Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain © 2016 American Psychological Association

2016, Vol. 26, No. 3, 211–219 0275-3987/16/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000144

Age-Related Changes Affecting the Learning of Music Performance Skills

for Older Adults
James L. Reifinger Jr.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale

This paper surveys research relevant to the learning of music performance skills in mid to late adulthood
with the aim of identifying how the process of teaching and learning these skills may differ at this age
as compared with youth. First, research related to the acquisition of musical expertise is presented in
order to establish what is known about the development of music performance skills. Next, theories and
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research findings related to characteristics of adult learning and musical skills are presented. Finally,
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

basic research studies are presented that have examined age-related differences in learning and perform-
ing fine motor tasks such as those used when performing music. These studies indicate that learning
occurs at all ages, although at slower rates with older adults due to changes in cognitive and psychomotor
functioning. The findings are considered in relation to skills used when performing music and suggest
that music learning and performance may be affected by age-related differences in music reading
responses, practice effects, motor memory development, and aural capacities. Research findings also
prompt suggestions for adaptations with older adults that may improve teaching and learning.

Keywords: music performance, older adult, learning, skills, age

In everyday situations people tend to be surprised when adults
talk about their instrumental music lessons. Why might this be the
case? Learning to play an instrument is often viewed as an en-
deavor that commences in childhood and continues through earlier
adulthood for those who persevere, but musical development can
occur at any time during the life span. Furthermore, once acquired,
musical skills can be maintained and improved during old age.
Opportunities to learn or improve music performance skills are
pursued by adults of all ages and ability levels, from beginners to
advanced performers. In a survey of 275 audience members at-
tending a musical performance, Bowles (1991) found that 67%
stated they would consider taking a music course, and the highest
level of interest was for performance courses. Requested levels of
study indicated that 72% were at the beginner level, 22% at the
intermediate level, and 6% at the advanced level. Certain life
events such as retirement, divorce, or the death of a spouse or
relative have been cited as the catalyst for a decision to initiate or
resume active music study, based on self-reports of older amateur
pianists ages 53 to 87 years (Taylor, 2011). Piano was the most
commonly played instrument in a small sample of older adults
(Hanna-Pladdy & MacKay, 2011). Frequently cited reasons for
taking piano lessons in adulthood in Cooper’s (2001) sample were
development of personal skills (55%) and personal pleasure (45%),
with 78% reporting that they enjoyed practicing.
This article was published Online First May 16, 2016.
JAMES L. REIFINGER, Jr. is an assistant professor of music at South-
ern Illinois University Carbondale. His research interests include music
literacy, assessment, and music cognition.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to James L.
Reifinger, Jr., School of Music, Southern Illinois University Carbondale,
1000 South Normal Avenue, Carbondale, IL 62901. E-mail: reifinger@
alumni.iu.edu
Pioneers in the adult music education movement, Ernst and
Emmons (1992) founded their instrumental music program in 1991
for adults 50 years of age and older. Called the New Horizons
Band, this program was designed to provide an avenue for older
adults who wanted to be actively involved in music making.
Presently over 200 New Horizons organizations are listed on the
New Horizons International Music Association website and many
of these groups now open their membership to adults of any age
(“New Horizons Groups,” 2016). Although it may not be possible
to develop the technical skills of an élite performer later in life,
older adults can learn to perform music at a level that results in a
tremendous personal pleasure and a sense of accomplishment
(Ernst & Emmons, 1992). A study by Gembris (as cited in Gem-
bris, 2012) found that an amateur musician’s self-reported personal
best performance on an instrument can occur anytime throughout
one’s life. Among the senior citizens (Mage ⫽ 71 years) inter-
viewed in his study, 30% indicated that they currently reached
90% to 100% of their previous best instrumental performance
level.
Though the pursuit of musical learning is common at all age
levels, much of the research that examines the developmental
process in music learning is generally limited to the period of
infancy through early adulthood (Prickett, 2003). Likewise, music
teacher preparation programs focus almost exclusively on how to
teach music to children and young adults. Coffman (2002) pointed
out that the body of research on music education with adults is
only beginning to emerge. Psychomusicology directed attention to
the topic in 2002 with an entire special volume on the Psychology
of Music and Aging (Volume 18). While advanced aging is some-
times associated with overt changes that can hinder learning, such
as diminished acuity in hearing and vision, and increased ortho-
pedic challenges, music performance skills include covert pro-
cesses that may also change with age and affect learning. With
practice, improvements in performance skills result from specific

211
 212
adaptations that are physiological, psychomotor, and cognitive in
nature (Lehmann & Ericsson, 1997). Age-related changes in per-
ceptual, cognitive, and motor functioning that are known to occur
may have an effect on the process of learning music performance
skills in adulthood, although, as Halpern and Bartlett (2010)
pointed out, little research has examined these changes in relation
to music learning.
