The development of basic musical abilities, musical preferences, and aes- thetic values takes place in the first two decades of life even in the absence of music education. However, more refined musical development requires deliberate activities and instruction. The range of individual differences with regard to music in adulthood encompasses the results of impressive special- ization of the professional musician as well as the stagnation and decrease of musical abilities due to a lack of interest and motivation. This section offers a survey of research on musical development in adulthood, which is still in its infancy. I will first present some general comments on biological and cultural aspects of general conditions of aging during adulthood (cf. Baltes et al., 1998).
General Conditions of Aging: Biological Aspects
A number of age-related cognitive, sensory, and physiological changes occur in adulthood that can impact musical activities. Although these changes also affect younger adults, their influence increase at older ages (see Birren & Schaie, 1996, for relevant chapters). Starting around the age of 30, human physiological functions lose about 1% of their efficiency every year. In ad- dition, the speed of cognitive processing and the discrimination of stimuli already start to decrease in early adulthood (e.g. Baltes et al., 1998; Jennen & Gembris, 2000; Park, 1999; Swartz et al., 1994). Another generally ac- cepted effect of aging is the continuous decline of hearing. However, the body’s great capacity for compensation can hide this slow process of reduc- tion for a long time. Only when a critical limit is reached do these changes in physiological processes start to become a problem (Maier, Ambu¨hl-Caesar, & Schandry, 1994, p. 167). For example, at older ages the decrease of sen- sorimotor speed and dexterity along with a reduction of the sense of touch and other micromotor impasses can lead to difficulties in instrumental playing.
A severe problem for singers is the change of the voice with age. This change is not directly related to chronological but to biological age, and it can be accompanied by effects like the loss of the chest voice, the fast change of pitch and timbre of the voice, the loss of intensity and resonance, and the
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reduced ability to control the many parameters involved in singing. Fortu- nately, these characteristics do not emerge all at the same time (Habermann, 1986, p. 148; Moore, Staum, & Brotons, 1992; Sataloff, 1992; Seidner & Wendler, 1997, p. 180).
The beginning of age-induced decline of physiological functioning is sub- ject to individual differences and cannot be linked to a specific age. In ad- dition, the amount of age-related changes and their significance for musical activities differ widely and depend also on other factors such as the level of musical training. For example, due to their maintenance practice, profes- sional piano players are less affected by the decline of manual abilities than untrained amateurs of similar ages (Krampe, 1994; Krampe & Ericsson, 1996).
General Conditions of Aging: Cultural Aspects
Whereas the influence of biological aspects in the changes of function in- creases with age, the opposite is true for cultural influences. Even though the direct influence of culture on development lessens as an individual ma- tures, existing differences in musical development, which stem from the time of childhood and adolescence, give rise to continuously increasing differences in the course of adulthood. This becomes obvious when professional musi- cians are compared to amateurs and people who are untrained in music. Musicians broaden the gap between themselves and less trained individuals through constant work and further development, while nonmusicians suffer a continuous decline because of their different professions and other activ- ities. This means that developmental courses of professional musicians and amateurs point in opposite directions.
Creative Productivity of Composers Over Their Lifetimes
One of the first studies on the life-span development of creative work was carried out by Charlotte Bu¨hler (1933/1959). Depending on the domain, different trajectories and peaks of creativity were found. An early study by Lehman and Ingerham (1939) showed that the peak of creativity for com- posers of classical music was reached between the ages 35 and 45. However, the age with the highest productivity seemed to depend on the specific mu- sical genre. For instance, the peak for instrumental music occurred between the ages of 25 and 29, while most of the operas were composed between the ages of 35 and 40. Similar differences were encountered that concerned other musical forms, like symphonic music, chamber music, and sacred mu- sic. Using a different methodology, Dennis (1966) obtained converging re- sults. For example, composers of chamber music reached their creative peaks between the ages of 30 and 39, whereas composers of operas had their highest productivity between the ages of 40 and 49. A remaining method- ological problem of these studies is how to define and measure musical cre-
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSICAL ABILITIES 149 ativity if one does not only want to consider the number of compositions but also quality and other aspects (cf. Gembris, 2002, p. 375f).
