Children's artistic responses to musical intervals

In one experiment, White South African boys drew pictures in response to fo ur musical intervals. In the second, the subjects were of both sexes and dr awn from White, urban Black, and rural Black populations. Six intervals wer e used. Drawing content was similar cross-culturally. Consonances were perc eived as generally positive; dissonances, generally negative. There was als o an activity dimension. Children in a lower grade drew more concrete pictu res than did those in a higher grade, regardless of age. Even young listene rs were fairly consistent in their responses. This suggests that perception of musical meaning is a universal rather than culturally based phenomenon.