Musical skills and progress in acquiring them manifests with
great variability across individuals at any age, making comparisons
among age levels difficult. Furthermore, very few studies have
examined age-related differences in skill development and perfor-
mance with actual music performance tasks. Studies examining
age-related differences in the cognitive and psychomotor aspects
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of the learning process, however, are providing a growing body of
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experimental evidence that may explain differences in extent and
rate of music skill acquisition across the life span.
This paper reviews research examining facets of cognitive and
psychomotor performance relevant to music learning in mid to late
adulthood to elucidate how the process of teaching and learning
music performance skills may differ at this age as compared with
youth. Because music performance is a multifaceted task involving
the integration of many different skills, the scope of this review
aims to include the range of topics that might affect learning of
music performance skills, precluding an exhaustive review of each
topic. The review includes representative studies on each topic that
employed musical tasks or tasks that most closely resemble the
process of learning and performing music, as very little research
has been conducted with actual musical instruments. Additionally,
the studies cited are limited to individuals in good to excellent
health—relevant to those who want to pursue active music making
opportunities in midlife and later adulthood. An introductory sec-
tion provides a brief overview of music skill development and
theories related to learning differences across age. A concluding
section summarizes findings for adult learners and uses the cited
research literature to provide recommendations for tailoring music
training to address the unique capacities of learners who are in mid
to late adulthood.
Developing Music Performance Skill
Many studies examining the development of music skills have
focused on achievement of an élite performance level. The élite
performers in a large sample interviewed by Manturzewska (1990)
all began musical study no later than the age of nine years,
suggesting that the early developmental stages of childhood may
be a critical period to initiate musical study in order to achieve an
élite skill level. Rather than referring to a critical period with
rigidly defined age boundaries, recent studies are suggesting the
possibility of a sensitive period for music training in childhood, a
period during which musical experiences may have a greater
influence on development (Bailey & Penhune, 2010). Bailey and
Penhune (2010), for example, found some differences in rhythmic
abilities of young adult musicians (Mage ⫽ 26 years) who were
early trained (initiated music training on or before age 7) versus
late-trained (started after age 7), but were statistically equal in total
years of musical experience and performance on cognitive tests.
When tapping along with aurally presented rhythm phrases, the
two groups did not differ in percent correct (tapped within half of
the time interval between notes) or asynchrony (length of deviation
REIFINGER
between each aural stimulus and the tap), but early trained musi-
cians were significantly more accurate in a measured of intertap
deviation (the deviation of time interval between each pair of taps
from the actual time interval of each pair of notes in the stimulus),
indicating that early trained musicians had enhanced auditory
rhythm synchronization abilities as compared with late-trained
musicians. Although it might be auspicious to beginning music
study at an early age, the attainment of an élite performance level
is not the goal for most adults who are striving to develop and
improve their music performance skills.
Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Römer (1993) suggested that the
ideal preconditions for initiating the musical study are perceived
talent and enjoyment of the activities, not age. They concluded that
different types of musical engagement vary in terms of their effect
on skill improvement in music performance. The type of musical
engagement found to have a strong relationship with performance
skill improvement is identified as “deliberate practice”—activities
that address specific goals and strategies. A series of articles offer
a theoretical framework of deliberate practice and describe specific
ways to gain the maximum benefit from practice time (Ericsson &
Lehmann, 1996; Krampe & Ericsson, 1996; Lehmann & Ericsson,
1997). With deliberate practice, specific practice goals are formu-
lated and students continually monitor achievement toward those
goals during practice. Students must be fully attentive to their
playing in order to notice areas of potential improvement and to
avoid errors. Inadequate strategies will limit progress, even with
the most motivated individuals and extended practice. Sloboda,
Davidson, Howe, and Moore (1996) found that high achievers
tended to maintain more consistent practice schedules and tended
to focus on technical skills in the morning. Ericsson et al. (1993)
stressed that it is more important to identify and engage in activ-
ities that are most likely to result in desired achievements rather
than trying to maximize the number of hours of practice. Higher
performance levels have been shown to correlate with the amount
of deliberate practice, even when age differences are controlled
(Ericsson et al., 1993); furthermore, performance levels attained
with years of accumulated experience alone are much lower than
the levels attained by individuals who adhere to regimens of
deliberate practice (Ericsson & Lehmann, 1996).
