The Development of Music Aptitude and Effects On Scholastic Achievement of 8 To 12 Year Olds

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC APTITUDE AND EFFECTS ON

SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT OF 8 TO 12 YEAR OLDS
By
David Allen Johnson
B.A., Western Illinois University, 1980
M.A., Western Kentucky University, 1988
A Dissertation
Submitted to the Faculty o f the
Graduate School o f the University o f Louisville
In Partial Fulfillment o f the Requirements
For the Degree o f
Doctor o f Education
School o f Education
University o f Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
May, 2000
UMI Number 9983062
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Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company.
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC APTITUDE AND EFFECTS ON

SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT OF 8 TO 12 YEAR OLDS
By
David Allen Johnson
B.A., Western Illinois University, 1980
M.A., Western Kentucky University, 1988
A Dissertation Approved on
February 25, 2000
nowii ig Reading Committee:

By the Eollowii
Dissertation Director
ABSTRACT
This study compares hours o f music instruction with music aptitude scores and
scholastic achievement of eight- to twelve-year-old students in Jefferson County,
Louisville, Kentucky. The Kentucky Education Reform Act o f 1990 brought unintended
consequences effecting music instruction, especially in elementary schools in Jefferson
County. Twenty percent of district elementary schools have reduced or eliminated
certified music instruction since 1993.
Hypotheses explore relationships between music instruction and music aptitude
scores and relationships between music aptitude scores and scholastic achievement
scores. Edwin Gordons Intermediate Measure o f Music Audiation was administered to
240 third through sixth grade students with results compared to 1998 third and sixth
grade California Test o f Basic Skills scores and fourth and fifth grade Kentucky
Instructional Results Information System assessment scores.
Findings suggest that music aptitude is developmental in nature and is affected by
instruction. Relationships between music aptitude scores and measures o f academic
assessment support recent theories that suggest cognitive skills may be enhanced through
music instruction. Multivariate analysis allowed dependent variables o f socio-economicstatus. ethnicity, and gender to be entered into the model before estimating the influence
o f music instruction on music aptitude, and before estimating the magnitude o f
relationships between music aptitude scores and measures o f academic achievement.
Findings suggest that music aptitude is related to instruction and that music aptitude
scores highly correlate with several measures o f academic achievement including
mathematics and reading skills, across economic and ethnic lines.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This dissertation is a culmination o f several years o f scholarly guidance by
many individuals.
committee
First I would like to thank Dr. Alan Dittmer, my dissertation
chairman,
for
hours
of
reading,
editing,
and
always
cheerful
encouragement. I also owe much gratitude to members o f my committee, Dr. Loren

Waa, Dr. Acton Ostling Jr., Dr. John Fischetti, Dr. George Cunningham, and Dr.
Robert Gaddis.
I also wish to thank my parents Harry and Colletta Johnson for their love and
continued support o f my academic pursuits. My brother-in-law Dr. Mason Smith has
contributed much to this project in terms o f editing, encouragement, and experiences
shared from a true scholar.
Above all I thank my wife Martha and daughter Emma for whom this project
is dedicated.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
A BSTRA CT........................................................................................................................
tii
ACKNOW LEDGEM ENTS..............................................................................................
iv
LIST OF T A B L E S.................................................................................................... : . .
vi
LIST OF FIG U R E S.........................................................................................................
viii
CHAPTER
1.
INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF THE PRO BLEM
2.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE........................................................
13
3.
METHOD OF ST U D Y ................................................................................ 59
4.
FINDINGS..................................................................................................... 68
5.
SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION.............................................................86
APPENDIX..........................................................................................................................
106
BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................ 116
V IT A ...................................................................................................................................... 126
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE
PAGE
2.1.
Gagnes Eight Types o f Learning...........................................................16
2.2.
Gordon's Six Stages o f A udiation...........................................................26
2.3.
Gordon's Eight Levels o f the Skill Learning Sequence.........................27
2.4.
1998 SAT Scores for Students Having

Coursework/Experience in the A rts..................................................... .4 4
2.5.
Barretts 1993 Study: Correlations Between

Achievement Test Scores and the PM M A ............................................ 52
2.6.
MENC Kindergarten - Grade 4 Standards Content Standards
3.1.
Intermediate Measures o f Music Audiation

Means and Standard D eviations............................................................. 64
3.2.
Intermediate Measures o f Music Audiation Percentile N o rm s
65
4.1.
Correlational Analysis o f IMMA Scores and Music Instruction
69
4.2.
Correlation Coefficient Ratios o f IMMA Total Score

to CTBS Scores: Grade 3 ..................................................................... 70
4.3.
Correlation Coefficient Ratios o f IMMA Total Score

to CTBS Scores: Grade 6 ....................................................................... 70
4.4.
Hypothesis #1: Relationship Between Music Instruction

Hours and IMMA Total Scores Grades 3,4 , 5, & 6 ............................ 73
4.5.
Hypothesis #2: Relationship Between IMMA Total

Scores and CTBS Total Scores Grade 3 .................................................75
4.6
Hypothesis #3:Relationship Between IMMA Total

Scores and CTBS Total Scores Grade 6 .................................................76
vi
56
4.7
Hypothesis #4: Relationship Between IMMA Total Scores

and KIRIS Reading Placement Levels Grade 4 ..................................... 77
4.8
Hypothesis #5: Relationship Between IMMA Total Scores

and KIRIS Mathematics Placement Levels Grade 5 ...............................78
4.9
Hypothesis #6: Relationship Between IMMA Tonal Scores

and CTBS Reading Scores Grade 3 ...........................................................79
4.10

and CTBS Reading Scores Grade 6 ...........................................................80
4.11

And KIRIS Reading Placement Levels Grade 4 ................................... 81
4.12
Hypothesis #9: Relationship Between IMMA Rhythm Scores

and CTBS Math Scores Grade 3 ............................................................
82
4.13

and CTBS Math Scores Grade 6 ................................................................ 83
4.14

and KIRIS Math Placement Levels Grade 5 .........................................
vii
84
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE
4.1
PAGE
Relationship Between IMMA Scores and CTBS Scores:

Grades 3 and 6 ..............................................................................................71
CHAPTER 1
In tro d u ctio n an d S ta te m e n t of th e Problem
C ontext
A major intent o f the Kentucky Educational Reform Act o f 1990 (KERA) was to
provide equal educational opportunities for all students in the Commonwealth.
Redistribution o f tax dollars was a crucial factor as well as a decentralization o f authority
and decision making control to local districts and within the districts to individual
schools. The shift in power to the local level in the form o f school-based councils has led
to decision making processes that vary widely in matters o f curriculum, funding o f
programs, staff position allocation, and daily operations o f the schools.
The state applies rewards and sanctions to individual schools and districts based
on biennial performance on the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS),
before 1998 known as the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS).
This assessment system is divided into sections o f mathematics, reading, science, social
studies, arts and humanities, and practical living, with emphasis also on performancebased skills evaluated through individual student portfolios.
Non-academic data
including school attendance, dropout rates, and successful transition into the work force,
the military, or post-secondary education are also factored into school assessment.
Music education is grouped with the arts and humanities section of the
KIRIS/CATS assessment along with visual arts, dance, and the broad category o f
humanities, which may also include literature, drama, and arts appreciation. Site-based
school councils are making curriculum and funding decisions aimed at m ost effectively
improving student composite scores and the broad field o f arts and humanities. One
unintended consequence in Jefferson County, related to the assessment and accountability
process, has been the elimination o f many music specialists, especially in elementary
schools. During the 1997-98 school year, 18 o f the districts 91 elementary schools did
not employ a certified music specialist (Casebier, 1998).
Many o f these schools have
combined music with visual arts, dance, and drama into an arts and humanities
curriculum, assigning these teaching responsibilities to visual art teachers and/or
classroom teachers.
Public apprehension with implementation, assessment, and accountability o f
KERA and KIRIS led the 1998 General Assembly and Kentucky Board of Education to
revamp the KIRIS assessment model.
The new assessment process, called the
Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) took effect in the 1998-99 school
year. The CATS assessment system is built on the KIRIS framework with additional
emphasis on nationally standardized measures o f academic achievement including scores
from the California Test o f Basic Skills (CTBS). CTBS scores (grades 3, 6, and 9) will
be included in the accountability index beginning in the 1999-2000 school year, and
accountability issues continue to be revised by the Kentucky Department o f Education.
S tatem en t of th e Problem
Prior to 1990, all 91 elementary schools in the Jefferson County Public Schools
(JCPS) in Louisville, Kentucky employed a part-time or full-time general music teacher.
Since 1993, reductions in music programs have affected over 30 JCPS elementary
schools (Casebier, 1998, JCPS, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998).
Assessment results in arts and humanities show that 88% o f Jefferson County
elementary students scored in the novice (the lowest level o f the four category KIRIS
scoring system termed: novice, apprentice, proficient, and distinguished) category for the
1996-97 school year. Interpretation o f these low scores may suggest that the test is too
difficult that it covers too many subjects, or that not enough instruction is provided in
these areas.
Colwell (1992) argues that music; a distinct intelligence as posited by Howard
Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences (1983), should remain a vital part o f every
school's curriculum and not be grouped with visual arts, dance, and drama.
Gordon
theorizes that all children benefit from music instruction and that musical aptitude can be
developed (1993, 1980). Shaw (1999) indicates that spatial-temporal reasoning can be
improved with music instruction.
T heories of G ardner and Gordon

Howard Gardner (b. 1943) professor o f Education and Psychology at Harvard
University and adjunct professor o f Neurology at Boston University School o f Medicine,
has written 15 books, and published several hundred articles covering a vast array o f
educational and psychological topics.
Gardner is a former recipient o f the MacArthur
Prize Fellowship, and recipient o f the University o f Louisville's Grawmeyer Award for
Education in 1990. His most critically acclaimed work, Frames o f Mind: The Theory o f
Multiple Intelligences, (1983, 1993) has affected the way educators, psychologists, and
philosophers view intelligence and issues pertaining to teaching, learning, assessment and
curriculum. Miller (1997) classified 54 o f Gardner's published works significant to music
and music education.
In Frames o f Mind, Gardner outlines seven distinct intelligences based on eight
criteria for inclusion o f a specific intelligence. According to Gardner, an intelligence is,

"a psychobiological potential to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in
at least one cultural setting." (Gardner, 1998, 10)
Gardners original seven intelligences included linguistic, musical, logicalmathematical.
spatial,
bodily-kinesthetic, and
the
two personal
intelligences
interpersonal and intrapersonal (1993, vii).
Gardner identified eight criteria o f a distinct intelligence:

Potential isolation by brain damage
Existence o f idiot savants, prodigies, and other exceptional individuals
An identifiable core operation or set o f operations
A distinctive developmental history, along with a definable set of expert 'end

state performances
An evolutionary history and evolutionary plausibility

Support from experimental psychological tasks
Support from psychometric findings
Susceptibility to encoding in a symbol system (Gardner, 1993, 63-66).
Gardner challenges the concept o f a "G" (general) intelligence, often identified as

the Intelligence Quotient (IQ).
School administrators and policy makers struggle to
address assessment and accountability processes that remain largely dependent on

assessing verbal and mathematics skills. Sections o f the following chapter will explore
Gardners provocative and expansive ideas on multiple intelligences, assessment,
curriculum, and musical intelligence.

