I acknowledge a deep debt of gratitude to my coeditors: my wife Irene, and my friend and colleague Tom Draper. They have worked with diligence and insight to bring this work to completion. They have delegated the task of writing the Preface to me. As the scientific study of human development matures it is not only natural, but it is necessary to reach beyond understanding the ways humans develop capacities, to study the ways emerging capacities fit into the larger sphere of human undertakings. Music is one of the most significant of those endeavors. As I attend the several piano competitions that are on my agenda each year, and see children seated at the keyboard drawing forth the magnificent sounds of Bach, Chopin, and Ravel, I am always a little awed. Surely, it seems to me, the piano* is among the best of man's creations; the creative energies of great composers are among mankind's greatest expressions; and encouraging children to associate themselves seriously with both instrument and composer can be one of the great blessings to their young lives and, by association, to the larger society. Music touches the entire range of our lifespan on a daily basis. Involving chil dren with music and music training has high market, and common sense, validity. Parents understand intuitively that children will benefit, and their lives will be enriched, if they are influenced by music and music training.

InhaltsangabeI. Introduction.- 1. The Role of Music in Child Development.- II. Development of Musical Abilities.- 2. A Study of Infant Musical Productivity.- 3. Toward a Model for Rhythm Development.- 4. Structural-Developmental Research in Music: Conservation and Representation.- 5. Toward a Theory of Music Syntax: Some Observations of Music Babble in Young Children.- 6. Children's Rhythmic Development from Age 5 to 7: Performance, Notation, and Reading of Rhythmic Patterns.- 7. The Development of Music Preference in Children.- 8. Conceptual Bases for Creative Thinking in Music.- III. Music and Education.- 9. Music and the Learning of Language in Early Childhood.- 10. Approaches to Classroom Music for Children.- 11. An Analysis of Historical Reasons for Teaching Music to Young Children: Is It the Same Old Song?.- 12. Children's Musical Behaviors in the Natural Environment.- 13. The Virtue and Vice of Musical Performance Competitions for Children.- 14. Influences of Home and Family on Musical Opportunities of Educationally Advantaged Second-Grade Children.- Author Index.>