Ericsson et al. (1993) listed several important prerequisites for
effective practice, including access to training facilities, appropri-
ate training exercises, and proper sequencing of instruction. Ac-
cess to appropriate instruction is also an important factor contrib-
uting to performance gains and achievement of higher levels of
performance in shorter amounts of time (Lehmann & Ericsson,
1998). In order to sustain the regular activity of practice for months
and years, duration should be limited to 2 to 4 hours a day due to
the considerable effort that is required. A practice schedule that is
too lengthy or intense can lead to exhaustion, burn out, and even
injury. Studies of training have suggested no benefit from practice
durations exceeding 4 hours per day and reduced benefits from
practice exceeding 2 hours (Ericsson et al., 1993). Most impor-
tantly, the data from Ericsson’s et al. (1993) study showed that
improvement occurred whether training began at an early age or a
later age. Although individuals who started early in life and main-
tain intense practice schedules had a higher level of performance
throughout development, improvement did occur for those who
started later in life, and was more dependent on the level of
deliberate practice rather than the starting age of training.
 AGE-RELATED CHANGES AFFECTING LEARNING
More recently, some researchers argued that the focus on delib-
erate practice has been too limiting, emphasizing environmental
influences without taking into account other factors that may affect
skill development (Ruthsatz, Detterman, Griscom, & Cirullo,
2008). Detterman and Ruthsatz (1999) theorized that attained
levels of achievement are influenced by a combination of three
factors: general intelligence, domain specific skills, and practice.
Meinz and Hambrick (2010) found that, while deliberate practice
accounted for 45% of the variance in sight-reading performance of
pianists, working memory capacity accounted for an additional 7%
of the variance beyond that accounted for by deliberate practice. In
a meta-analysis of eight previously published studies examining
deliberate practice in music, Hambrick et al. (2014) reported that
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the mean correlation of deliberate practice with music performance
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achievement was r ⫽ .52 and concluded that future study should
consider the influence of other variables that may account for
individual differences in music performance achievement. In ad-
dition to considering deliberate practice, they suggested that future
research continue to examine factors such as starting age, general
intelligence, working memory, heredity, and personality traits such
as persistence and passion. Platz, Kopiez, Lehmann, and Wolf
(2014) argued that other variables have explained only a smaller
proportion of the variance in achievement. Their meta-analysis of
13 studies found a correlation between deliberate practice and
music achievement of r ⫽ .61, and they suggested that this
correlation may be a theoretical lower bound of the true effect of
deliberate practice because estimates of practice durations can
include suboptimal practice activities in addition to deliberate
practice. Though researchers continue to try to identify additional
relevant factors and attributes and their relative importance in the
development and improvement in performance skills, deliberate
practice has consistently been identified as the single, most im-
portant factor, by far, influencing improvement in performance
skills.
Characteristics of Adult Learners
Although many facets of the educational process are consistent
regardless of age, certain characteristics of adult learners may have
an effect on learning. Older students have a wealth of life experi-
ence that provides a basis for evaluating musical performances in
terms of tuning, precision, expression, and so forth. One of the
functions that music teachers working with older beginners may
need to assume, according to Bruhn (2002), is to mediate these
students’ personal views of their performance so that they can
enjoy the music despite an awareness of their meager playing. It
would seem that adults could be more self-directed as learners and
could more readily use metacognitive or self-regulating behaviors
than young students. However, based on interviews with 29 piano
students, ages 21 to 77 years, Chen (1996) concluded that music
instruction with adult learners at beginning or intermediate levels
should encourage the students’ self-directed learning. Interview
responses indicated that many students needed to develop better
thinking and problem-solving skills; 40% stated that they could not
decide whether they were playing well until they received their
teacher’s positive feedback, and 72% stated that the only solution
they could think of when practicing a problematic spot was to
practice it over and over.
213
Addressing age-related differences in skill learning and perfor-
mance, Baltes (1997) pointed out that biology-based plasticity that
accompanies the process of physical maturation plays a large role
in cognitive development in the early years. If biology-based
plasticity decreases with maturity, opportunities to interact with
culture become more essential to maintain growth and reach higher
levels of cognitive development. Baltes (1997) offered the selec-
tive optimization with compensation model (SOC), which he devel-
oped along with colleagues as a general framework for developmental
theory. SOC explains how individuals adapt to age-related changes in
cognitive and motor processes that affect performance by utilizing a
combination of three types of strategies. Selection involves choices of
goals and outcomes that are in alignment with current capacity, such
as selecting appropriate repertoire or choosing what to focus on when
practicing. Optimization involves increasing efficacy and functioning
to compensate for changes, including strategies such as practicing
more or taking lessons to gain new ideas. Compensation involves
making adjustments in some manner to counteract changes or losses,
such as playing a piece at a different tempo, using different fingerings
or bowings, or taking breaks more frequently when practicing.
