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During the last decade, a great deal of music education research has focused on studies with infants and young children. The concept of a 'competent infant' has changed paradigms for understanding the developmental growth and music potential of young children. This study reports on a longitudinal study that was designed to examine the phases and stages in children's early music learning. A group of 12 children (six male; six female) aged 1-2 years (M = 1 year 7 months, range 8 months to 2 years 3 months) was recruited from an urban, upper middle class area in Freiburg (Germany) and observed with respect to their musical behaviour in a stimulating musical setting for 15 months. This group was compared with a control group (N = 9; three male, six female; age M = 1 year 11 months; range 1 year 7 months to 2 years 3 months) from a local nursery school. All children were videotaped and then evaluated by two independent judges using a criterion-based observation form with ratings for the categories attention, movement and vocalisation (imitation, improvisation, audiation). Children in both the experimental and control group displayed a similar developmental level at the commencement of the study. However, differences between the two groups became evident throughout the observation period. The control group, which was exposed to no particular music except the songs of the daycare programme, developed body movement and vocal performance at a significantly lower level than their counterparts. The most significant effect within the experimental group was a strong interaction between movement (flow of movement, motor co-ordination) and voice production (vocalisation of tonal and rhythm patterns). This result does not infer a general transfer effect for music. However, results indicate a significant interaction within different areas of fine motor control that effects intonation and pitch accuracy on the base of a process similar to what is known as phonological loop in language acquisition.
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