Edwin Gordon (b. 1927) earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in music
performance from the Eastman School o f Music, and a Ph.D. from the University o f
Iowa. He is widely respected in the musical community, having played string bass with
the Gene Krupa band in the mid-1950s, and has added significant work in the field o f
music aptitude testing, and music learning. Gordon's theory, Music Learning Theory
(MLT). includes a methodology for leading students through a sequence o f melodic and
rhythmic skill learning that he believes can increase a child's aptitude in music (Learning
Sequences in M usic Skill. Content and Patterns A M usic Learning Theory 1980, 1993).
He currently teaches music education and music psychology at the University o f South
Carolina, Charleston.
Carl Seashore developed the first known standardized test o f musical ability in
1919.
Originally, the test included five sub-tests Seashore believed contributed to
musical ability. The task was to discriminate pairs o f sounds based on comparing changes
in pitch, volume, rhythm, time, and timbre.
In 1925, Seashore added a sixth subtest,
"Sense o f Rhythm." The test was an audio recording o f oscillators producing various
frequencies, amplitudes, and durations (Hodges, 1980, Seashore, 1919).
Gordon, a student o f Seashore, expanded on Seashore's musical talents tests and
in 1965 published the Music Aptitude Profile (MAP).
Gordon refined the task o f
discriminating within the context o f musical phrases o f tonal and rhythmic patterns rather
than simply discriminating between minute changes in pitch, volume, or timbre.
Gordon's Music Learning Theory espouses a philosophy o f learning based on audiation, a
term he coined referring to the hearing and understanding o f music. "Audiation takes
place when we hear and comprehend music for which the sound is no longer or may
never have been physically present" (Gordon, 1993, 13).
Gordon believes audiation is the basis for musical understanding and is the
particular ability his aptitude tests seek to assess.
The Primary Measure o f Music
Audiation (PMMA), a music aptitude test intended for use with kindergarten through
third grade students, was published in 1979 and followed in 1982, with the Intermediate
Measure of Music Audiation (IMMA), the test administered in this study (Gordon, 1979.
1982). Gordon developed norms for the IMMA for grades one through six. Gordon
currently publishes five music aptitude tests that intend to measure musical aptitude:
AUDIE for children as young as 3 years old, the PMMA, IMMA, MAP, and Advanced
Measures of Music Audiation (AMMA), intended for use with college-aged students and
adults.
Most provocative o f Gordon's ideas is the concept of developmental music
aptitude. Gordon theorizes that until children reach the age of about ten. their music
aptitude may increase or decrease depending on exposure to music, and informal and
formal training. With a stimulating musical environment and a proper sequence o f skill
learning, Gordon believes young children can learn to audiate and increase their level o f
music aptitude.
R elationships B otw aan Music Learning an d th e T ransfer of Skills

to O ther Domains
The review o f the literature will also explore developments in brain imaging
technology that is leading to new fields o f cognitive science including musicalneuroscience. Recent and ongoing research indicates that developing music skills may
improve spatial-temporal reasoning abilities, and transfer musical skills to reading and
mathematics (Shaw, 1999). Rauscher and Shaw (1996) suggest that spatial and logical
reasoning abilities can be improved through music training and piano-keyboard
instruction. Gardiner (1996) has shown improvements in reading and math scores o f first
and second grade students afforded special instruction in music and visual arts.
Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) scores o f students with coursework in music and the
arts correlate with higher verbal and math scores, compared to students without high
school arts coursework (MENC, 1998).
Purposo of th s Study
The purpose o f this study is to contribute to the growing body o f knowledge that
offers evidence o f cognitive development related to music instruction.
This study
explores relationships between music instruction and musical aptitude scores and
compares measures o f music aptitude with measures o f academic achievement in non
musical subject areas including mathematics and reading.
Significance of th a Study
Recent research
in cognitive psychology,
neurophysiology, and
musical
neurology indicates that the brain communicates, recognizes patterns, understands

relationships, and learns through a complex system o f neural connections (Shaw, 1999,
Begley, 1997, Miller, 1997).
Aural musical stimuli are now known to activate many
different areas o f the brain,
leading researchers toward new hypotheses and
understandings o f cognitive development (Shaw, 1999, Glausiusz, 1997, Sloboda, 1988).
H ypotheses
Hypotheses o f this study are divided into four sections.
The first hypothesis
examines the effect o f music instruction on the measure o f music aptitude, the IMMA
score. The second group o f hypotheses explores relationships between IMMA composite
(total) scores with general measures of academic achievement including 1998 KIRIS
reading and mathematics scores and CTBS total (sum o f mathematics, language, and
reading) scores. The third group o f hypotheses explores relationships between IMMA
tonal aptitude scores with measures of reading achievement.
The fourth group o f
hypotheses explores relationships between IMMA rhythm aptitude scores with measures
o f mathematics achievement.
R esearch a n d M ethodology
Data analysis categorizes the following variables: music instruction hours; IMMA
scores (tonal, rhythm, and composite); CTBS reading, language, math, and total scores;
KIRIS assessment scores in reading, math, and arts and humanities; gender, ethnicity
(white, black, and other); and socio-economic-status (SES) indicated by free or reduced
lunch data. The computer program Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 9.0)
analyzes data using Pearson's Correlation and multivariate analysis using multiple
regression (MR) models.
Third- and sixth-grade students were given varying portions o f the CTBS in the
spring of 1998.
Elementary schools were given the option o f administering all ten
sections o f the CTBS to third graders or only sections on math, language, and reading.
Three schools administered only the required sections; the remaining four elementary
schools administered the entire test. Data collected includes only the three content areas
o f math, language, reading, and the total score, which is the sum o f these three content
areas. Hypotheses o f this study are especially interested in reading and m ath scores and
possible relationships to music aptitude scores.
Statistical analysis o f fourth and fifth graders during the 1997-98 school year will
be limited by results obtained from KIRIS scores. The KIRIS assessment ranks students
in four levels, low to high in categories distinguished as novice, apprentice, proficient,
and distinguished, respectively.
This ranking by definition can only identify broad
categories o f student achievement in areas o f math, science, reading, social studies, arts
and humanities, vocational-practical living, and subjective assessment o f student
portfolios in math and writing.
The study is limited to students 8 to 12 years old.
Gordons theory on
developmental music aptitude proposes that childrens music aptitude stabilizes at around
age nine. The researcher accepts that the level o f music aptitude of children 10, 11, and
12, has, as Gordon defines, stabilized.
Analysis o f data o f the fifth and sixth grade
students accepts that scores from the IMMA may represent an assessment o f stabilized
music aptitude, partially dependent upon informal and formal music instruction prior to
age ten.
The music instruction factor represents instructional hours o f total curricular
music instruction during the 1997-98 school year.
Co-curricular music instruction
including vocal instruction (choir) and instrumental instruction (band, orchestra, and class
piano instruction) has also been recorded. The total music instruction hours factor is the
sum o f general classroom music instruction and co-curricular instruction, calculated for
each student individually.
10
Definition of Torm s
Audiation - Gordons term referring to the inner hearing o f music, "audiation
takes place when one hears and comprehends music for which the sound is no
longer or may never have been physically present." (Gordon, 1993, 3)
Achievem ent - a measure o f what a student has learned
A ptitude - a measure of present potential a student shows to achieve in a given

domain
CA TS - Commonwealth Accountability Testing System
CTBS - California Test of Basic Skills
Correlation Coefficient -
Mathematical expression o f the direction and
magnitude of relationship between two (or more) measured variables (Gall, Borg,
& Gall, 1996).
IMMA - Intermediate Measure o f Music Audiation
IQ - Intelligence Quotient calculated by dividing mental age (as defined by scores

from Standford-Binet or Wechsler Intelligence Scales) by chronological age and
multiplying by 100, commonly referred to as the "g" (general) intelligence factor
JCPS - Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, Kentucky
KERA - Kentucky Educational Reform Act o f 1990
KIR IS - Kentucky Instructional Results Information System
KIR IS Scoring Rubric - a four-category scoring guide ranking students from low
to high in categories termed: novice, apprentice, proficient, and distinguished
M odularity - the concept o f specific areas o f the brain devoted to certain

functions and capabilities
11
M ultiple regression (MR) - statistical analysis that estimates the magnitude o f

effect two or more independent variables may have on the dependent variable
M ultiple intelligences - Gardners theory o f eight independent intelligences
including language, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic,
inter-personal, intra-personal, and natural history
SP SS - Statistical Program for the Social Sciences
Lim itations of tho S tudy

Researcher bias is acknowledged by relying on the definitions of music aptitude
as posited by Gordon and terms associated with his music aptitude tests, Gordon's Music
Learning Theory and method o f instruction, and his beliefs about the nature o f music
aptitude.
It is acknowledged that the researcher values the contributions o f Edwin
Gordon, the tenets o f his Music Learning Theory, the concept o f developmental music
aptitude, and the reliability and validity o f measuring musical aptitude obtained from
administering the IMMA.
The IMMA. though intended for children in grades one through four and
standardized for grades one through six, represents a best fit for the purpose, age group,
time constraints, and affordability o f this study.
According to Gordon's theory on
developmental aptitude, children's musical aptitude stabilizes by age ten. For purposes o f
this study, IMMA scores for most children in grades five and all children in grade six will
be interpreted as measures o f stabilized music aptitude. Children thirteen years or older
were not included in this study.
Difficulty in assigning a numerical factor to one o f the independent variables.
music instruction, is acknowledged. Efforts were made to identify differences in music

instruction o f the seven elementary schools participating in the study. Music instruction
in the seven elementary schools participating in this study varied from instruction by
certified music teachers, instruction by itinerant instrumental music teachers, instruction
in arts and humanities by teachers certified in various areas, to zero curricular instruction
hours. A music instruction factor is calculated for each student by estimating the total
hours o f music instruction received during the 1997-1998 school year.
JCPS data suggests that since 1990, as a by-product o f KERA, elementary school
general music instruction has lagged in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Grouping music
into the broad category o f the Arts and Humanities portion o f the assessment, which
represents only 7% o f the total KIRIS score, has forced administrators and council
members into precarious situations. Threats o f sanctions based on assessment scores may
in some instances have led to eliminating or reducing music programs in favor o f
instructional programs intended to increase test scores more effectively.
CHAPTER 2
R eview o f th e L iterature
This chapter will include sections on the cognitive sciences, music psychology,
music learning and music testing, and issues o f educational reform in Kentucky during
the 1990's. The first section will summarize current learning theories, review
developments in the field o f cognitive psychology including contributions by Howard
Gardner and the theory o f multiple intelligences, trace the developments in science and
neurology and the emerging field o f musical neurology, and offer evidence relating to the
transfer o f cognitive skills across disciplines. The second section explores specific issues
o f music psychology and music learning including a chronology o f music testing,
contributions o f Edwin Gordon, author o f the music aptitude test used in this study, and
reviews related music and academic achievement studies. The third section will discuss
educational reforms in Kentucky and effects locally in Jefferson County, Louisville,
Kentucky, and describe assessment and the accountability processes o f the Kentucky
Educational Reform Act o f 1990.
L earning T h eo ries a n d C ognitive Psyehology

Steven Pinker credits the emergence of the cognitive sciences to Noam
Chomskys Syntactic Structures (1957), in which Chomsky theorized that children enter
the world with a natural ability to acquire language. Pinker refers to this innate ability as,
"the instinct to learn, speak, and understand language" (The Language Instinct, Pinker,
1994, 17).
The relatively new field o f cognitive science combines the growing
knowledge base o f biology, neurology, psychology, anthropology, paleontology,

philosophy, language and linguistics to understand more about the nature o f learning.
14
A Brif Rviw of 20th Contury Looming Thoorios

Summarizing the history o f learning theories, Buttram credits Pavlov (1849-1936)
and his concept o f classical conditioning, stimulus-response, (the stimuli, the bell
preceding the morsel o f food produces the response, saliva) as the first learning theory.
Termed "associationism", the learner associates the response to the stimulus (Hodges,
1996, 404). Watson (1878-1958) expanded Pavlov's concepts and developed the field of
psychology that became known as behaviorism. Behaviorism, like classical conditioning,
requires a stimulus-response dichotomy strengthening the positive response through
frequency and recency o f the stimuli.
Edward L. Thorndikes (1874-1949) connectionism theory refined Pavlov and
Watson's conditioning theories toward a broader theory applicable to human learning. He
posited three terms or principles into the emerging field of educational psychology:
readiness, exercise, and effect. Thorndike considered the concept o f readiness to include
physical connections o f neurons and synapses inside the brain.
Exercise through
repetitive practice was essential. The law o f effect, also known as the pleasure or pain
principle stated that behaviors reinforced with pleasurable effects were likely to be
repeated while negative behaviors reinforced with unpleasant consequences (and in some
instances, pain) were likely to diminish and become extinct (Hodges, 1996).
Operant conditioning as posited by B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) extended
Thorndike's effect concept into two types o f behaviors, respondent and operative.
Respondent behavior refers to natural reflexives or learned responses evident through
classical conditioning. Operant behavior relies on reinforcement after the positive effect
(behavior) has occurred.
reinforcement.
A student operates on the environment, independent o f the
Positive behaviors that are rewarded are expected to repeat, as
unrewarded behaviors wane.

Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) theorized that children pass through
15
four stages of physical and cognitive development. He believed all children move from
each stage to the next at about the same chronological age with similar developmental
characteristics. The sensory-motor stage begins at birth and lasts until the child is oneand-a-half to two years old. This stage is largely a physical stage as children leam to
manipulate their body and the objects around them. The second stage, the preoperational
stage, is divided into two periods, the preconceptual stage lasting from about the age o f
two to four, and the intuitive stage from about the age o f four to seven.
During the
preconceptual stage children leam to speak, begin to understand how objects are
classified, and begin to acquire the cognitive skills o f logic. The intuitive stage begins at
about the age o f four and lasts until the child is about seven or eight years old. Piaget
theorized that children are unable to comprehend the existence o f objects that are not
visible, have changed form, or have been hidden. A classic "conservation" example o f
this intuitive stage suggests that children are unable to understand why liquid poured
from a small container to a large container remains the same amount o f liquid. At about
the age o f seven or eight, children begin to comprehend this law o f conservation, and are
ready to move into the concrete operational stage that lasts until about the age o f
fourteen. Piaget theorized that children in this stage are able to think abstractly and apply
math concepts such as substitution or multiplicative operations. Piaget's final stage o f
child development, formal operations, begins at about the age o f fourteen lasting through
young adulthood. Characteristics o f this stage focus on peer interaction, the process o f
socialization, learning to cooperate, and learning the rules o f human relationships
(Landers, 1980, Colwell, 1992).
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) developed a field o f psychology that became
known as "humanistic" psychology (Hodges, 1980, 260). His theory o f human behavior
was based on fulfilling needs.
Maslow's eight-level hierarchy o f human needs begins
with survival needs and proceeds through esteem needs, knowledge needs, aesthetic
16
needs toward the ultimate need o f self-actualization. Achievement or intellectual needs,

according to this theory, view learning as a basic human desire to understand symbol
systems, relationships, and broader contexts o f meaning. Maslows ideas were quickly
applied to classroom and teaching practices. Student's basic needs including hunger and
safety require fulfillment before social or intellectual development can be expected to
occur. The 1960s saw a plethora o f educational and governmental programs aimed at
fulfilling students basic needs so that higher level needs o f learning could occur. Beforeand after-school programs, Head Start, nutritional services, and federally titled programs
were partially influenced by Maslow's theory.
Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was another influential voice o f the humanistic school.
Rogers used a therapeutic approach to introduce a client-centered curriculum to
schooling. Rogers believed that the student (or the client) was the center o f his or her
own educational world and ultimately responsible for his or her own cognitive and
affective development.
In this context, teachers are seen as facilitators, much like
therapists. Rogers believed that children are naturally inquisitive with a desire to leam,
have a natural tendency to leam, and that the school curriculum should foster topics and
subjects to the needs o f individual students.
By the mid-1960s, Jerome Bruner had begun questioning Piaget's age-dependent
stages. He offered a new domain-centered learning theory that proposes any child, o f any
age, could leam content within any domain, given an appropriate sequence o f instruction.
Bruner developed a three-stage learning model based on what he proposed as the process
o f "knowledge acquisition" (Colwell, 1992, 539). Like Piagets sensory-motor stage,
Bruners first stage, termed the enactive stage, is largely a physical, action-based stage
when a child learns to manipulate the environment. A child's attention span is short
during this period. During the second or iconic stage, the child learns to recognize and
understand images (icons).
Learning in the third stage, the symbolic stage, is
17
characterized by concept-development and learning to solve problems using multiple

approaches. Bruner proposed two types o f transfer o f learning, specific transfer and the
transfer of principles and attitudes.
Specific learning activities provided settings for
students to transfer previously acquired skills to more complex problems or new

situations. Bruner believed developing healthy learning attitudes could transfer skills to
more complex tasks and foster positive attitudes to other areas of learning (Hodges,
1980).
The mid-sixties also brought changes to teaching applications with influence from
Robert Gagne. Gagne outlined an eight level sequential hierarchy of types o f learning.
Central to his theory was the concept o f readiness.
Until a child had acquired
competence at each lower stage o f learning, he or she was not ready to move to the next
more sophisticated type o f learning. Gagne believed a teachers most important task is to
realize the students developmental stage and match it with appropriate learning
objectives.
Tabla 2.1
G a g n t't Eight T ypaa off Laam ing
1. Signal learning: stimulus-response
2. Stimulus response learning: stimulus-response but with expected purposeful
response
3. Chaining: sequencing o f more complicated stimuli
4. Verbal association: associating names to objects and concepts
5. Multiple discrimination: grouping objects or concepts by similarity or
differences
6. Concept learning: building concepts based on previous learning o f organizing
skills
7. Principle learning: "chaining" concepts into principles
8. Problem solving: using principles to create solutions to new problems
(Hodges, 1980)
18
Gagne's sequential learning theory influenced Edwin Gordon as he formulated a
theory o f how children leam music. Gordon's Music Learning Theory (MLT) also has an
eight level hierarchal learning sequence including discrimination and inference levels o f
learning similar to Gagnes model. Gordons theory is reviewed in more detail below.
Howard G ardnar and Tha Thaory of Multlpla Intalligancas

In 1983, Howard Gardner penned Frames o f Mind: The Theory o f Multiple
Intelligences.
Gardner posited seven intelligences and challenged educational testing
procedures that focus primarily on linguistic and mathematical abilities.
Gardners
multiple intelligences theory questions the validity o f a general (G) intelligence factor
associated with Intelligent Quotients (IQs).
Gardner's original distinct intelligences include: language, musical, logicalmathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, inter-personal, and intrapersonal
(1983).
Gardner speculates that musical ability can be developed through instruction, influenced
by environmental stimuli, and that possibly a "core talent" is inherited (1993, 100).
Gardner cites generative properties of music visible in children as young as two months
old with abilities to match pitch and sense rhythm. Similar to the generative abilities
children have to acquire their native tongue, by the age o f three or four, "the melodies o f
the dominant culture have won out" (1993, 109).
Gardner illuminates two philosophies o f thought that dominate music psychology,
the Gestalt-holistic view and atomistic or "bottom-up approach" (1993, 106). Gestalt
psychology argues that the brain organizes meaning in music innately in a holistic
manner, the top-down approach. The atomistic approach posits that the building blocks
o f musical meaning exist in small melodic and rhythmic patterns, and can be taught.
Gardner also recognizes a middle-ground approach that samples musical pieces with a
"clear key or a clear rhythm" characterizing the global properties o f musical meaning and
smaller phrases o f melody and rhythm that can be analyzed, appreciated, and understood
19
(1993, 107). This middle-ground perspective correlates with ideas Gordon modeled into
his Music Learning Theory and music aptitude tests.
Gordon's tests, including the
IMMA. the music aptitude test used in this study, present musical phrases within the
context o f tonality or meter rather than focusing on skills related to perception such as
identifying changes in volume or pitch.
Gardner describes an intelligence as a "biological potential"
(37).
Every
individual represents a unique composite o f intelligences influenced by hereditary factors,

environmental factors, and experiences. Genetic factors may set upper limits on each
intelligence, but Gardner believes the, "biological limit is rarely, if ever approached"
(47).
Gardner's recent work, Extraordinary Minds:
Portraits o f Four Exceptional
Individuals and an Examination o f our own Extraordinariness (1997), expands the list to
include an eighth intelligence, "a naturalist kind o f intelligence - the kind o f intelligence
that Charles Darwin epitomized. The sensitivity to flora and fauna - to be able to make
appropriate distinctions in the world o f living entities" (Brummett, 1997, 6).
C ognitive Psychology Sum m ary

Chomskys theory o f generative grammar has influenced educational research and
teaching strategies beyond the domains o f linguistics and language development. The
tabula rasa concept that children enter the world (and school) as a blank slate ready to
begin learning denies the generative capabilities inherent in humans.
Cognitive
psychology also differentiates itself from Skinner and behaviorism with its intent to
study real human interactions, "how people deal with extended and meaningful material
rather than fragmented, meaningless stimuli" (Sloboda, 1986, 8). Chomsky summarized
the limitations o f a behavioral perspective and hints at the significance o f a cognitivist
perspective to educational domains (including music) modeled after his generative theory
o f language:
20
"The theory o f learning has limited itself to a narrow and surely
inadequate concept o f what is learned - namely a system o f stimulus-response
connections, a network o f associations, a repertoire o f behavioral items, a habit
hierarchy, or system o f dispositions to respond in a particular way under
specifiable stimulus conditions...generative grammar cannot be characterized in
these terms. What is necessary, in addition to the concept o f behavior and
learning, is a concept o f what is learned - a notion o f competence (emphasis
added) - that lies beyond the conceptual limits o f behaviorist psychological
theory" (Chomsky, 1968, 63).
M usic P sychology, M usic L earning T h eo ries, M usic

In stru c tio n a l M ethods, an d M usic A ptitude T e stin g
Linguistics professor Ray Jackendoff, and music professor Fred Lerdahl
combined expertise and co-authored the Chomskian influenced music theory, A
Generative Theory o f Tonal Music (1983).
They theorize that listening to and
understanding music, involves parsing which means giving order and meaning to audible
sounds, they term, a "Universal Musical Grammar" (Jackendoff, 1994, 169). Chomskys
language theory posits that the brain has evolved to understand and create (generate) an
indefinite array o f novel sentences. A universal grammar or, "a formal system o f rules"
generates acceptable sentence structures in all languages (Lerdahl & Jackendoff, 1983,
5). Lerdahl and Jackendoff propose that music, like language, contains rules o f grammar
and conventions o f orderliness the listeners leam to expect (i.e., melodic and rhythmic
grouping, steady meter and tempo, balance, and common cadences).
When an
expectation is fulfilled, the listener is satisfied with a positive affect, when an expectation
is not fulfilled, the listener may experience a negative affect, surprise, or disappointment.
They define musical grammar as, a limited set o f rules that can generate indefinitely
large sets o f musical events and/or their structural descriptions' and propose that a
listening grammar is composed o f four concepts o f musical understanding: a grouping
structure, a metrical structure, time-span reduction, and prolongational reduction
(Sloboda, 1988, 233). Grouping and metrical structures are significant concepts relevant
to this study and warrant a brief review.
Lerdahl and Jackendoff s concept o f grouping structure includes generic elements

found in forms o f all music: motives, phrases, and sections. Metrical structure refers to
patterns o f reoccurring strong and weak beats.
Lerdahl developed a hierarchy o f
constraints imposed upon composers by generative processes that listeners bring to the
music, similar to generative processes communicators bring to language.
(Many
composers including Bernstein, (1967), Hindemith, (1952), and Copland (1980) have
argued that the breakdown o f twentieth century music may have occurred in part through
composers' denial o f a listeners grammar.) Lerdahl proposes eight constraints, at.least
three o f which are significant to this study as they relate to tonality and rhythm:
Constraint #1.
The musical surface must be capable o f being parsed into
discrete events (an obvious parallelism to language, as sentences are parsed into phrases,
verbs, nouns, et cetera).
Constraint #4.
Symmetry and parallelism are required of tonality and meter
(irregularity reduces the listener's ability to infer structure).

