Development of the Perception of Musical Relations: Semitone and Diatonic Structure

In the present research we examined the development ofsensitivity to two musical relations signifi-cant in Western tonal music, the semitone and diatonic structure. Infants and preschool children were tested for their detection of a semitone change in any position of a five-note melody. Two standard melodies were used, one composed of diatonic tones only and the other containing a non-diatonic tone. In Experiment 1, children from 4 to 6 years of age were superior in detecting the semitone change in the diatonic ontext compared with the nondiatonic context. In Experiment 2, infants 9 to 11 months of age detected the semitone change in all positions, but their performance was not influenced by diatonic ontext. These findings indicate that infants and children can dis-criminate a semitone in a musical context and that the priority of diatonic structure merges by 4 to 6 years of age. In the present research we examined the development ofsen-sitivity to two musical relations ignificant in Western tonal mu-sic: the semitone, a musical unit, and diatonic structure, a more complex musical configuration. In Western tonal music, the semitone is the smallest interval between two notes. It repre