More recently, a barrage of studies by Simonton have investigated the possible influences of culture, society, history, and biographical situation on creative productivity (e.g., Simonton, 1997, for a review). Based on his work, the author put forth a mathematical model that suggests that the lifetime trajectory of musical productivity (composition) could be represented by a tilted
J
-shaped function. Hence, the creative process rises quickly up to apeak that falls around the age of 40 (give or take a few years depending on the musical genre), after which there is a steady decrease. Of course, these kinds of statistical and graphic representations of creative productivity over the life span are idealized and based on averages. Given that individual differences of adults increase with age (see earlier), actual composers can differ from one another to a large extent.
Developmental Trajectories of Professional Instrumentalists
The social and individual preconditions for musical careers have been ad- dressed in a number of studies by Manturzewska (1990, 1995). She exam- ined the careers of 165 successful Polish musicians of different generations. The data collected consisted mainly of biographical interviews supplemented by archival material and quantitative data. Sosniak’s (1985) studies of the careers of pianists were also based on biographical interviews.
Manturzewska (1995) identified six stages in the careers of professional instrumentalists in Western art music and characterized those according to the activities undertaken by the instrumentalists during those phases. The final phase after skill acquisition and a life of concertizing was marked by the fact that professional musicians turned to teaching as their main activity (see also chap. 30 in this volume for a broader discussion of skill acquisi- tion). In another study among retired members of a first-class American orchestra, D. W. E. Smith (1988) observed that most of the musicians stopped playing completely. Due to a lack of motivation, they gave up reg- ular practice and their performance no longer met their expectations. Fur- thermore, health problems may have resulted from giving up musical activ- ities (cf. Darrough & Boswell, 1992, for a review).
The developmental stages that Manturzewska (1995) observed for out- standing musicians and that Sosniak (1985) described for concert pianists cannot be generalized to all professional musicians. The data are based on exceptional and successful musicians. Nowadays musicians’ careers change structurally because many instrumentalists or singers do not hold steady jobs anymore. Instead, they earn a living with multiple and frequently changing jobs that may include nonmusical ones. In addition, becoming a professional musician through a conservatory degree does not necessarily mean that one will be working as a musician throughout the whole professional life. Both tendencies are supported by empirical data (HEFCE, 1998; Gembris &
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Langner, in prep. (2005a, b); Mills & Smith, in prep (2005), and the con- sequences for the musicians’ personal and professional identity as well as for the development of musical abilities have yet to be explored.
Maintaining High Performance in Old Age Through Practicing
A study among younger (average age: 24) and older (average age: 60) am- ateur and professional pianists was carried out by Krampe (1994; see also Krampe & Ericsson, 1996), who provided evidence that continuous musical activity counteracted the decline of musical performance in old age. Famous piano players like Artur Rubinstein (1887–1982) and Vladimir Horowitz (1903–1989), who still played concerts and produced records when they were more than 80 years old, illustrate that even very old persons can pro- duce outstanding instrumental achievements. However, the examples men- tioned are rare exceptions, and normally age-related declines cannot be pre- vented. It is possible to ameliorate the situation through the use of deliberate strategies like optimization, selection, and compensation (cf. Baltes & Baltes, 1989). Baltes, Lindenberger, and Staudinger (1998) offer the following in- terpretation of a television interview given by the 80-year-old Rubinstein:
First, Rubinstein said that he played fewer pieces (selection); second, he in- dicated that he now practices these pieces more often (optimization); and third, he said that to counteract his loss in mechanical speed he now used a kind of impression management such as introducing slower play before fast segments, so to make the latter appear faster (compensation). (p. 1055)
However, it is likely that only pianists and conductors can maintain these kinds of outstanding results at old age, while it might be impossible for woodwind, brass, or string players. Those will be affected earlier by the decrease of sensorimotor functions as a result of aging. Additional problems for violin players that would lead to weaknesses in intonation and bowing could be the decline of the sense of touch along with the reduction of the skin’s sensibility and reduced agility and speed.