Constraint #8. The concept o f stability o f tonality and meter involves several
related constraints.
Learning and memory are hierarchical (related to constraint #2),
stable conditions require fixed elements (i.e. previously acquired tonalities or meters,
related to constraint #9), and the establishment o f metrical structure requires regularity
(related to constraint #5) (Sloboda, 1988, 234-244).
These constraints parallel Chomskys concept o f a universal language grammar,
which imposes rules o f convention, a situation similar to that in music imposed by the
existence of a universal musical grammar. Musical understanding requires boundaries
that define melodic and rhythmic phrases and support the stability o f tonalities and
meters. Shaw (1999) argues that symmetry o f tonalities and meters is fundamental to the
cognitive processes o f musical understanding.
Sloboda argues for generative universals in music by comparing theories o f
22
linguist Chomsky and music theorist Heinrich Schenker. Sloboda theorizes that language
and music are universal and specific to humans characterized by several similarities:
1. All humans have abilities to acquire competence in both language and music.
2. Both mediums o f language and music are capable o f creating an "unlimited
number o f novel sequences."
3. Children have a natural ability to acquire the rules or grammar o f each.
4. The medium o f both language and music is auditory and vocal.
5. Reading and writing have developed in most (but not all) cultures and, only after
the development o f aural-language skills.
6. Both language and music are encultured. As people o f one culture, have difficulty
understanding another language, they may also have difficulty understanding the
musical tonality o f that culture.
7. Language and music both share evidence o f three components, phonology (sound
units), syntax (rules), and semantics (meaning) (Sloboda, 1986, 18).
Chomsky theorized that all languages are alike, allowing children to easily
acquire their native tongue by simply decoding the noun-verb structure.
Schenker
proposed that all musical compositions are similar in musical structures based on musical
intuition the listener brings to the music. Chomskian analysis typically reduces language
phrases and sentences to noun-verb trees.
Similarly, Schenkerian analysis reduces
musical phrases to melodic and harmonic skeletal structures. For example, the surface
structure o f analyzing the sentence, John phoned up Mary could be re-written, John
phoned Mary up, or possibly an infinite variety o f ways to convey this thought. At the
deep level, Chomskian analysis reduces the surface structure of these sentences to their
basic meaning, in this example; John called Mary. Schenker proposed that the musical
surface structure could often be expressed by the melodic pattern or tendency to close a
phrase from the third (mi) down to the first or tonic (do), a descending melodic line, 3 - 2
- 1, (mi - re - do), called the Urline.
At the deep level, Schenker proposes that the
harmonic function moving from the tonic to the dominant and back to the tonic, (the
23
Ursatz) in relation to the melodic descending line is a universal characteristic and
recognized as a musical cadence.
Similar to language surface structure, a variety o f
musical variations, expansions, or prolongations, allow the composer (or musical

improviser) an infinite number o f ways to alter the surface structure without altering the
basic skeletal structure that provides understanding and common meaning (1986).
Thoris of Music Learning

Hargreaves and Zimmerman evaluated three developmental theories o f music
learning, Swanwick and Tillman's spiral theory, Serafine's cognitive approach to music
learning, and the symbol system identified with Howard Gardner and the Harvard Project
Zero (Colwell, 1992).
Swanwick and Tillman analyzed 745 musical compositions o f 48 children 3 to 9
years old in Britain.
A three-judge panel easily identified the ages o f the child
compositions, suggesting that music development is related to chronological age.

Swanwick and Tillman proposed a four-level spiral model o f music development within
an age-related hierarchy.
The first stage, ages 0 to 4, concerns mastering sensory
responses. The second stage (or loop), ages 4 to 9, involves imitation, as children attempt
to musically imitate their environment. The third stage, imaginative play, lasts from the
age o f 10 to 15, allows for musical creativity as children have learned to sense and imitate
the musical sounds o f their culture, are now able to contribute musical ideas. The fourth
stage, metacognition, refers to the child's developed awareness o f musical thinking
(Colwell, 1992). Swanwick and Tillmans' theory also includes a social sharing aspect of
musical participation often overlooked in other developmental music theories.
As
children grow musically, they move away from personal experience (sensing and
imitating) toward participating musically with others.
Hargreaves and Zimmerman question two important considerations in evaluating
Swanwick and Tillman's model.
First, "Piagetian-type-stages have largely been
24
superseded by more context-specific explanations"
(Colwell, 1992, 381) and second,
their empirical data "serves to describe the model rather than to provide a deductive test
o f it" (381). Indeed, data collected included musical compositions o f children aged 3 to
9 years old. The spiral model o f musical development they propose is divided into four
stages and eight developmental modes in age-related-stages: 0 to 4, 4 to 9, 10 - 15, and 15
and older.
Mary Louise Serafine proposed a cognitive theory o f musical development in her
text, M usic as Cognition: The Development o f Thought in Sound (1988). This theory
postulates that three cognitive processes o f musical development are revealed through
composing, performing, and listening. Serafine's theory is built on five premises:
1. Musical communication exists between the person (as composer, performer,
or listener) and the piece o f music.
2. Core cognitive processes are common to composing, performing, and
listening.
3. There are two types o f mental processing: style-specific (referring to temporal
or time related musical events) and generic (non-temporal) universal
properties o f music.
4. Musical cognition is constructed by the listener.
5. Composers use the elements o f melody and harmony in coded cognitive units
that the listener recognizes (Colwell, 1992).
Serafine based her theory on a study o f 150 children aged 5 to 11, 15 adults and
34 Suzuki violin trained children 4 to 11 years old.
Sixteen listening tasks were
administered with the purpose o f identifying developmental trends or stages o f musical

development. The tasks included concepts o f closure (recognizing if a phrase implied
stability or resolution), transformation (identifying whether related but not identical
phrases were same or different), abstraction (the ability to hear if musical material
previously heard was present elsewhere in the musical example), and hierarchic levels
(understanding deep structures o f musical examples).
Serafine's measures o f temporal processes are divided into successive and
simultaneous music events.
Successive musical examples o f her experiment include:
25
determining where or when phrases could be divided; determining which o f two motivic
patterns should follow a musical example; determining if motivic patterns (melodic
material related to a common musical theme) were the same or different; and, comparing
idiomatic versus non-idiomatic motives. Simultaneous measures include: identifying the
number o f parts in a musical example; determining if music examples are performed
simultaneously with another motive; and, determining if the same, or two different
instruments, are played together. Non-temporal concepts o f the test are named closure,
transformation, abstraction, and hierarchic levels.
Test tasks include: determining if
musical phrases are similar or different from the musical examples; determining which o f
two musical phrases is more like the musical example; and, recognizing a transformed
melody (Miller, 1997).
Serafine's findings suggest that most temporal and non-temporal cognitive
processes are developed in children by the age o f 10.
The youngest children in her
sample, those aged 5 to 6, showed little evidence o f cognitive musical development, and
by the age of 8, some processing had emerged. Early Suzuki training had no effect on her
measures o f musical-cognitive development (Colwell, 1992).
Thatcher (et. al., 1987) used Serafine's model o f musical cognitive growth to
explore Piagetian stage-influenced brain growth. Their evidence corroborates Serafine's
suggestion that musical growth is related to physical age-related development. Thatcher
found positive correlations between brain growth and scores from Serafine's measures o f
musical development including test sections o f timbre, phrasing, patterning, closure,
chaining, transformation, rhythmic abstraction, hierarchic levels, textual abstraction, and
motivic synthesis (Miller, 1997, 50-59).
In the early 1970s, Howard Gardner began formulating concepts about cognitive
domains.
In The Arts and Human Development (1973) he proposed a loosely based
theory describing a symbol-systems approach to cognition in domains as varied as
26
language, math, and music. Gardner believed a child's ability to acquire competence in
different domains relied on mastering cultural symbol systems (i.e. written language or
musical notation) and was indicative o f symbolic learning rather than dependent upon
Piagetian influenced stage theory.
Davidson and Scripp experimented with Gardners ideas specifically into the
domain o f music, formulating a cognitive-developmental model o f music learning. Their
research interprets how children leam to understand and use the symbol-system o f
musical notation. One example o f their study had children draw a representation o f the
last phrase o f "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat." Their findings suggest that by the age of 5,
children can only represent through notational drawings, one aspect o f the song, usually
the rhythm. By age 6, multiple dimensions o f rhythm and melody begin to appear, and it
isn't until about age 7 that full representation o f rhythm, melody, and contour (the shape
o f the phrase) is evidenced in their notational drawings (Colwell, 1992).
Davidson and Scripps symbol-system approach to music cognition, although not a
discreet learning theory, supports stage-related characteristics o f children's musical
cognition.
Bamberger (1992) supports Davidson and Scripps findings through her
experimental studies suggesting that children 7 years old or younger can only think in one
musical dimension at a time. Gordon's Music Learning Theory and music aptitude tests
present tonal and rhythm patterns separately.
Edwin G ordon's Music Looming Thoory

Gordon was influenced by Robert Gagne's theory and stages o f learning espoused
in Conditions o f Learning (Gagne, 1965).
Gagne's five stages o f language learning
include: rote imitation, listening-imitating, speaking and association o f words into their
representation, understanding ideas through short sentence structures, reading and
27
writing, and the ability to communicate through written words (Jordan-DeCarbo, 1986).
Gordon applied these concepts in the development o f his theory presented in his text.
Learning Sequences in Music: Skill, Content, and Patterns: A M usic Learning Theory
(Gordon. 1984). This text outlines the process in which Gordon feels children naturally
leam music. Similar to acquiring a language vocabulary, Gordon proposes that children
leam music vocabularies, (melodic and rhythmic vocabularies) through listening,
imitating, reading, and writing.
Gordon believes audiation can be taught through a sequence o f learning skills. He
has defined six stages o f audiation and eight levels o f the skill learning sequence
(Gordon, 1993).
T able 2.2
G ordon's Six S ta g e s of Audiation
Stage 1. Momentary retention
Stage 2. Imitating and Audiating tonal and rhythmic patterns
(recognizing tonal center and macrobeats)
Stage 3. Establishing (objective or subjective) Tonality and Meter
Stage 4. Retaining in audiation tonal and rhythmic patterns
Stage 5. Recalling patterns organized and audiated in other pieces o f music
Stage 6. Prediction o f patterns
28
T abte 2.3
G ordon's Eight Lovols off th o Skill Looming Soquonco
Five Discrimination Levels
1. Aural/Oralstudents leam to hear and perform melodic and rhythmic patterns.
2. Verbal Associationstudents leam to name familiar patterns, (major/minor,
duple/triple).
3. Partial Synthesisstudents recognize familiar tonal and rhythmic patterns into a
series o f patterns (thus the giving o f syntax to the patterns, the rules o f
orderliness).
4. Symbolic AssociationComposite synthesisstudents leam to read and write
familiar patterns.
5. Composite synthesisReading and writing with music comprehension.
Three inference Levels o f Learning
6. Generalizationstudents leam to hear, chant, and sing, unfamiliar material.
7. Creativity/improvisationstudents leam to create patterns from their expanding
vocabulary o f melodic and rhythmic patterns.
8. Theoretical
understandingstudents
understand the music they perceived,
audiated, performed, read, wrote, created and improvised.

