Marilyn Zimmerman's pioneering work on the applications of Piagetian theory
to the study of children's musical development has had a profound impact,
and has stimulated a body of empirical research which is still growing. In
this paper I should like to make an appraisal of Zimmerman's contribution s
ome 40 years after her original studies, and to look at some current and fu
ture developments. It falls into three main parts. First, I shall briefly r
eview Zimmerman's pioneering work on "music conservation," and describe a r
ecent original study which investigates the effects of changing the mode of
stimulus transformation on children's performance. This leads to a more ge
neral consideration of the current status of the Piagetian model in explain
ing musical development, and two issues in particular: the implications of
the sociocultural perspective, and the study of musical creativity. The fin
al section focuses on the latter, and develops the concept of improvisation
al thinking as a key source of everyday creativity. This is illustrated and
"unpacked" by means of a detailed analysis of a short collaborative blues
improvisation by a musician (myself) and my two preschool children.