The development of people with intellectual disabilities requires the choice of special forms, methods and means in organizing this process, and one of these means is music.

The development of musical perception of people with intellectual disabilities is a new stage of sensory cognition, in the process of which a holistic image of musical phenomena is created. A holistic image arises from individual means of musical expression and is not reduced to their mechanical arrangement or sum; it is formed on the basis of ideas about the means of musical expression, their connection with the outside world, the totality of perceived sensations and actions. The development of the musical perception of a junior schoolchild with mental retardation as a necessary element for the formation of the child’s perception as a whole is a multifaceted process.

In general, such people improve their emotional-volitional and motivational-need spheres, the activity of perception increases, and a musical listening culture is formed.