tones;
5 larger intervals, in order of size, beginning with perfect fourth.
Scale
1 two tones;
2. three and four tones;
3 more than four tones.
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IN F N
T MU
SIC
L DEV
ELOP
MENT
89
Cade
nces
1. phra
se end
s on lo
westt
one;
2. ph
rase en
ds on
a repe
ated t
one se
quence
;
3. p
hrase
ends o
n a to
ne in
the m
iddle
of th e
range
of the
entir
e
pie
ce.
Ra
nge
1. m
inor th
ird;
2. p
erfect
fourt
h ;
3.
dimin
ished
fifth;
4.
large
r than
dimin
ishedf
ifth.
It is n
ot easy
to est
imate
the fre
quenc
y of a
given
trai ti
n the m
usica
l styles
of
the
world
. Alls
tyles a
re by
far fro
m kno
wn, ev
en in
a limit
ed way
, and,
indee
d,
it
is
not p
ossible
to dis
tinguis
h am o
ng mu
sicalstyles inthe way it
is
po ssible
to
define
or del
imit la
nguag
es. In
other
words,
while
w
e kn
ow ra
ther w
ell w h
at a la
nguag
e
i
s we
do n
ot know
what
const
itutes
a m us
ic. H
oweve
r, a la
rge en
oughs
amplin
g
of th e
styles
in va
rious p
arts o
f th e
world
exists
to ena
ble on
e to m
ake
at le as
t
appro
ximate
ly ac
curate
statem
ents
about
the d
istribu
tion
of mu
sical t r
ts -
whe
ther th
ey are
confi
ned to
sm al
l grou
ps of
tribes,
are fo
und t
hroug
hout o
ne
conrin
ent, or
are c
ommo
n thro
ughou
t the w
orld,
an d th
e like
. I
t s on su
ch gen
era li
zed st
atem e
nts that
th e
follow
ing te
ntative
conc
lusions
are b
ased,
and th
eir
impres
sionis
tic n at
ure m u
st be
remem
bered.
Th
e simpl
e form
of re p
eating
a sing
le mus
ical ph
rasew
ith va
riation
s, earl
iest in
i
n infa
nts, is
co mm
on thr
ougho
ut the
world
.
It
is
the o
nly fo
rm in
some
simple
cultu
res, su
ch as t
he V e
dda o
f Ceylo
n an d
the Fi
nno-U
gric M
ordw
in and
Votya
k,
and
is th e
basic
form
of so
me com
plex
prim it
ive sty
les, no
tably
some
of
Negro
Af
rica.F
urthe
rmore,
i t is f
oundi
n thec
hildre
n's son
gs, lu
llabies
, game
songs
, and
song
s in ta
les in
most
culture
s thro
ugho u
t thew
orld,
even w
here
the m
ajority
of
son
gs hav
e mor
e comp
lex fo
rms. Th
e oth
er for
m of
i
nfants
' singin
g, a s
trophe
con
s
isting
of from
two
to
fou
r phra
ses w
ith the
frequ
ent re
petitio
n of o
ne, s
found
in folk and primitive music th roughout th
e wo
rld, ex
ceptin
g only
the s
imple
st
m
usical
styles
of all.
This
type
of form
, when
learn
ed byc
hildre
n, usu
ally ap
pears
i
n lear
ned so
ngs ra
ther t
han im
provi
sations
. How
ever,
i t has
been
noted
in the
autho
r's in
fant su
bject
that th
e tend
ency is
tol
earn m
ultipl
e-phra
se son
gs w it
h
re
petitio
n mor
e easily
than
thosew
ithou
t, and
this fa
ct is p
arallel
ed inn
on-W
estern
music.
T
heu
se ofat
le as
t oner
epeate
d phra
se in a
strop
he pre
domin
ates th
rough
out
thew
orld.
R
hythm
ic de
velopm
ent i
n infa
nts s
repres
ented
by on
ly one
stage
, that
of
un
differ
entia te
d note
lengt
hs wit
h a fin
al lon
g note.
This
kind o
f rh yt
hmic
struc-
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90 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY
ture
is
not too common in primitive music, although it
is
present in some of the
simplest musical styles. Final length, the use of a contrastive last note in a phrase
or
song, is prevalent throughout the world, however.
The
melodic contours sung
y
small children coincide, in their order, with the
frequency of melodic contours in primitive music. Descending contour seems to
be
the most widespread throughout the world. It appears in different forms, from
the slight descent from one tone to the other in the two-tone melodies of the Vedda
to the cascading descent of
many songs of the Plains Indians and Australians. Gen
erally undulating melodic contour is also widespread, while arc-shaped ones are
more restricted. The latter are found in many parts of the world, but everywhere
their distribution is more sporadic. For example, among the
North
American In
dians, arc-shaped contours are most prominent among the Navaho and in the east
em United States. Elsewhere they tend to he rare. This distribution is wide, but
spotty. More specialized melodic contours, such as an arc with two peaks, are quite
rare in the world.
Melodic intervals in infant music do not follow the worldwide frequency as
well
as
does contour.
1)
Minor thirds and major seconds do seem
to
be the most
common melodic intervals, followed y
2)
minor seconds and major thirds, always
with approximate intonation.
3)
Neutral thirds, while they are quite frequently
found in primitive music, are not nearly as common as perfect fourths and fifths,
which appear later in children. (
4)
Intervals smaller than minor seconds are rela
tively uncommon in the world s music. They are quite prevalent in the Near East,
and found occasionally elsewhere, hut there is often evidence that they do not
constitute a significant distinction even where they do appear.
Scales
of
two tones are widely distributed in the world,
hut
in all but the very
simplest styles they are used only in special songs: children s, lullabies, and the like.
The greatest frequency
is
held y scales with four and five tones. Thus we may
say that while two-tone scales are found in a few more cultures than pentatonic and
tetratonic ones, the latter appear in much larger numbers. We may note also
that
while in children s musical development the two-tone melodies occupy a distinct
stage in contrast to those with three and four tones, which occur together, in primi
tive and folk music there seems to be a close relationship between two-tone and
three-tone melodies. In some primitive styles, e.g. Modoc, Vedda, Kuhu (Su
matra , two-tone and three-tone melodies are used in the same song styles, and
variants of the same tunes may have both two and three tones.
Cadences in primitive music tend to be on low tones rather than others. How-
4 George Herzog, Rhythmic Cadence in Primiti l e Music (Bulletin, American Musicological
Society, vol.
3, pp. 19-20, 1939).
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I
N F A N T MU
SICAL DEV
ELOPMENT
9
ever all
th ree
of
th e
cadences in
infant musi
cal developm
ent have a
worldwide
distri
bution.
The
range
s of a minor
third and a
perfect four
th are very
common in m
usic
thro
ughou t the w
orld.
The
fou
rth
is
more c
ommon in c
ontras t to its
place in in fa
nt
music
al developme
nt.
The
thir
d stage a dim
inished :fift
h however is
rarer in the
musical s
tyles
of
the
world than
other range
s
ot
mentio
ned for inf
ants for
example the
perf ec t :fifth
sixths an d t
he octave.
From this
brief survey
we
may dra
w the follow
ing tentative
conclusions
.
O
n
the w
hole there
is
some correl
ation betwee
n the order o
f the appeara
nce
o
f
music
al
t
ra its in infa
nts and the
frequency
of
those traits
in the music
al cultures
of
the
worl
d.Th is corre
la tion
is
stron
gest in form
scale an d m
elodic conto
ur
but
weak
er
for me
lodic interva
ls cadences
and range.
WAYNE
UNIV R
SITY
DETRO
IT
MICHIG
AN