What Makes Us Musical Animals

Musicality, akin to the innate human capacity for language, develops spontaneously and is shaped by cognitive abilities and biological constraints. Unlike music, which varies across cultures, musicality encompasses universal traits that enable engagement with music, even among non-musicians. This shift in research perspective, from studying music to studying musicality, is reflected in key works, such as The Origins of Music (Wallin et al., 2000) and The Origins of Musicality (Honing, 2018). While cross-cultural studies of music’s structural elements have yielded valuable insights, they remain limited in distinguishing the contributions of culture and biology. Investigating musicality directly allows for disentangling these influences and exploring shared traits with other species, providing a clearer understanding of the biological, cultural, and environmental foundations of the human capacity for music.