Another framework by which age-related changes in learning
can be considered is the theory of fluid and crystallized intelli-
gence (Horn & Cattell, 1967). Fluid intelligence includes abilities
used in mental manipulation such as reasoning, abstract thinking,
and concept formation. Crystallized intelligence refers to accumu-
lated knowledge, the body of information acquired through prior
interaction of fluid ability with the environment. Because fluid
intelligence involves mental mechanics, it would be subject to
decline with age. Conversely, because crystallized intelligence is
gained through experience, it would tend to increase with age.
Horn and Cattell (1967) found that, on average, fluid intelligence
was higher for younger versus older adults, and crystalized intel-
ligence was higher for older versus younger adults.
With increases in domain-specific crystalized intelligence, indi-
viduals acquire more extensive cognitive resources that may be
used to facilitate higher levels of performance. Seminal research
by Salthouse (1984) with typists between the ages of 20 and 72
found that older expert typists compensated for age-related motor
slowing (as evidenced by performance on other motor tasks) by
using the cognitive strategy of reading ahead when typing, thereby
using advanced cues to maintain fast typing speeds. Because of the
benefits achieved with the use of more effective cognitive strate-
gies developed through practice, Ericsson et al. (1993) concluded
that individual differences in simple reaction time (RT) in general
may be unrelated to the attainment of expert performance. They
pointed out that untrained adults can acquire new cognitive skills
consisting of qualitatively different processes that allow the limits
imposed by speed and memory capacities to be overcome. Simi-
larly, Palmer and Meyer (2000) pointed out that conceptual knowl-
edge about pitch relationships is distinct and disassociated from
the movement knowledge acquired when learning to perform the
pitches. They found that as skill level increases, knowledge about
conceptual dimensions rather than knowledge about movement
dimensions had a greater effect on facilitating performance on
transfer tasks. Acquiring and using information about conceptual
relationships in music may be particularly beneficial in improving
older adults’ performance.
In later adulthood, learning may be affected by a greater sus-
ceptibility to distraction by irrelevant stimuli. Mentally screening
 214 REIFINGER
out irrelevant contextual stimulation involves inhibitory processes.
Hasher and Zacks (1988) found that inhibitory processes decline
with age, leading to heightened distractibility and proneness to
interference from irrelevant processing during memory encoding
and retrieval. Additionally, age-related deficits in the performance
of relevant motor and cognitive skills may have an effect on the
rate of acquisition or improvement of performance skills for adult
learners. Krampe (1997) listed components of skills related to
musical performance that are susceptible to age-related changes.
Those relevant across different types of instruments include simple
motor speed, bimanual coordination, timing capacity, sequencing,
and dynamic variation in expressive performance.
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Beat, Tempo, and Rhythm
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Maintaining a steady beat can occur without attentional or
working memory processes, therefore it does not undergo age-
related decline. For healthy nonmusicians, ability to maintain a
steady beat along with an external stimulus remains stable through
old age (for a review, see Krampe, Doumas, Lavrysen, & Rapp,
2010). Turgeon and Wing (2012) found that beat tapping motor
accuracy begins declining only above the age of 85 years, and
self-selected tapping tempo slows with age. Tempo preference also
slows; a study by Jennen and Gembris (as cited in Gembris, 2012)
in which individuals were asked to choose among recordings of the
same piece at different tempos found a curvilinear relationship
between age and performance tempo, with individuals above 60
years of age preferring slower tempos.
When keeping a beat in the absence of a pacing signal or at slow
tempos in which beats may need to be mentally subdivided,
attention and working memory are required to a greater extent
(Krampe et al., 2010). Subdivisions need not be explicitly counted,
but still require attention and working memory. The cost of addi-
tional demands on working memory is more pronounced in older
age when attentional and working memory resources may already
be diminished (Blanchet, Belleville, & Peretz, 2006). Krampe et al.
(2010) found that beat tapping ability differed significantly be-
tween the younger (Mage ⫽ 24 years) and older (Mage ⫽ 67 years)
adults under conditions where additional cognitive tasks were
performed (verbalizing a visually presented digit or mentally
tracking the number of odd to even switches of visually presented
digits). When simultaneously performing the additional memory
task, participants in both age groups significantly shortened the
length of time between beats at a slow tempo (MM ⫽ 30), but only
older adults significantly shortened the length of time between
beats at a fast tempo (MM ⫽ 110). While the competing memory
task demands impaired performance for both age groups at a slow
tempo, older adults also experienced performance costs at the fast
tempo. This suggests that while younger students may not be
affected by certain distractions or additional cognitive demands if
a music performance tasks is easy, older adults’ performance may
be affected under the same circumstances.