Even though biological changes of the voice are also unavoidable, singers can work against them to a certain degree. Sataloff (1992, p. 20) suggests that in order to maintain a good physical condition it is necessary to exercise. Also, regular technical practice eliminates undesirable tremolo and improves the smoothness, exactness, and stamina of the voice for old as well as for young singers. According to Sataloff, many functions of the voice could be maintained at higher levels much longer than it is generally believed. Thus a singing career could possibly be extended beyond the age of 60 and into the seventh decade of life.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSICAL ABILITIES 151
Musical Learning of Adult Amateurs and Nonmusicians: Cognitive Aspects
Findings on the development of musical abilities and interests of adult am- ateurs and nonmusicians are still inconclusive. Some authors have examined musical learning in areas including instrumental playing, sight-reading or sight-singing, rhythmic-melodic imitation, and aural training (Gibbons, 1983). The hypothesis that performance generally decreases with age is not supported by these studies (e.g., Klu¨ppelholz, 1993). Even though learning might be more difficult in middle-aged and old-age groups, the overall achievements remained the same. In general, musical learning seems to be possible at every age.
Low self-confidence with regard to one’s own musical performance and learning capabilities due to age may be more detrimental to a positive mu- sical development than the actual decline of learning abilities. A fresh eval- uation of one’s own expectations, along with the idea that making music is enjoyable and requires neither high-level performance skills nor great talent, may provide a suitable basis for successful learning. Optimistically speaking, most of the older people have a considerable potential quite comparable to that of younger people and this can be activated by learning, practice, and deliberate training (Baltes & Baltes, 1989, p. 90; Staudinger, Cornelius, & Baltes, 1989). At the same time, these capacities do have limitations that cannot be altered even by intensive training (Baltes & Kliegl, 1992). There is no reason to assume that these capacities do not exist for musical abilities. On the contrary, current studies with adult nonmusicians demonstrate the possibility of learning new musical abilities with appropriate training. Ac- cording to Gordon (1987), only very few people make use of all their ex- isting capacities for musical abilities.
A number of studies clearly point to the fact that limitations to musical achievement are likely to increase with age (as far as psychomotor skills go). Older people need more time and more repetitions than younger individuals to attain the same level of performance (Mack, 1982). Also, a poorer musical long-term memory was observed by Bartlett and Snelus (1980). Finally, D. S. Smith (1991) examined the short-term memory of older people. Depending on their health status and social living conditions, memory capacities turned out to vary greatly. On the whole, these and other studies demonstrate that the decline of short-term memory of old people also applies to music, while significant interindividual differences can occur.
Although adults do not seem to be at a larger disadvantage in the cog- nitive domain than children and adolescents, their learning potential for in- strumental technique is clearly limited (Klu¨ppelholz, 1993). It would be pos- sible to detail the difference between children’s and adults’ instrumental achievements by applying a “testing-the-limits” paradigm, an approach al- ready applied to cognitive abilities (Baltes et al., 1998, p. 1066). However, no such studies in music have yet been carried out.
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Adults who want to learn music have different motivations, learning styles, and learning difficulties from those of children. They tend to address their learning tasks primarily cognitively. It is common for adults to start to learn an instrument because they want to play in an ensemble or because they want to create new social contacts. Indeed, making music increases well-being and contributes to a balanced personality (Klu¨ppelholz, 1993). The actual level of achievement and the desire to perform as a soloist are less important. Taking into account what we know about adult cognition and motivation is important for designing appropriate educational goals and methods.
Preferences During Adulthood
Most studies on musical preferences focus on the time of adolescence. The few existing studies on old people’s preferences have emerged from the con- text of music therapy. Their results have been used for developing music programs in retirement homes and musicotherapeutic interventions. It be- came obvious from these studies that musical preferences primarily depended on the age and also on the social class. The effect of the chronological age on a person’s musical preferences is mixed as well with the effects of the present point of time and with the effects of belonging to a specific gener- ation (cohort). Therefore, age effects on musical preferences of adults should be viewed as a result of a combination of these three factors.
