Environmental factors in the development of musical performance skill over the life span

Abstract

Abstract The ethnomusicologist, J. Messenger, who was studying the Anang lbibo Tribe in Nigeria in 1958, gave the following account of their musical activities: We were constantly amazed at the musical abilities displayed by these people, especially by the children who, before the age of five, can sing hundreds of songs, both individually and in choral groups, and, in addition, are able to play several percussion instruments and have learned dozens of intricate dance movements, calling for incredible muscular control. We searched in vain for the ‘non-musical’ person, finding it difficult to make enquiries about tone-deafness and its assumed effects because the Anang language p..