Investigating age differences in rhythm performance skills with
nonmusicians, Krampe, Mayr, and Kliegl (2005) examined
younger (Mage ⫽ 19 years) and older (Mage ⫽ 70 years) adults’
ability to tap a simple and complex rhythm pattern at various
tempos. The simple rhythm consisted of three beats with two
different durations (quarter-eighth-eighth-quarter), and the com-
plex rhythm consisted of six beats with three different durations
(dotted quarter-eighth-quarter - quarter-eighth-dotted quarter). Al-
though the two age groups performed similarly with the simple
rhythm, older adults performed significantly more trials with errors
with the complex rhythm. Older adults also experienced signifi-
cantly greater decreases in accuracy than younger adults at increas-
ingly faster tempos. A second experiment compared performance
with rhythms composed of subdivisions that were either symmet-
rical (eight-quarter-dotted quarter) or asymmetrical (eighth-dotted
quarter-quarter). Although no age differences were found in pro-
ducing the symmetrical rhythm, older adults produced the asym-
metrical rhythm with significantly greater inaccuracy than younger
adults. The older adults showed a significantly greater tendency to
distort rhythms in the direction of simpler ratios, while preserving
the boundaries of beats and subdivisions.
With musicians, Krampe, Engbert, and Kliegl (2001) assessed
rhythm performance skill of younger (Mage ⫽ 24 years) and older
(Mage ⫽ 71 years) accomplished pianists (deemed to be accom-
plished by fluently playing Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C major). The
first of two rhythms, performed as an ostinato, was a four-beat
syncopated rhythm (left hand taps all beats and right hand taps
beats one and four and all the half beats between). No differences
by age were found in rhythmic accuracy or maintenance of tempo.
The second rhythm was a four-beat polyrhythm (left hand taps the
beat and right hand taps 5 against those 4). Rhythmic accuracy and
maintenance of tempo differed significantly with age. Rhythmic
mistakes were made on 3% of the trials by the younger group and
19% of the trials by the older group; tempo deviations were made
on 15% of the trials by the younger group and 24% of the trials by
the older group. Greater differences between the two groups in
tempo maintenance occurred at slower tempos. The researchers
pointed out that the deviations in performance were examined at
the level of accuracy necessary to consider psychological theories
of motor processing differences. They clarified, however, that in a
real-life context, the majority of the less than perfect trials would
correspond to acceptable musical performances.
Reading Music While Performing
Basic research studies in psychology have examined age differ-
ences in learning and executing fine motor skills used in tasks
similar to playing a musical instrument. To the extent that music is
not memorized, music performance includes notation reading that
requires perception of and response to visual stimuli. Slower
response times to stimuli by older adults versus younger adults is
perhaps the most frequently replicated finding in experimental
psychology of aging (Kausler, 1994). From early to late adulthood,
the correlation of age and RT is positive and is even stronger with
choice-response tasks—those in which the individual must make a
choice about which movement to use based on the stimuli pre-
sented. A recent study found that choice RT increases significantly
by age, but only by 1.9 to 2.8 ms/year between the ages of 18 and
65; when comparing the oldest and youngest participant groups,
the mean latency increased by 120 ms (Woods, Wyma, Yund,
Herron, & Reed, 2015).
Light and Spirduso (1990) examined age differences in choice-
response time when performing simple fine motor movements of
the fingers, similar to movements used when playing an instru-
ment. Four types of finger movement responses were timed: right
index flexion, right pinch, bilateral index flexion, and bilateral
 AGE-RELATED CHANGES AFFECTING LEARNING
pinch. Participants represented three age groups: young (Mage ⫽
22 years), middle-aged (Mage ⫽ 43 years), and older adults
(Mage ⫽ 63 years). Reaction time to randomly ordered stimuli
prompting responses was measured in milliseconds. Responses
were significantly slower for the bilateral tasks than for the uni-
lateral tasks for all age groups. There was also a significant
interaction between age and movement type. The RT of the young
adults was significantly quicker than the other two groups on all
tasks except the right index flexion, which was performed with
similar speed by middle-aged adults, but not the older adults. For
the middle-aged adults, RT slowed significantly for right pinching
movement as compared with the right flexion. For the older adults,
the RT for all four movement tasks differed significantly. As with
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the other groups, the unilateral movements required less RT,
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suggesting that bilateral movements are more complex. This con-
clusion corroborates music research by Krampe and Ericsson
(1996), who found that the maximum tempo of single finger
tapping was the same for younger and older adult amateur pianists,
but the maximum tempo of alternating taps was slower for older
adults. In sum, older adults are slower than younger adults on
choice-response fine motor tasks and slowing as a function of task
difficulty is disproportionately greater for older adults.
