How musical are children?

A new PhD project from Aarhus University, Health, in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music, investigates musical activities, musical competence, and working memory in Danish school children from 5 to 20 years of age.

Thursday 29 October at 14:00, Stine Derdau Sørensen defends her PhD dissertation entitled “How musical are children? A nationwide cross-sectional study of individual differences in musical competence and working memory in Danish school children”. Follow the defense via Zoom: https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/65359693048

A long tradition exists of measuring the ‘musicality’ of children which is most often based on the assumption that degree of aptitude for music differ. Today, studies of the individual differences in musical competence – i.e. the ability to perceive, remember and discriminate subtle deviants in melodies and rhythms – are primarily relevant for research. For instance, numerous studies investigate how music training may benefit children’s development and cognitive functions, such as language acquisition and working memory.

The PhD project investigates the relationships between musical activities, musical competence and working memory in a mass experiment involving several Danish schools. Furthermore, the project involves the development of a new musical ear test for children.