Abstract
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it briefly characterizes how Piaget's theory has been mainly applied in music psychology and education to date. After discussing the major shortcomings of this approach, the co re elements of the theory as applied to music are re-evaluated. Second, a new theoretical approach is proposed and elaborated in more detail with respect to the development of singing. The focus on singing is motivated by the fact that it is an elementary and universal means of expressing the basic musical parameters, namely the timing of pitches, from early on in ontogeny. Finally, the delineated approach is exemplified with an excerpt from the initial phase of song acquisition of two pre-school children.
Stadler Elmer, Stefanie