The locus of motor slowing has been investigated in numerous
studies. Researchers have isolated the premotor and the motor
components of a movement response by using electromyographic
recordings of muscle-action potentials (see Kausler, 1994 for a
review.) The premotor component is the time that occurs between
the presentation of the stimulus and the production of increased
muscle firing (rate of nerve impulses). The motor component is the
time between this increase in action potential and the initiation of
the actual movement response. Most of the response latency has
been found to occur in the premotor period, the time during which
a cognitive choice of response type must be made. As a result,
response selection has been suggested as the main locus of dis-
proportionate slowing on choice-response tasks.
Effects of Practice
The decision-making process required on choice-response tasks
can be partially attenuated with routines in which a pattern of
motor responses is learned through repeated practice. The effect of
practice on reducing choice-response RT at different age ranges
was investigated by Gaillard, Destrebocqz, Michiels, and Cleere-
mans (2009). Participants represented three age groups: young
(Mage ⫽ 23 years), middle-aged (Mage ⫽ 46 years), and older
adults (Mage ⫽ 71 years). The task involved viewing four dots
arranged left to right, each representing a designated QWERTY
keyboard key. When a small black circle appeared below a dot, the
participant pressed the appropriate key as quickly as possible. The
same sequence of 96 key presses was practiced for either 15 or 30
trials, allowing the assessment of speed improvement resulting
from practice. Additionally, a different sequence of stimuli was
used in the second last block, allowing the assessment of slowing
on a choice-response task with unpredictable stimuli.
Learning was evident by a significant reduction of RT with
practice occurring for all age levels. However, response time
differed and increased significantly with age. When practice rou-
tines extended for 30 trial blocks, immediately following a rest
period within the practice schedule, the older group’s response
215
time decreased significantly more than the other groups, thereby
making older adults’ response time notably similar to that of the
middle-aged adults. Fraser, Li, and Penhune (2009), discussed
below, found a similar significant benefit from a rest period for
older adults. This may indicate that rest periods are particularly
beneficial in the learning process when working with older adults.
Future research might investigate length and frequency of rest
periods in relationship to specific task demands and age for opti-
mal learning with older adults.
Motor Memory
Speed of responding can be an indication of how well the skill
is integrated into memory as a motor routine. Performing on an
instrument often involves the execution of motor patterns that are
overlearned through practice so as to be highly automatized and
rendered with little or no associated cognitive effort (Palmer,
2006). A widely accepted model of motor learning is the Fitts-
Posner three-stage theory of motor skill acquisition (Fitts & Pos-
ner, 1967). In the cognition state the learner has to think about and
consciously control the movements. In music, knowledge of what
to perform may be represented in symbolic form and must undergo
cognitive transformation into a motor action for responses to be
produced, requiring considerable attentional capacity. With prac-
tice the integration stage is attained at which the learner still needs
to think about the movement, but parts of the movement are
executed more automatically and can be performed with less
attention. When performing music, the symbols guiding perfor-
mance may still need to be processed, but some implicit knowl-
edge has been acquired about the familiar order of the stimuli,
which results in faster transformation. Finally, at the automation
stage movement can be performed with little or no attention and
the movement is fluid, accurate, and seemingly effortless. Chunks
of motor responses have been learned and can be produced without
processing individual stimuli, thus reducing cognitive demands
and facilitating advanced preparation.
The effect of age on learning and the retention of motor se-
quences performed on a music keyboard was examined by Fraser
et al. (2009). Participants were not currently practicing a musical
instrument, had less than three years of musical experience, and
represented two age groups: younger (Mage ⫽ 24 years), and older
adults (Mage ⫽ 65 years). The task involved using four fingers on
the right hand to play 10-item sequences on the keyboard in
response to visual prompts. Blocks of 14 trials were performed,
with one repeated sequence occurring for 10 of the trials inter-
spersed with random sequences. Three blocks were completed on
Day 1 and two blocks were completed on Day 2. Sequence
learning was assessed in terms of accuracy (percent correct) and
RT (length of time to produce correct key presses following the
onset of the visual stimulus) and was compared between the two
age groups both within-days (learning) and across-days (retention).
Learning was evident by significantly faster speed of responding
when performing the repeated sequence versus the random se-
quences. For younger adults, speed was significantly faster when
performing the repeated sequence versus the random sequences for
all three practice blocks on Day 1. For the older adults, perfor-
mance speed differed by sequence type on Blocks 2 and 3, but not
on Block 1, indicating that the older adults needed more practice
than the younger adults to learn the repeated sequence. Though
 216 REIFINGER
learning was evident for both age groups, both within- and across-
days, the younger adults were significantly faster overall in re-
sponding than older adults.
