People are astonished that children of cultures where the spoken language is actually intoned -- China, most notably -- have a better sense of musical pitch than the children of "plain" spoken cultures.
Where is the surprise? If you were the parent of a singing-culture baby that infant would have heard you singing to her from day one. Thus the ear develops as a function of the everyday exchange with another human being.
Wow. Are we getting far from that!
In my experience, by the time an infant is 3 months old it is already too easily distracted to pick up the auditory signal pure and simple.
It would be nice if more people believed me. I can teach you how to teach your newborn to sing -- no kidding.