(Gordon, 1993).
Gordon proposes that children acquire musical vocabularies through listening and
speaking before learning to read and write musical notation. He is critical o f teaching
methods that teach reading musical notation before developing the aural skills necessary
to understand the meaning o f music notation. His method has been referred to as a sound
before sight, or, a sound-to-symbol approach to music learning
1986).
(Jordan-DeCarbo,
29
Gordon adapted his music learning theory to newborn and young children (1990) and
proposes three stages o f preparatory audiation: acculturation, imitation, and assimilation.
During the acculturation stage, birth to two years, children absorb the sounds around
them, create random response to the sounds they hear through movement and babble, and
learns purposeful responses to the sounds they hear. During the imitation stage, 2 to 4
years old, children shed egocentricity realizing that the movement and babble they have
responded to does not match the sounds heard in the environment. They are now ready to
"break the code and begin imitating sounds they hear with some accuracy. During the
assimilation stage, roughly ages 3 to 6 years old, children, through introspection,
recognize the lack o f coordination between chanting, singing and breathing, leading to
the last stage o f prepatory audiation, coordination, when chanting, singing, and
movement corresponds to the sounds o f their environment (1990, 38).
At this point,
Gordon theorizes, the child is ready to begin informal and formal training in music.
M usic Education M ethods of Instruction: Orff, Koddly, Dalcrozo,

Suzuki and Gordon
The introduction o f music education into public schools in the United States is
generally accredited to Lowell Mason in Boston, Massachusetts in 19th century (Colwell,
1963).
Mason modeled the pedagogical approach o f music instruction in the early
twentieth century after Swiss theorist Johann Pestalozzis sequential curriculum,

developing skills from simple to complex through repetition and "incessant exercise and
drill (Shehan, 1986, 28). Influences from John Dewey and the progressive education
movement o f the early twentieth century were evident in music education with childcentered activities and broader approaches to music education.
European music
education influences were introduced to American schools through methods and
30
philosophies o f Orff, Kodaly, and Dalcroze. By the 1960s and 1970s music education
methods were also heavily influenced by Japans Suzuki and Americas Gordon
(Shehan, 1986).
Zoltan Kodaly, (1882-1967) with fellow Hungarian composer Bela Bartok (18811945) transcribed and catalogued hundreds of native folk melodies.
Both composers
worked these folk melodies into their compositions and during the 1930s Kodaly
contributed in the development o f a national Hungarian music school curriculum, printing
instruction manuals and textbooks largely based on Hungarian folk melodies. (Sinor.
1986). Kodaly believed music education should be for all students and begin as early as
possible in a childs life, and that music literacy (the competence to read music and sing
independently) should be the ultimate goals o f music education. Tenets o f the Kodaly
method include: using nationally acculturated folk tunes, reinforce the pentatonic
tonalities that most folk tunes are based on, develop the singing voice, use relative
solfege (transposing do, re, me, etc. syllables, also called the moveable do system) and
rhythm syllables to facilitate teaching melody and rhythm (Waters, and Taggart, 1989).
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950) was bom in Vienna, Austria but spent most
of his childhood and adult life in Geneva, Switzerland, later serving as professor o f music
at the Geneva Conservatory.
While teaching solfege at the conservatory, Dalcroze
realized that his students were having difficulty sight-singing melodies and reading
rhythms. His pedagogical approach to this problem became known as eurhythmies, a
word o f Greek origin meaning good flow or, the study o f music through movement
(Mead, 1986, 44). The Dalcroze method was introduced to the United States in 1915 and
by the 1920s courses were offered in music conservatories and teaching colleges. The
Dalcroze method consists o f three parts, eurhythmics-kinesthetic development, ear

training, and improvisation. Eurhythmies develops in response to moving to the beat o f
the music.
Students are directed to walk, march, skip, or run to tempi o f musical
examples, or improvise flowing movements to slower or more melodical phrases.

Dalcroze believed that integrating movement with music develops the feelings o f time
and space and is an important developmental concept necessary to fully understand and
appreciate music.
The Dalcroze method o f ear-training uses the European music
conservatory tradition o f the fixed do syllable system, which he believed could develop
perfect pitch. The fixed do system assigns the note c as do permanently, regardless
o f the key or scale. All other pitches are also fixed (d= re, e= mi, etc). The fixed
do system has largely been replaced by other music methods, and some proponents o f the
Dalcroze method in the United States use the more widely accepted moveable do system.
Improvisation in the Dalcroze pedagogy begins early through eurhythmic movement and
allows children to creatively respond vocally, and with keyboard and percussion
instruments.
Accompaniments and improvisations performed on the piano lead the
children in singing, eurhythmies, solfege study, and improvisations and require the
teacher to have above average keyboard skills.
The Orff-Schulwerk method was developed by German teacher and composer
Carl O rff (1895-1982) and is the most widely popular method o f elementary music
instruction in public schools today. The American O rff Schulwerk Association (AOSA)
reports that there are over 10,000 music teachers in the United States using the O rff
method (AOSA, 1999). O rff and colleague Dorothy Gunther started the Guntherschule
in the 1920s in Munich, Germany.
The O rff method is generally associated with its'
extensive use o f percussion mallet keyboard instruments (xylophones) to create harmonic

and rhythmic accompaniments to singing. The O rff pedagogical approach is a sequence
o f activities guiding children though exploration, imitation, improvisation, and creation.
Exploration can include free movement and dance to the sounds o f pre-recorded music or
teacher performance, and exploring melody, rhythm, and harmony with five-note
pentatonic scales (expandable to 8-note diatonic scales and 12-note chromatic scales) on
small xylophones and metallophones. Imitation can be introduced with rhythmic speech
patterns, body percussion, (clapping, snapping fingers, tapping, and other percussive
sounds), imitation with keyboard percussion instruments, non-pitched percussion
instruments, and song flutes or recorders.
Typically, the teacher models a rhythmic,
melodic, or harmonic pattern and encourages students to imitate these patterns on

percussion instruments. Other groups of students then sing melodies over these repetitive
ostinato patterns. Songs can develop into three, four or more parts. A master teacher
becomes proficient at developing conversational patterns in a non-verbal musical setting.
As children enter the classroom, they may be expected to imitate and respond musically,
similar to prompts foreign language teachers may use to engage students thinking and
speaking in the new medium.
Improvisation urges students to engage in musical
creativity with new rhythmic and melodic patterns combined with verbal skills, and
create musical arrangements to stories and poems (Shamrock, 1986).
Orff, Kodaly, and Dalcroze methods have made valuable contributions to music
education with aspects of each method represented in many elementary general music
textbooks. The professional associations established by the followers o f Orff, Kodaly,
and Dalcroze can provide education and certification in methods and philosophies, and
33
are represented worldwide through Internet websites that offer lesson plans, curricular
advice, and ideas for developing and integrating programs. In the United States, the O rff
Schulwerk method is the most widely adopted method o f general music instruction with
education and certification available in many states including Kentucky through the
University o f Kentucky in Lexington.
The late Jean Sinor o f Indiana University in
Bloomington was instrumental in developing O rff training programs in the Midwest.

The Suzuki method is as well known for its philosophy o f child development, as it
is for the remarkable success o f helping very young children leam to play small-sized
orchestral string instruments and the piano.
The Talent Education program was
developed in Japan by Shinichi Suzuki (1899-1998) in the 1950s and 1960s.
The
Suzuki method o f instrumental music instruction has been adapted with method books for
violin, viola, cello, bass, flute, recorder, piano, and guitar with hundreds o f teaching
centers around the world, including Louisville, Kentucky. Suzuki referred to his method
as the 'Mother Tongue Approach because it models music study on the way that children
leam to speak (Walters, 1989). The Suzuki method is a sound-before-sight approach to
music learning with heavy emphasis on imitation. Children as young as two-years-old
participate in group lessons with intense weekly rehearsals, and mandatory parental
involvement, encouragement and supervision. A structured program based on melodies
associated with the western musical tradition leads the child through rapid progress in
imitating, memorizing, and performing. Mozarts Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star melody
is the perennial song that Suzuki-trained children leam with several rhythmic variations.
Twinkle, Twinkle is a melody that begins with the first two pitches on open strings on the
violin, viola, or cello, and thus is an easy concept for the novice learner to understand,
hear, and develop. On the piano however this skip o f five notes is a very large stretch for
small hands, and other easier melodies are also employed.
When children have
progressed through five or more rhythmic variations o f Twinkle, Twinkle, they are ready
to add the next song to their repertoire. Songs and melodies are acculturated into the ears
o f children through repeated listening to tape-recorded teacher performances played in
the childs home. By the time children are ready to begin a new song, the melody is well
engrained in their memories.
Learning to read musical notation is often delayed until
many songs and variations are learned, or until children reach a certain age, a criticism
often leveled at the Suzuki method (Gardner, 1983, Gordon, 1993). The Suzuki method
remains an extremely popular method o f teaching instrumental music; especially string
instruments and the piano to young children. The Suzuki Association o f America claims
a clientele o f over 4900 teachers in the United States and estimates over 150,000 students
in North and South America.
Edwin Gordon and Richard Grunow authored a series o f methods books entitled
Jump Right In: The Instrumental Series (Grunow, 1989) for instrumental music
instruction and Gordon with David Woods authored Jump Right In: The M usic
Curriculum (Gordon, 1995) for general classroom music instruction. The instrumental
series and music curriculum series frame instruction plans and lessons around the tenets
o f Gordons Music Learning Theory. Gordons approach and theory o f music learning
were cited in the February 1986 issue o f the M usic Educators Journal as one o f five
important contributions to music education in the twentieth century, along with
influences o f Kodly, Dalcroze, Orff, and Suzuki (Shehan, 1986). Gordons instrumental
series offers methods books for woodwind, brass, percussion, recorder, and string
35
Both series follow Gordon's theory of teaching tonal and rhythm patterns as a means to
build musical vocabularies.
Tonal patterns are presented without rhythm and rhythm
patterns are taught without melody. Tonal and rhythm patterns are first imitated and
chanted on neutral syllables (bum), in an imitative fashion.
Tonal patterns are later
taught with the moveable solfege system (transposing do, re, mi, etc.) and rhythm
patterns chant a unique beat-function system (Ostling, 1996). Gordons music learning
theory and methods are the newest influences on the field o f music education.
T horfes on T ransfer off Looming

Tunks (Colwell, 1992) summarized transfer theories and reviewed studies o f
music transfer to other domains.
Thorndike (1903) believed transfer only occurred
between identical or similar elements, suggesting that transfer across domains does not
occur. As early as 1908, Judd suggested that transfer could occur if the principle o f the
learning task was applied to different situations.
Early considerations o f a cognitive
perspective however were superseded by other theories and specifically overshadowed by

the influence o f behavioral psychology until the 1960s.
Information-processing theory was introduced in the 1950s with efforts to build
artificial intelligence systems, and posits that comprehension occurs by relating new
information to the established knowledge base. Storing information in memory, using
searching mechanisms, and accessing information through recall are elements o f a
cognitive perspective which relate information and learning to new information based
upon previous experience.
Gagne theorized that transfer o f learning could occur laterally and vertically.
Lateral transfer refers to generalizing concepts across domains and vertical transfer refers
36
cognitive perspective which relate information and learning to new information based
upon previous experience.
Gagne theorized that transfer o f learning could occur laterally and vertically.
Lateral transfer refers to generalizing concepts across domains and vertical transfer refers
to a spiral model o f learning that builds upon existing information (Tunks, 1992).
Salomon and Perkins put forward a theory o f high road and low-road transfer.
Low-road transfer is characterized by lower level skill building methods through
repetition and habit-forming practice.
High road transfer refers to deeper cognitive
involvement and implies metacognition (knowing about knowing). The learner must be
aware o f transferring skills across domains.
Ausubel in 1963 coined the term, "advanced organizers" to describe how new
material could be "incorporated into a learners existing cognitive structure"
(Tunks,
1992). This perspective supported the emerging cognitivist view that the learning occurs
by relating new material to existing cognitive structures (Tunks, 1992,438).
S cie n ce and Neurology

