Musical inventiveness of five idiots-savants.

Accounts of musical ability in idiots-savants have up till now been confined to stressing the astounding musical memory which such persons may possess. The present study investigates compositional and improvisational skills in five idiots-savants. The findings interpreted as indicating that a representational system of musical rules and structures is accessible to persons of low general intelligence, and that such a system may underlie reproductive as well as generative musical capacity.