Human Musicality By Donald A. Hodges

2. Human Musicality - Donald A. Hodges
Music is a universal trait of humankind. Throughout the ages it has played a significant role in the lives of people in every part of the globe. This can be illustrated by imagining an internal soundtrack for each of the following vignettes. Fortaleza, Brazil: Nighttime revelers parade down the street by the light of flickering torches. The movements of the cabocolinhos (the dancers) are accompanied by drums, caracaxa (a scraped gourd), and flutes (Olsen 1980). Bayonne, New Jersey: A lonely, confused teenager sits brooding in his room. The headphones he wears are connected to a jambox (tape player), which is playing his favorite rock tapes. Barotesland, Ghana: Members of the Frafra tribe play on the Dagomba
Is musicality indeed universal, and, if so, is it inherited or acquired? The purpose of this chapter is to explore some of these funadmental questions. Many of the issues raised herein will be visited in more detail in subsequent chapters. For the following discussions, musicality is defined as a responsiveness or sensitivity to musical stimuli. It also includes an appreciation or understanding of music, but does not necessarily include technical proficiency in musical performance (George and Hodges 1980). In this regard, all persons possess some degree of musicality, because everyone responds in some fashion to the music of his or her surrounding culture. Even severely and profoundly retarded individuals respond to music in a rudimentary way. To be totally amusical would require massive, almost total brain damage. The Musical Significance of Human Nature What is it about human beings that makes us unique, and how do our musical behaviors fit into this uniqueness? Is music separate from humanness, or is there evidence to support a view of music as an integral part of human nature? If we attempt to specify the ways in which human beings are unique and different from other animal species, we must quickly conclude that most, if not all, differences are in degree, not in kind. That is, other animals may possess a particular trait similar to humans, but not to the same extent. For example, if we say that a distinctive characteristic of humankind is language, it is possible to point to communication among dolphins or the sign language learned by chimpanzees in certain experiments as rudimentary forms of the same behavior. Or if we say that social organizations are a human trait, a parallel might be found in the behaviors of bees or ants. We have elaborate rituals connected with death, but elephants have been observed engaging in what might be called a burial ceremony. Music may even have its animal counterpart in whale song—to