Recent technological advances in neural science and experimental neurological
studies are pushing educational research in new directions. Brain scanning technology
that can illuminate cognitive activity is leading to new hypotheses about cognition, brain
modularity, learning, and memory.
Shute (1998) summarized the developments in imaging technology beginning in
1972 with the X-ray computed tomography (CT), commonly known as the CAT scan.
These early scans combined X-ray photography with the power o f computers to image
bones and organs. The early 1980s brought the first generation o f magnetic resonance
37
imaging (MRI) techniques. MR1 techniques use powerful magnets and FM radio signals
to view proton activity in the brain. The 1990s saw the refinement of functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI).
This technique can produce visual images o f the brain in
slices as thin as 3 millimeters and is assisting neurologists in locating and treating strokes
and brain tumors.
Positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission-computed
tomography (SPECT) scanning techniques are among the latest developments o f
scanning technology. These technologies create detailed color-coded images indicating
areas o f brain activity by tracing blood flow but require the injection o f radioactive
elements into the bloodstream.
Posner and Raichle (1994) theorize that physical images o f brain functioning are
leading to new neurological theories based on the following principles: elementary
operations are localized; cognitive tasks are performed by networks; networks operate
under hierarchical control; and, repeating reactivation (practice) o f the network
connection reduces the threshold and decreases the amount o f networks needed to
perform the task. Kotulak (1996) argues that the uses for these new types o f technology
are going beyond identifying physical anomalies o f strokes and tumors, toward
understanding more about behavior, violence, mental retardation, creativity, disease, and
healing.
M usical Nsurology
Recent studies have documented interesting findings on the transference o f
musical learning to other domains.
Martin Gardiner, et. al. (1996) report improved
reading and math abilities through enhanced music and visual arts instructional programs
38
with kindergarten and first grade students. A seven month study divided children into
three groups (high, middle, and low) based on First Grade Metropolitan Achievement
Test pretest scores, randomly assigned children to control or experimental-treatment
groups, and post-tested with the same instrument. Results indicate that all three groups in
the special music and arts program improved significantly in math compared to the other
children receiving the standard one art and music class per week. Reading scores also
improved though not at a level o f statistical significance (Nature, 1996, 284).
The M ozart Effect

Gordon Shaw, a physicist at the University o f California, Irvine and Frances
Rauscher, educational researcher and neurologist at the University of Wisconsin,
Oshkosh, first experimented in musical neurology in 1993 with University o f California,
Irvine volunteer college students.
They found that listening to 10 minutes o f Mozart
piano sonatas prior to testing improved spatial reasoning abilities (Rauscher, F., Shaw,
G.. and Ky, K. (1993), Viadero, D. (1997). Students were randomly placed into three
groups o f 36 students each. The first group listened to 10 minutes o f Mozarts Sonata
for Two Pianos in D Major (K.448). The second group listened to 10 minutes o f a
relaxation tape, and the third group heard only silence. Students were then tested on one
o f three tasks (paper folding and cutting, pattern analysis, and matrices) from the
Stanford-Binet intelligence test. The paper folding and cutting tasks require the student
to imagine unfolding a piece o f paper that has been folded and cut several times creating
unique symmetrical designs. The Mozart group outscored the relaxation and silence
groups on all three tasks with statistical significance on the paper folding and cutting task
(Mozart Group = 63.33, Relaxation Group = 56.5, and the Silence Group = 55.17).
39
Results o f this study were subsequently published in the scientific journal Nature,
October 13, 1993, to critical acclaim. Although Franny (Rauscher) and I expected a
large response, we were overwhelmed by the worldwide interest.. .The Media soon called
our experiment the Mozart effect.' The idea that listening to this Mozart Sonata (K.448)
could make you smarter, even if for only 10-15 minutes, had captured everyone's
interest (Shaw, 1999, 163).
Shaw and Rauscher followed the 1993 Mozart effect study in 1994 with 79 U.C.
Irvine students in a five-day study.
Students were pre-tested with 16 (o f 80) paper
folding and cutting items adapted from spatial-temporal tasks similar to tasks found on
the Stanford-Binet test. Students were matched by pretest scores and placed into three
groups; a silence group, a mixed group, and a Mozart group. Treatment was 10 minutes
o f listening prior to testing with 16 spatial-temporal reasoning tasks. The silence group
heard only silence each day prior to testing.
The mixed group heard 10 minutes of
different music each day including minimalist music by Phillip Glass, which
emphasized repetitive melodic phrases, and a British-style dance piece with repetitive
rhythmic phrases. The Mozart group heard 10 minutes o f the Piano Sonata (K.448) each
day.
By day two, test scores for the Mozart group had increased 62% from pretest scores
compared to a 14% increase for the silence group and an 11% increase for the mixed
group. The remaining three days o f the experiment revealed a ceiling effect with many
students in all three groups correctly answering 15 or 16 o f the 16 paper folding and
cutting items. The Mozart group however outperformed the other two groups throughout
the duration of the experiment (Shaw, 1999,166).
Shaw and Rauscher have studied the effects o f piano instruction on pre-schoolers
40
suggesting that the effects o f learning to play a keyboard instrument stimulate the mental
imagery o f sequencing and logic that relates to similar skills o f math and science problem
solving
(Rauscher, 1997). Rauscher and Shaw report that piano instruction has been
found superior to computer training in developing abstract reasoning skills. This study
divided groups o f pre-schoolers into three groups, those receiving piano/keyboard and
voice instruction, computer instruction, and a third group with no specific training.
Rauscher and Shaw report that the piano/keyboard group outperformed the computer
trained group by 34% in measures o f spatial-temporal abilities than that o f the computertrained group. They suggest a causal relationship exists in developing spatial intelligence
through music learning (AMC, 1998).
Shaw continued studying the effects o f piano instruction on math achievement
with 135 second-grade public school children in Los Angeles.
Children given four
months o f classroom piano instruction coupled with a new geometric and math computer
software game scored 27% higher in proportional and fractional math tests
(AMC,
1999). Shaw speculates that spatial-reasoning abilities needed to understand higher-order

mathematics concepts like proportions and fractions are also components common to
learning to play a piano-keyboard instrument. Students were randomly placed into three
groups.
The first group received music instruction (piano-electronic keyboard) and
instruction time with a specially designed spatial-temporal computer program SpatialTemporal Animation Reasoning (STAR). The second group was offered computerized
English instruction and instruction time with the STAR spatial-temporal program, and the
third group received traditional classroom instruction without piano-keyboard instruction
or the spatial-temporal software program. (The STAR computer game was developed by
41
one of Shaws research assistant's Matthew Peterson.) Future plans include expanding the
study to six schools in southern California in the fall o f 2000, developing new math tests,
preparing materials for piano instruction and the STAR computer program, and
integrating piano instruction and the STAR computer software into the second-grade
math curriculum (Shaw, 1999).
Rauscher has continued studying the Mozart effect with animal behavior
experiments. Rats were aurally conditioned for 12 hours a day three weeks before birth
and 60 days after birth in four groups, a Mozart group (the piano sonata), a silence group,
a white noise group, and a minimalist group using the music o f Phillip Glass.
A maze
was used to compare spatial-temporal learning. The rats in the Mozart treatment group
required less working time to solve the maze and made fewer errors than all other
experimental groups. After five days, the Mozart treatment rats solved the maze in just
over 20 seconds compared to about 40 seconds for the white noise group, 44 seconds for
the silence group, and 46 seconds for the minimalist Phillip Glass treatment group.
Errors recorded after five days o f maze .testing averaged about 1.5 for the Mozart group,
compared to 2.5 for the minimalist group, and 2.8 for the silence and white noise groups
(Shaw, 1999, 245-248). Shaw speculates that Rauschers experiments with rats and the
Mozart effect reflects, The Mountcastle organization principle with the column as the
basic neuronal network in mammalian cortex (199, 30). Vernon Mountcastle proposed
that neurons are structured in columns and minicolumns creating communication
networks allowing specialized areas o f the brain to work together to solve complex tasks.
Music, spatial-temporal reasoning, and higher order math skills require the ability to
create, maintain, transform, and relate complex mental images even in the absence o f
42
external sensory input or feedback1' (Shaw, 1999, 30-31).
S haw 's Trlon Modal Thaory

Shaw theorizes that the cortical communications network o f minicollumns o f
neurons fire at various levels in response to sensory input. His first experiments labeled
firing states (S) in three levels (above average, average, and below average), based on
response time, and thus, he named the model trion (later experiments divided firing
responses into five levels).
The Hebb synapse or Hebb learning rule posits that neurons
can cause other neurons to fire and strengthen connections between cells.
Learning
occurs between neurons when sensory inputs (visual, aural, etc.) send searching cues out
to neighboring neurons seeking memory patterns (MPs).
As connections are
strengthened, response time to activate different related areas o f the cortex decreases.
Shaw speculates spatial-temporal reasoning develops in response to the neural
communications network recognizing symmetrical memory patterns in time and space.
The search for relationships in patterns in space and time and their related symmetries is
inherent in the mammalian cortex
(1999, 107).
Further, Shaw speculates that this
internal neural language and grammar allows the cortex to communicate and understand
relationships required o f complex mental operations used in spatial-temporal tasks in
mathematics, chess, and music.
Perhaps the cortex's response to music is the Rosetta Stone 'fo r the code or
internal language o f higher, brain function (1999, 108).
Neurological-M usical E xperim ents and S tu d ies

Zatorre and colleagues (1994) used positron emission tomography (PET) to
measure cerebral blood flow (CBF) in adult subjects as they listened to a variety o f aural
43
stimuli. PET scans were taken while volunteers listened to noise blasts, unfamiliar tonal
melodies, unfamiliar melodies while asked to compare pitches o f the first two notes o f the
same melodies, and unfamiliar melodies while asked to compare pitches o f last two notes.
Listening to music compared to white noise stimulated the right superior temporal and
right occipital cortices indicating that localization o f musical cognition was occurring in
these locations. The third and fourth musical-memory experiments, listening with intent
to compare either the first and second notes of a melody or the first and last melody
notes, suggest that the cognitive functions o f active listening use these localized areas and
that the ability to retain in short-term memory melodic patterns requires a neural network
o f communication.
Researchers at the University o f Munster, Germany report that instrumental music
training enlarges the brain. Using MRI technology, this study found that the area o f the
brain that analyzes pitch, the dipole, is 25% larger in musicians than non-musicians.
Enlargement o f this area o f the brain also correlates with the age the musicians began
musical practice. The earlier musicians began musical training, the larger this area in the
brain develops (Pantev, C., 1998).
Neurologists at Harvard University report sim ilar findings. Gottfried Schlaug and
colleagues used MRI technology to compare areas o f the brain o f musicians, musicians
who began training before age seven, and non-musicians. They report that musician's
corpus callosum areas are significantly larger.
Further statistical significance is also
reported for musicians who began musical training prior to the age o f seven compared to
musicians who began after age seven. Schlaug's studies have also reported larger left
temporal areas o f the brain for musicians with perfect pitch as compared to musicians and
44
non-musicians without perfect pitch (Schlaug, et. al., 1995, Viadero, D., 1998).
Glausiusz (1997) suggests that listening to music involves many areas o f the
brain. Using PET scans to record brain activity in six volunteer subjects indicates that at
least three areas o f the brain respond. Recognizing familiar tonal and rhythmic excerpts
activates the left hemisphere known as Broca's area. Glausiusz speculates that this area
known to be associated with speech creates an image or a searching cue, and attempts to
associate a name to familiar tunes. Listening to changes in timbre activates the right
hemisphere. Glausiuzs suggests that patients who have sustained damage to the right
hemisphere o f their brain are unable to respond to music because they have lost the
ability to recognize timbre. Musical pitches activate the back left side o f the brain known
as the precuneous.
This area generally has been associated with visual imagery
suggesting that as listeners hear changes in pitch, they are actually creating a visual staff
to imagine pitches ascending and descending.
Lawrence Parsons reports more areas o f the brain are activated when the subjects
are simultaneously reading and listening to music. Studying expert musicians, Parsons
found that "widely dispersed, interconnected brain areas" are activated while listening to
music (AMC Music News, 1998, November 20). He and colleagues found right brain
activity is used for interpreting musical note reading skills corresponding to left-brain
areas known to interpret letters and words.
Chan, e ta l. (1998) using MRI technology found the left planum temporal region
o f the brain larger in musicians than non-musicians. They also report that music training
improves verbal memory, and that adults receiving musical training before age 12 have
better memory for spoken language. "Music training in childhood may therefore have
45
long-term positive effects on verbal memory" (128).
High School Arts C oursow ork and SAT S co ro s

