Is music a language? If it is, is learning to use it like learning a spoken (or signed) language? As one Psychology Today blogger puts it, “…language is a communication system consisting of (1) a set of meaningful symbols (words) and (2) a set of rules for combining those symbols (syntax) into larger meaningful units (sentences)…. Like language, music has syntax—rules for ordering elements—such as notes, chords, and intervals—into complex structures” (Ludden, 2015).

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