Musical preferences primarily depend on the individual and social func- tions of music. Thus the developmental perspective has to take into account age-related functions of music and age-related changes of functions (cf. Dol- lase et al., 1986; Mende, 1991). Lehmann (1994) showed convincingly that not only preferences changed with age but also the reasons for listening to music and the approaches to music. For example, with increasing age phys- iological and motor aspects relinquished their importance to the need for relaxation and empathy (Lehmann, 1994, p. 176).
A number of studies have demonstrated that older people, depending on their educational level and social environment, disliked current popular mu- sic and instead preferred other musical styles like country music, classical music, or traditional jazz. Quite often, older people’s favorite music was the popular music of their youth (e.g. Gibbons, 1977; Holbrook & Schindler, 1989; Jonas, 1991; Moore et al., 1992). They also tended to prefer lower sound volumes and slower musical tempi (Moore et al., 1992).
Affective processes also undergo a lifelong development, as does the abil- ity to recognize emotional expression in music. Current findings based on psychological data suggest that older persons experience fundamental emo- tions at a generally lower level of intensity than younger persons and that, in the case of geriatric patients, they show a decline in recognition of facial expression (Brosgole et al., 1983; Brosgole, Kurucz, Plahovinsak, Sprotte, & Haveliwala, 1983; Filipp, 1996). Complex emotions like those that arise from a musical experience have not yet been examined.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSICAL ABILITIES 153 Even though experimental studies on the recognition of musical expres- sion and on the ability to experience music in adulthood and old age are lacking, we can still derive some hypotheses for future research. The rec- ognition of musical expression and the ability to experience music ought to depend on general factors (e.g. health status, social environment, etc.). Also, the development of recognition of musical expression is likely to be influ- enced by how much time a person devotes to music, if he or she is listening to music or actively making music, and if music in general holds a special status in that person’s life. Just as existing abilities in other areas disappear as a result of lack of use and training, it is likely that musical abilities will decrease (disengagement or disuse hypothesis). This explanation could serve as a good reason for a lifelong active contact with music, especially since research on emotion has shown that even the most brilliant intelligence is hampered by the lack of emotional abilities (e.g., Damasio, 1997). Thus music seems to be an agreeable way to create and to maintain rich emotional experiences over the lifetime.
Conclusion
Considering the large individual differences in the musical development, the future psychology of life-span development of musical abilities will have to be a differential psychology. There is no such thing as a “normal” or average musical biography. For adult age in particular, it would appear to be more promising to focus on the existing diversity instead of trying to establish an “average.”
Developmental psychology of music should not focus only on those cog- nitive or instrumental abilities that are readily measured. Instead, the ability to experience music, musical skills, and attitudes are also part of the musical development. Furthermore, changes of musical desires, interests, and moti- vations take place throughout life. Thus what we mean bymusical devel- opment may be entirely different at different stages of life. While the first 10 years of life consist of the acquisition of basic musical abilities, musical development during adulthood possibly includes an expansion of musical preferences and the growth of musical understanding. Therefore, the notion of musical development as a continuum will in itself have to be reconsidered and subsequently expanded.
The idea of optimization through selection and compensation (see Baltes et al., 1998) and the concept of plasticity should provide new starting points for research on musical development. During adulthood or old age, musical activities are not merely leisure activities but rather play an important role in an individual’s life as they help form identities, establish and maintain social contacts, and activate cognitive and emotional functions. Thereby mu- sical activities contribute to a person’s quality of life and well-being. Studies in the context of music therapy showed that the use of music in nursing
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homes and in geriatrics had a positive effect on cognitive functioning such as memory, mobilization, and social behavior (for an overview see Brotons, Koger & Pickett-Cooper, 1999). Although more research is badly needed, these facts illustrate the great importance of musical activities, especially during late adulthood and old age. As the number of older people in our society increases, the research results mentioned earlier will gain political