High school arts coursework has been shown to positively correlate to higher
Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) mean scores in both verbal and math (AMC, 1999,
MENC, 1998). The data presented below in table 2.1 is adapted from the College Board
Profile o f SAT and Achievement Test Takers from data collected from student
questionnaires. Students with coursework in music performance and music appreciation
scored 10.9% and 12.5% higher respectively on the verbal section and 7.3% and 8.3%
higher on the math section than students without music coursework.
TABLE 2.4
1998 SAT S c o re s For S tu d e n ts Having
Coursoworfc/Exporlonco In Arts
Titlo o f Course
Verbal Moan S corn s
Math Moan Scorns
Acting/Play Production
Art History/Appreciation
Dance
Drama Appreciation
Music Appreciation
Music Performance
Photography/Film
Studio Art/Design
543
518
513
533
537
529
525
524
533
518
509
522
535
530
524
527
No Arts Coursework
Mean for all Students
477
505
494
512
(MENC, 1998).
46
A sum m ary of th o prscodlng stu d io s an d findings su g g a sts:
Cognitive processes involved in listening to and understanding music involve

specialized areas o f the brain and require a network o f communication between
neurons
Training in music and visual arts especially with young students may improve
reading and math abilities.
Learning to play a piano or keyboard instrument may improve spatial-reasoning

abilities.
Piano/keyboard instruction has been shown to be superior to computer training in

improving spatial-reasoning abilities.
Listening to classical music, especially the music o f Mozart, may improve spatialreasoning abilities
Instrumental music training may enlarge certain areas o f the brain.
Early training in instrumental music (before the age o f seven) may enlarge areas
o f the brain more than later training.
Listening to music activates several different areas o f the brain.
Music training may improve verbal language skills.
A Sum m ary of D avalopm ants in Music A ptltuda T asting

Warren George summarized the development o f measures o f musical ability
beginning in 1919 with "Seashores Measures o f Musical Talent"
(Hodges, 1980).
Seashore's original test consisted o f five components: sense o f pitch, intensity

discrimination, sense o f time, sense o f consonance, and tonal memory.
It wasrenamed
"Seashore Measure o f Musical Talents", adding an "s" to talent in 1939, inferring that
there are multiple components o f musical talent. In 1960 he expanded the test to six
sections renamed: pitch, loudness, rhythm, time, timbre, and tonal memory while
reducing administration time to about 30 minutes.
47
Seashore's tests were based on discriminating between large and small changes in
pitch, volume, time, and timbre. Music psychologists and researchers, including George,
criticized the scientific nature and validity o f Seashore's tests. "The general conclusion
reached by music psychologists is that these tests are inadequate by themselves for
predicting musical achievement" (Hodges, 1980, 289).
The "Kwalwasser-Dykema Music Test" was published in 1930. It contained 10
subtests, six sections titled: Pitch Discrimination, Intensity, Time, Quality, Rhythm, and
Tonal Memory. Two subtests were classified as achievement measures, Pitch Imagery
and Rhythm Imagery and two sections were classified as preference measures, Tonal
Movement and Melodic Taste.
The entire battery took about one hour to administer.
Norms were not developed for the test. George found the reliability data poor with little
or no reported validity information (Hodges, 1980).
In 1934, Englishman R.M. Drake published the "Drake Musical Memory Test: A
Test o f Musical Talent". This test contained 24 two-measure melodies performed on the
piano. Four response choices were: Same; Change o f Key; Change o f Time; or Note
Changed.
The "Gretsch-Tilson Musical Aptitude Test" published in 1941 was the first music
abilities test to use the word "aptitude" in its' title. It was developed with intentions to
replace Seashore's test with a shorter and more reliable tool to measure potential musical
ability. This test consisted o f four sub-tests o f 25 same/different items each and could be
administered in 40 minutes. The sections were titled: Pitch, Intensity, Time, and Tonal
Memory. Norms were developed for grades 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Unfortunately, George
reports that little research has been done using this test (Hodges, 1980).
In 1942, Gaston included several new components in defining musical abilities in
his test, (The Gaston) "Test o f Musicality.
It included questionnaires about family
environment and musical activities and an aural-visual component that asked the test
48
taker to compare written notation to the aural stimuli o f recorded musical examples. One
musical section o f the test played a chord followed by a single note with the task o f
describing (yes or no) if the single note was part o f the chord. Another section performed
a short melody without the last note. The task was to describe if the last note should be
higher or lower to complete the phrase.
The Tonal Memory section consisted o f 7
melodies each played once followed by several variations. The task was to describe if the
variation was the same or different. If different, the student was to decide if the melody
or rhythm had been changed.
Reliability was reported very high, validity high, and
norms were developed for grades 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12.

In 19S4, Drake published a 20-minute test named, (The) Drake Musical Aptitude
Test. This test contained two sections titled Musical Memory and Rhythm. The Musical
Memory section consisted o f 12 short melodies each followed by 2 to 7 variations. The
test taker was required to respond to the variations as same or different without hearing
the original example again. The Rhythm section played a recording o f a metronome
clicking a tempo followed by the announcer counting along with the tempo. At the same
time, the metronome and the announcer stopped and the test taker's task was to count the
number o f beats in silence until the announcer said, stop. This process was repeated at
faster and slower tempi. There were two test forms (A and B) published. Norms were
provided, and high validity reported (Hodges, 1980).
Herbert Wing published his second test o f musical abilities in 1961 aimed at
identifying talented children. This test, named "Wing Musical Aptitude Test", contained
7 subtests: Analysis o f Chords, Pitch Discrimination, Memory for Pitch, Rhythmic
Accent, Harmony, Intensity, and Phrasing. In the manual accompanying the test, Wing
described the primary purpose, to pick out musically bright children at about the age o f
transfer to the secondary schools in order to give them the opportunity o f coaching in an
orchestral instrument (Hodges, 1980, 303).
49
At about the same time that Gordon was developing the MAP (reviewed below),
Englishman Arnold Bentley published the (Bentley) "Measures o f Musical Abilities"
(1966).
It contained four sections titled: Pitch Discrimination, Tonal Memory, Chord
Analysis, and Rhythmic Memory.
All recorded examples were performed on an
electronic oscillator. The test could be administered in 20 minutes and was developed for
ages 7-14. Norms are provided for these age groups and Bentley reported reliability at
.84. George concludes, It is unfortunate however, that more detailed information was
not presented on the standardization procedures or item analysis and that the statistical
information presented is not relevant to the youngest students for whom the test was
designed (Hodges, 1980,314)
Boyle and Radocy (1988) propose that evaluations can be categorized by
function: achievement, diagnosis, aptitude, and attitude.
Accordingly, these different
purposes are a significant factor in determining the type o f test to administer.

Achievement tests are generally norm-referenced, comparing behaviors (test scores) o f
individuals to a normative population, similar in age, grade level, or experience.
Diagnostic tests serve to diagnose strengths or weaknesses, usually associated with
identifying needs for remediation or individualized instruction. Attitude tests function as
a measure o f affective preferences and interests. Aptitude tests function as a measure o f
present performance to predict future success.
In a study that attempted to identify components o f musical ability, Rainbow
(1965) suggested that predicting musical talent extends beyond assessing tonal memory.
Using multiple regression techniques, Rainbow found that measures o f musical ability
positively correlated to musical achievement, interest, intelligence, socio-economic
background and home enrichment
50
G ordon's Dovolopmont o f th o Music A ptitude Profilo (MAP)

Gordon developed the MAP during six years o f post-doctoral work at the
University o f Iowa while serving as professor o f music education. The MAP manual
defines the purpose o f the test to, "act as an objective aid in the evaluation o f student's
basic musical aptitude so that the teacher can better provide for individual needs and
abilities" (1965, 2).
The test consists o f three 50-minute sections designed to appraise students in
grades 4 through 12. The test is tape recorded with short musical phrases composed by
Gordon and performed by professional musicians on violin and cello. The three sections
were named Tonal Imagery, Rhythm Imagery, and Musical Sensitivity.
The tonal imagery section includes two parts titled melody and harmony. Each
section presents 40 pairs o f musical examples and requires students to discern whether
they sound the same or different. The harmony section alters the cello, or lower part o f
the two-part example. Gordon considers this a non-preference test signifying that there
are correct and incorrect answers.
The rhythm imagery section also is a non-preference test divided into two sections
o f tempo and meter. All examples are played on one pitch on the violin. The tempo
section either maintains the original tempo in the second example or alters the tempo,
faster or slower for the student to discriminate. The meter sub-section changes the meter
on half o f the examples.
The third section o f the profile, musical sensitivity, is considered a preference test.
This section is divided into three parts titled Phrasing, Balance, and Style. Preference
refers to the student's preference between two musical endings to a musical statement.
Gordon determined correct or best response based upon preference ratings by a small
group o f professional musicians. A composite score representing the sum o f the three
sections o f the MAP is then calculated. The entire battery consists o f three 50-minute
51
testing sessions o f 250 items.

During the process o f developing and administering the MAP, Gordon theorized
that at about age nine, the level o f music aptitude begins to stabilize. Prior to this age,
students are in a developmental stage. With proper environment, informal guidance, and
formal instruction the level o f aptitude will fluctuate based on experiences. At about age
nine, the level o f music aptitude stabilizes and remains at this level through adult life.
This concept o f developmental music aptitude is a cornerstone o f his music learning
theory.
Gordon has devoted much o f his recent work on measuring music aptitudes o f
young children.
He currently publishes three tests o f developmental audiation for
children, from infants to age ten.
AUDIE (1993) is a test for infants to age four,
"Primary Measures o f Music Audiation (PMMA) for kindergarten through grade three
and the Intermediate Measures o f Music Audiation (IMMA) for grade one through
grade four, or for younger students that score high on the PMMA (Gordon, 1986).
R elated Music A ptitude S tu d ies

Several recent studies on learning and music have attempted to show relationships
between the development o f musical aptitude and other cognitive development. Schmidt
and Sinor (1986) used Gordon's PMMA to study impulsive behavior in children, finding
that scores from the PMMA can be related to measures of reflection/impulsiveness
(Measure o f Creative Thinking in Music, MCTM, 1986). The PMMA tonal subtest
showed a relationship to the MCTM, measure o f reflectiveness. Students who scored
significantly higher on the PMMA-melodic subtest correlated to a reflective descriptor on
the MCTM. Lower scores on the PMMA were interpreted to indicate impulsiveness.
Gradberry-Gordon (1994) used three standardized tests including Gordon's
PMMA, MAP, and Colwell's Music Achievement Test (MAT) to explore how
recognition o f rhythmic patterns may relate to other levels of learning including reading.
52
On a researcher made test she found a significant relationship between rhythm

recognition, music aptitude, music achievement, and reading levels.
Andrews (1997) found that integrating music with reading instruction positively
effects music attitude as well as reading attitudes. The experimental group received and
integrated reading and music treatment, post testing reading improvement with the Iowa
Test o f Basic Skills (ITBS).
Niamatali (1990) found that rhythm aptitude, as measured by the IMMA, has a
strong relationship with reading, vocabulary, and auditory discrimination in second
graders. The study reported a positive correlation between scores on the rhythm section
o f the IMMA and scores on the reading section o f the Iowa Test o f Basic Skills. A
positive correlation was also reported between reading and vocabulary scores o f third
grade students.
Barrett (1993) studied the effects o f Suzuki music instruction and socioeconomic-status (SES) on music aptitude levels o f first and second grade students. Using
Gordon's PMMA she found that SES and Suzuki training positively correlated on both
measures o f academic achievement scores and music aptitude scores.
Comparing
California Achievement Test (CAT) and Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS)
scores with PMMA scores revealed that high socio-economic-status had the main effect
on all three.
One alternative hypothesis of Barretts study speculated on the relationships
between tonal and language scores and rhythm and math scores.
inconclusive but interesting.
Results were
Positive correlations between math (CAT) and rhythm
(PMMA) were found for high SES, untrained students. A positive correlation was also
reported between language and tonal scores for high SES, untrained students.
Mild
correlations were found for all students in language-tonal and math-rhythm comparisons:
Language-tonal rho = .413, and math-rhythm rho = .352. Untrained, low SES students
53
taking the CTBS supported correlations in rhythm and math.
Summary o f findings:
(Barrett, 1993, 70)
Tablu 2.5
B arrett's 1993 Study: C orrelations Batwaaw A chiavam ant
T a st S co res and th a PMMA
Group
Math/Rhythm Rho
High SES, trained (n= 14)

