1.2.4. McPherson
The coordination between aural skills and motor skills is a fundamental aspect of musicianship, as it bridges the gap between what a musician hears internally and what they produce physically on an instrument. At the heart of this connection is the concept of goal imagery—the mental representation of the desired sound—which guides motor actions during performance (McPherson, 2022). Musicians with strong aural skills are better able to form clear goal images, allowing them to translate sound into precise motor movements more efficiently.
Research shows that informally trained musicians, who often learn by ear and through improvisation, tend to reproduce melodies with fewer repetitions and more automaticity. Their approach is largely guided by harmonic and tonal frameworks, enabling smoother coordination between hearing and playing. In contrast, classically trained musicians, who often rely more heavily on notation and finger technique, require greater conscious attention and repetition to achieve similar outcomes (McPherson, 2022). These findings emphasize that developing aural skills is not merely an intellectual exercise, but a key component of motor fluency and expressive performance.
Supporting this, neuroimaging studies demonstrate that imagining music activates brain regions involved in both auditory and motor processing. This means that when musicians "hear" a melody in their minds, they also begin to "feel" the physical gestures needed to produce it (McPherson, 2020). This embodied connection is reinforced through sound imagery, where repeated engagement with imagined sounds helps learners anticipate musical phrases and enhances their ability to play by ear—much like how verbal imagery supports reading and speaking fluency.
Moreover, singing often provides a more direct path to sound imagery and motor preparation than instrumental playing, as it bypasses technical limitations and aligns more closely with internalized pitch models. Integrating both formal and informal learning strategies, such as notation-based study and learning by ear, may thus promote more holistic musical development and greater expressive freedom (McPherson, 2022).
1.3.Music as a language
Educators often emphasize that learning music parallels language acquisition, encouraging students to first develop their ability to learn music by ear before introducing them to reading notation. This approach simplifies the learning process by eliminating the dual challenge of reading music and playing an instrument at the same time. In this analogy, children first develop listening and speaking skills before learning to read and write. In both cases, early exposure to listening (aural perception) and speaking (playing music) forms the foundation for easier learning of reading and writing (decoding notation). Just as language learners improve their reading through extensive listening and speaking, music learners benefit from building a strong auditory foundation before reading music. Musicians, like language readers, internalize sounds and patterns, allowing them to connect visual symbols to familiar auditory experiences. This reduces cognitive overload, allowing learners to focus on sound and technical skills without being overwhelmed by visual input. Too much focus on reading early on, whether in music or language, can slow progress in core skills like playing or speaking (McPherson, 2022).
While young children as young as three can grasp basic musical notation (Tommis & Fazey, 1999), the issue lies in whether they should learn it so early. By age six, children typically command a vocabulary of over 5,000 words, which allows them to associate familiar words with symbols in reading (Bruning et al., 2011). The principle of prioritizing aural skills before introducing notation is equally relevant in adult education. While adults may have more developed cognitive abilities than children, they often face unique challenges, such as overcoming preconceived notions about learning or managing the complexities of unfamiliar tasks (Knowles et al., 2015). Just as young children benefit from first performing familiar tunes by ear to build aural skills (McPherson, 2022), adult learners can gain confidence and fluency in music by focusing on listening and playing before tackling the added complexity of notation. This approach respects the adult learner’s need for gradual skill-building and mirrors the natural progression of language acquisition (Bruning et al., 2011), making the learning process more intuitive and effective.
In informal settings, musicians develop skills like "playing with feel" or "musical sensitivity" that are less emphasized in formal notation-based learning. Informal musical learning often involves familiarity with the music before learning it, whether through social groups, personal choices, or exposure to recordings. On the other side, formal training, with its focus on technical proficiency, structured exercises, and rote learning, often lacks the enjoyment and personal connection found in informal learning environments. This emphasis on notation and technical drills can sometimes make the learning process feel mechanical and uninspiring for students. Many find that this approach detracts from their overall enjoyment and engagement with music, as it prioritizes visual and technical aspects over the aural and emotional dimensions of musical expression, clearly shown in Figure 3 (McPherson, 2022).