Verwey, Abrahamse, Ruitenberg, Jiménez, and Kleine (2011)
examined whether sequence length or segmentation of longer
sequences had an effect on fine-motor learning and if effects
differed by age. Participants were young (Mage ⫽ 22 years) and
middle-aged adults (Mage ⫽ 58 years). The task involved learning
to perform 3- and 6-item key press sequences on a QWERTY
keyboard using DFG and JKL with the index, middle, and ring
fingers of both hands. Visual stimuli on a screen showed six boxes
corresponding to the finger position on the keys with a space in the
middle representing the H key. A color change in a box indicated
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
which key to press. One 3-item and one 6-item sequence were each
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
practiced 24 times in a randomly alternating order for one practice
block. Six blocks were completed, with breaks between blocks, so
that each sequence was practiced for a total 144 of repetitions.
Additionally, the 6-item sequence was presented as a single unit to
half the participants (the unstructured group), and with a pause in
the middle to the other half (the prestructured group). Performance
was evaluated in terms of decreased response time and increased
accuracy with practice.
Results indicated that both age groups improved significantly,
increasing response speed with practice on both the 3-item and the
6-item sequence. The speed increase was significantly greater for
the young than the middle-aged adults. Average improvement for
each age group was compared after controlling for initial response
speed differences between the two groups. The improvement
achieved across practice blocks by the middle-aged adults was
only 75% of the improvement that the young adults were able to
achieve with practice on the 3-item sequence and only 62% of the
improvement that the young adults were able to achieve on the
6-item sequence. However, the two age groups did not differ
significantly in their rate of improvement on the prestructured
6-item sequence. The researchers suggested that, to facilitate learn-
ing, middle-aged adults might be instructed to avoid reading stim-
uli as individual notes as soon as possible in the learning process.
They further suggested that older adults may benefit from practic-
ing movement patterns in short series, preparing and executing
these short series as a single integrated unit, and being aware of the
individual movements that make up the pattern.
Auditory Memory
In addition to using visual stimuli and motor memory, auditory
memory can be accessed when playing a musical instrument to
guide the performer and to provide information to facilitate ad-
vanced preparation. Finney and Palmer (2003) examined the effect
of the presence or absence of sound while pianists (Mage ⫽ 22
years) learned piano pieces, each with 23 notes. Speed and accu-
racy did not differ significantly between sound and no-sound
learning conditions, indicating the absence of sound had no effect
on learning when using notation. However, auditory feedback
during practice does appear to contribute to the formation of
mental representations that may be used when performing from
memory. Pianists’ memorized performances were significantly
more accurate when sound was present during practice trials than
when motor movements were practiced without sound (Finney &
Palmer, 2003; Highben & Palmer, 2004). The presence or absence
of sound significantly interacted with pianists’ aural imagery abil-
ities such that those with high aural ability scores were less
affected by the lack of sound during practice than those with low
aural ability scores (Highben & Palmer, 2004). This study assessed
aural ability using an adaptation of the Wing test in which partic-
ipants indicated whether the 7–10 note melody that was heard
matched the notation.
Many studies examining age differences in aural memory of
music have used discrimination or recognition tasks, but tasks
consisting of short-term same-different discriminations are be-
lieved to underestimate the extent of long-term encoding of me-
lodic information (Halpern & Bartlett, 2010). Greater encoding
and later recognition of music presented aurally was found to
occur for music associated with a pleasant (consonant) verses
unpleasant (dissonant) affect, and the music affect variable had a
significantly greater effect on recognition memory for older adults
(Mage ⫽ 74 years) verses younger (Mage ⫽ 22 years) or middle-
aged adults (Mage ⫽ 49 years; Parks & Clancy Dollinger, 2014).
Further research is needed to examine how long-term encoding
and retrieval of auditory images with repetition may affect the
learning of music performance skills, and if these processes differ
with age. Studies also need to investigate if age differences in
central auditory processing abilities might affect music learning.
For example, declines in auditory cognition for older adults, even
those with normal hearing, have been associated with increased
difficulty in understanding speech in presence of competing
sounds (for a review see Alain, Zendel, Hutka, & Bidelman, 2014),
and such deficits have also been associated with increased thresh-
olds for detecting mistuning of harmonics (Alain, McDonald,
Ostroff, & Schneider, 2001).
