[Smt-talk] Aptitude testing (correction)

[Elizabeth W. Marvin]

Dear SMT-talk,

I am writing to correct something in my previous post about the AMMA and
music aptitude testing.  Edwin Gordon has published a number of different
tests of music aptitude.  I now realize that in my previous post I was
describing his MAP test (Musical Aptitude Profile).  The MAP test is for
grades 5-12 and is the one with the ³similar² and ³different² items that I
described before. The AMMA is shorter, takes about 20 minutes to administer,
and it is a same-different test where some items differ in pitch and others
in rhythm.  Students get a rhythm score, a pitch score, and a composite
score.

One of my colleagues at Eastman, Richard Grunow (with two of his former
students), just published a study in a journal called ³AUDEA,² which is
published by the Gordon Institute for Music Learning -- GIML.  It compares
students at three different institutions for AMMA scores, to compare their
scores with published norms.  Interestingly, at some of the institutions
they find differences among students by instrument (e.g., higher aptitutes
in keyboard and percussion (!) and lower in brass and string (!) players ‹
not what you would expect).  These results vary by institution, so they are
not generalizable.  The article also finds that at schools of music the
averages for each AMMA measure are significantly higher than Gordon¹s
published norms.  The published norms are, of course, for the general
population ‹ not for selective music schools ‹ so this is what you might
expect.  I¹m not sure how widely available AUDEA is ‹ it seems you have to
be a member of GIML to access it online.

Best,
Betsy Marvin
Eastman School of Music

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