Music in early childhood: Perception, action, and social experience.

Research on early musical development has expanded beyond perceptual abilities to encompass movement, social interaction, and broader developmental processes. This Opinion article highlights three themes that illustrate this evolution: the relation between rhythm perception and movement, the role of music in caregiver-child interaction and social communication, and the developmental significance of active musical engagement. Through the lens of these themes, musical development appears as an embodied and socially embedded process in which perception, action, and social interaction are closely intertwined.