Implications and Conclusions
Although basic studies examining fine motor learning and per-
formance help to explain age-related differences in general capac-
ities that may affect music learning, future studies need to examine
learning and performance with a greater range of tasks, particularly
those that more closely approximate actual musical tasks. Even in
basic studies employing tasks performed on a music keyboard, the
end goal may not be the production of music (e.g., Fraser et al.,
2009). The production of musical sounds is the motivation and
purpose for musical study at all ages and ability levels and may be
one of the most important dimensions compelling learners to
produce their best possible motor and cognitive efforts. When
learning to play a piece of music, striving to produce, and then
immediately hearing, the expected sounds can result in a gratifying
emotional response. Parks and Clancy Dollinger (2014) pointed
out that our knowledge about the relation between emotion and
cognition might expand by a better understanding of the underly-
ing nature of music processing, especially in adulthood and aging.
Music performance is a very complex process, integrating facets in
the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains and including
multimodal sensory input and imagery (aural, visual, tactile, and
motor). The interaction of these various facets when learning and
performing music at various ages should also continue to be
considered. Additionally, the technical skills required when per-
forming vary from one instrument to the next; therefore, an indi-
vidual may experience difficulty trying to learn one instrument, but
then experience success with another instrument.
 AGE-RELATED CHANGES AFFECTING LEARNING
Based on research findings cited above, the following summary
and recommendations for praxis with adult learners are offered:
• Adult learners need teacher feedback and guidance appro-
priate to their skill level similar to that provided to younger
learners (Chen, 1996), but, in addition, teachers may also
need to mediate an adult’s critical self-evaluation (Bruhn,
2002).
• To maintain achieved performance levels into later adult-
hood, older adults may mitigate age-related declines in
motor or cognitive abilities by using techniques involving
selection, optimization, and compensation (Baltes, 1997).
Selection involves choosing appropriate repertoire. Optimi-
zation of efficacy and functioning may be accomplished
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
with strategies such as using conceptual knowledge to
increase reading and processing speed. Compensation may
involve procedures such as making adjustments in tempos
and bolstering advanced preparation.
• Older adult learners may experience a decreased ability to
avoid distractions from irrelevant stimuli due to declines
with inhibitory process (Hasher & Zacks, 1988). Changes
in the auditory system with age may also result in decreased
efficiency to hear sounds within a context including com-
peting sounds. Additionally, older adults may experience
disproportionately greater difficulty than younger adults in
situations requiring divided attention (Blanchet et al., 2006;
Krampe et al., 2010). Minimizing distractions and limiting
the range of focus may be beneficial for older adult learn-
ers.
• Beat-keeping ability is not affected by age (Krampe et al.,
2010), though older adults may prefer a slower tempo
(Jennen & Gembris, as cited in Gembris, 2012). When
performing simple rhythms, performance accuracy is sim-
ilar across ages. When performing complex rhythms, older
adults who are less skilled tend to simplify rhythms while
preserving the metric accents (Krampe et al., 2005).
• Motor response time on choice-response tasks slows with
age (Kausler, 1994). Reading notation while performing a
sequence of notes may constitute a choice-response to the
extent that movement sequences are not encoded into motor
memory. Slowing has been attributed to an increase in time
needed for selection of the correct movement response
(Kausler, 1994). Motor responses become disproportion-
ately slower as compared with younger adults when tasks
become more difficult (Light & Spirduso, 1990).
• When learning a sequence of fine-motor movements, older
adults need more repetition (practice) than younger adults
to develop similar motor memory. Though learners should
be aware of the individual items that make up a group of
notes, the focus should shift to the unit rather than individ-
ual notes. The movement used to perform the notes should
be learned, prepared, and executed as a single unit, rather
than resting on individual movements. Segmenting longer
units into shorter units may be beneficial (Fraser et al.,
2009; Gaillard et al., 2009; Verwey et al., 2011).
• Periodic rest periods during practice or rehearsal may be
particularly beneficial to the learning process for older
adults. Motor performance of older adults has been found to
217
improve significantly following a rest period (Fraser et al.,
2009; Gaillard et al., 2009).
Perhaps the most important finding is that music performance
skills can be developed and maintained even in later adulthood.
Musical study is often pursued as a source of recreation and
enjoyment in the later years of life. Though it is beyond the scope
of this paper, studies have shown that involvement with music can
be a factor contributing to healthy aging (Akbaraly et al., 2009;
Bugos, Perlstein, McCrae, Brophy, & Bedenbaugh, 2007; Sein-
feld, Figueroa, Ortiz-Gil, & Sanchez-Vives, 2013; Verghese et al.,
2003; Wan & Schlaug, 2010). Teachers and researchers of music
learning should continue to identify and adapt to the unique needs
of adult learners, thereby leading to more successful learning
outcomes and continued engagement in satisfying musical expe-
riences.
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Accepted April 5, 2016 䡲

Kleine, E. (2011). Motor skill learning in the middle-aged: Limited

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