It has been argued that pitch and rhythm represent two distinct dimensions
music perception that are processed separately and in parallel (CarrollPhelan
& Hampson, 1996; Peretz & Kolinsky, 1993). Much of the evidence
for this comes from dissociations between pitch and rhythm processing abilities
in brain injured patients (Springer & Deutsch, 1989). Our data suggest
that by age 5 clearly separable pitch and rhythmic abilities have emerged.