Steven Pinker recently posted a short video about a critical period for learning language. He reports a recent study he participated in that found that, yes, there apparently is a critical period for syntax and semantics, which ends at about 17 (c. 7:43). He went one to note, however, that their online survey could not test for pronunciation and accent. “We have some reason to believe that the critical window might end earlier” (c. 9:12).
That got me to thinking and I put those thoughts into a note I sent to Pinker.
Hi Steve,
I just watched your little video on critical periods for language acquisition. The bit at the end, about the possibility that the critical period for acquiring accent may end earlier than that for syntax and semantics interests me.
I’ve got a bit of anecdotal evidence that musical rhythm may be subject to a similar critical period. I became interested in jazz at about the onset of puberty. Fortunately my trumpet teacher just happened to be a jazz musician and so he worked with me on jazz. In particular, he wrote out exercises in swing interpretation.
He told me that the hardest thing he ever had to do as a musician was when he was in the service working with musicians who were trained as ‘legit’ musicians – where ‘legit’ was a term of art and, for all I know, may still be in use. They simply could not get the hang of jazz rhythm. It wasn’t merely that jazz rhythms cannot be readily notated, but the musicians simply could not get the hang of the rhythm.
That problem certainly wasn’t confined to the particular musicians he encountered in the service. It seemed to be a widely recognized problem. It showed up in high school concert band when we had pieces that were supposed to swing. It was difficult for the band to do.
I later found out, though practical experience, that proficiency in jazz did not automatically translate into proficiency in Latin rhythms. And a musician I played with in a rhythm and blues band maintained that RnB musicians could not play rock rhythms idiomatically. My sense is that jazz, rock, RnB, and Latin music are rhythmically closer to one another than any of them is to ‘legit’ music (that is, European concert and military music).
I have no idea whether or not this has been studied. If not, it would be worth looking into.
Best,
Bill B