High SES, untrained (n=66)
Low SES. trained (n=13)
Low SES, untrained (n=14)
Low SES, untrained (n=31)
All S s( n = lll)
All Ss2(n=27)
ntc. I
Ss took CAT.
-.08
.40
-.02
.66
.23
.35*
.09
___
Ss took CTBS. * g<.05
Language/Tonal Rho
.52
-.21
-.03
.27
-.00
.41*
-.05
(Barrett, 1993, 70)
Barrett reports mild correlations (.35 and .41) between language-tonal and mathrhythm relationships respectively, for students taking the California Achievement Test
(CAT). High SES-musically-trained students CAT-language scores and PMMA-tonal
scores were highly correlated (.52).
The small sample size (n=14) possibly limited
statistical significance o f this group, but contributed to the overall .41 significance o f the
sample o f 111 scores.
Negative correlations between CAT math scores and PMMA rhythm scores o f
musically-trained students may even suggest that training may have negatively effected
mathematics achievement, high SES-musically-trained (-.08), and low SES-musicallytrained (-.02). High and low SES musically-untrained students support Barretts math-
54
rhythm thesis with .40 and .66 positive correlations respectively between rhythm and
math scores. Studies with older children with higher reading, writing, and m ath skills
may illuminate stronger relationships between music learning and other cognitive areas o f
learning.
Lamar (1989) has shown significant differences in fourth grade Standford
Achievement Test reading scores o f students taught music by music specialists compared
to students taught music by classroom teachers.
He recommends further studies
comparing students taught by music specialists to students without music' instruction may
indicate stronger relationships between music instruction and academic achievement.
E ducational R eform
Educational reform in Kentucky was spurred in 1985 by a lawsuit filed by 66
school districts claiming inequity in funding across the state. In 1988, Judge Ray Corns
ruled that the General Assembly had failed in providing a "...efficient system o f common
schools..." and finding that, "school financing was ineffective...and discriminatory"
(Legislative Research Committee, 1994, 6).
Upon appeal, the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld Corns ruling and sent to the
state legislature a mandate to reform the state system o f education.
House Bill 940
became law in July o f 1990 known as The Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA).
Given the task to reform the state system o f public schools, the legislature through the
Legislative Research Commission defined the objectives, time line, and provisions in
curriculum, governance, and finance. The commission defined an adequate education to
include the following seven capacities:
55
1. Communication skills necessary to function in a complex, changing civilization.
2. Knowledge to make economic, social, and political choices.
3. Understanding o f governmental processes as they effect the community, state, and
nation.
4. Sufficient self-knowledge and knowledge o f ones mental and physical wellness.
5. Sufficient grounding in the arts to enable each student to appreciate his or her
cultural and historical heritage.
6. Sufficient preparation for students to choose and pursue their life's work
intelligently.
7. Skills enabling students to compete successfully with students from other states.
(Legislative Research Committee, 1994, 7).
The Kentucky Education Reform Act o f 1990 (KERA) outlined six goals with 75
valued outcomes o f a successful education:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Using Basic Communication and Math Skills, with 16 Valued Outcomes

Applying Core Concepts and Principles, with 38 Valued Outcomes
Becoming Self-Sufficient, with 7 Valued Outcomes
Becoming Responsible Group Members, with 6 Valued outcomes
Problem Solving, with 5 Valued outcomes
Integrating Knowledge, with 3 Valued Outcomes
(for a complete outline o f KERA goals and valued outcomes see Appendix A)
Significant components o f KERA that may have influenced decision-making
processes relevant to music education in JCPS include: the high-stakes accountability

system that rewards improving schools and intervenes in failing schools, a major
commitment to technology, alignment o f music education into the broad category o f Arts
and Humanities, and changing the management structure o f school districts and schools
(Legislative Research Committee, 1994).
The accountability system (KIRIS) has gone through several changes during the
first nine years o f the reform, most recently having been completely revamped with many
components o f the original reform act abandoned. In the fall o f 1999, KIRIS has been
renamed Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) and will rely on fewer
performance measures originally associated with the KIRIS assessment process and use
56
more national standardized tests including the California Test o f Basic Skills (CTBS).
Major financial and facilities/equipment commitments to technology may have
indirectly affected music education in JCPS during this period o f reform. Music rooms in
at least two o f the elementary schools participating in this study have been moved to
gymnasiums or smaller classrooms to make room for computer labs. Site-based school
councils since 1993 have been given primary responsibility o f school management
including determining curriculum and budgeting staff and program supplies to fund the
curriculum. Prior to 1990 (and significant to this study, 1993), all elementary schools
were afforded a music specialist as part of the district curriculum for elementary schools.
Site-based councils made cut-backs effecting music, art, and physical education programs
to meet the demands o f KERA especially the high stakes financial rewards and sanctions
part o f the KIRIS accountability system.
Restructuring the curriculum and assessment o f music into arts and humanities
has affected over 40 elementary schools, music educators, and a conservative estimate o f
40,000 elementary students during the. past six school years
(see chart below and.
Appendix A). Lindy Casebier, JCPS music supervisor reports that for the1998-99 school
year, 18 o f the district's 90 elementary schools did not employ certified music specialists
(JCPS, 1998, Casebier, personal communication, February 3, 1999).
The Music Educators National Convention (MENC), an association o f music
educators around the country that promotes quality music instruction for all children,
offers standards for elementary, middle, and high schools.
57
T abte 2.6
MENC K indergarten - G rade 4 S tan d ard s
C o n ten t S tandards:
Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire o f music

Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire o f music
Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments
Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
Reading and notating music
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Evaluating music and music performances
Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside
the arts
Understanding music in relation to history and culture
(MENC, 1999).
The Kentucky affiliate o f MENC, the Kentucky Music Educators Association
(KMEA), supports these standards and is striving to keep music represented in every
school curriculum and remain visible in the assessment process, (J. R. Gaddis, personal
communication, November 8, 1999).
Conclusion
This chapter has reviewed developments in the cognitive sciences, music
psychology and music learning, and issues o f educational reform in Kentucky during the
1990's. This literature review summarized current learning theories and music learning
theories, traced the developments in science, neurology and the emerging field o f musical
neurology, and offered evidence relating to the transfer of cognitive skills across
disciplines. Howard Gardner summarizes the importance o f these recent developments in
cognitive psychology and musical neurology, "I think we ought to keep our eyes very
much attuned to the kind o f work that Frances Rauscher, Martin Gardiner and others are
interested in - music transfer and music training.
It might turn out that some o f the
58
ancients were right - that there is an interesting organizational capacity in music that
extends beyond itselF (Brummett, 1997, 84).
CHAPTER 3
M ethodology
This study compares hours o f formal music instruction with music aptitude scores
and levels o f music aptitude with measures o f scholastic achievement.
Scores from
Edwin Gordon's music aptitude test, "Intermediate Measures o f Music Audiation" (1982,
1986) were compared to scores from 1998 KIRIS assessment results and 1998 CTBS
achievement tests.
Primary hypotheses expected to find positive correlations between music
instruction hours and IMMA scores, and positive correlations between music aptitude
scores and achievement test scores.
Secondary hypotheses explored relationships
between the two sections o f the IMMA, tonal and rhythm aptitude scores, compared to
reading and math scores.
Hypotheses are divided into four groups.
The first group is represented by a
single hypothesis that examines the effect of music instruction on IMMA scores. The
second group o f hypotheses tests the significance o f relationships between IMMA
composite (total) scores and general measures o f academic achievement including: CTBS
total scores for third and sixth grade students; KIRIS fourth grade reading scores; and
KIRIS fifth grade math scores. The third group o f hypotheses examines relationships
between tonal subtest scores of the IMMA and measures o f reading achievement. The
fourth group o f hypotheses explores relationships between IMMA rhythm scores and
measures o f mathematic achievement.
60
Relationship Betw ee n Music Instruction Hours and IMMA Scores

Hypothesis # / :
H0: Music instruction will show no effect on IMMA scores.
Ha: Total hours o f music instruction will positively correlate with higher levels
o f music aptitude as evidenced through IMMA scores.
R elationships B etwe e n IMMA Total S cores an d G eneral M easures

of A cadem ic A chievem ent
Hypothesis # 2:
Ho: There will be no relationship between third grade IMMA scores and CTBS
total scores.
Ha: Third grade IMMA total scores will positively correlate with CTBS total scores.
Hypothesis #3:
H0: There will be no relationship between sixth grade IMMA scores and
CTBS total scores.
Ha: Sixth grade IMMA total scores will positively correlate with CTBS total scores.
Hypothesis #4:
Ho: There will be no relationship between fourth grade IMMA scores and
KIRIS reading placement levels.
Ha: Fourth grade IMMA total scores will positively correlate with
KIRIS reading placement levels.
Hypothesis #5:
H0: There will be no relationship between fifth grade IMMA scores and
KIRIS mathematics placement levels.
Ha: Fifth grade IMMA total scores will positively correlate with
R elationships B etw een IMMA Tonal S co res and M easures

R eading A chievem ent
H ypothesis # 6:
Ho.- There will be no relationship between third grade IMMA tonal scores and
CTBS reading scores.
Ha: Third grade IMMA tonal scores will positively correlate with CTBS
reading scores.
H ypothesis # 7:
Hc: There will be no relationship between sixth grade IMMA tonal scores and
CTBS reading scores.
Ha: Sixth grade IMMA tonal scores will positively correlate with CTBS
reading scores.
H ypothesis #8:
H0: There will be no relationship between fourth grade IMMA tonal scores
and KIRIS reading placement levels.
Ha: Fourth grade IMMA tonal scores will positively correlate with KIRIS
reading placement levels.
62
R elationships B etw een IMMA Rhythm S c o re s and M athem atics

A chievem ent
H ypothesis #9:
Ho: There will be no relationship between third grade IMMA rhythm scores
and CTBS mathematics scores.
Ha: Third grade IMMA rhythm scores will positively correlate with
CTBS mathematics scores.
H ypothesis #10:
H0: There will be no relationship between sixth grade IMMA rhythm scores
and CTBS mathematics scores.
Ha: Sixth grade IMMA rhythm scores will positively correlate with
H ypothesis #11:
H0: There will be no relationship between fifth grade IMMA rhythm scores
and KIRIS mathematics placement levels.
Ha: Fifth grade IMMA rhythm scores will positively correlate with
The Sotting
Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) is located in Louisville, Kentucky. The
population o f the city o f Louisville is about 270,00 and Jefferson County, slightly over
670,000. A seven-county metropolitan area includes three surrounding counties and three
southern Indiana counties estimated the total metropolitan population at 993,369 in 1997
(2000 Census, 1999).
The school district has 88 elementary schools with 51,130 kindergarten through
fifth grade students, 24 middle schools grades six through eight with enrollment of
22.911, and 21 high schools with enrollment o f 31,175. Total enrollment o f JCPS was
63
reported at 105,216 for the 1998-1999 school year (JCPS, 1999).
The county is divided into 35 zip code areas allowing for income data analysis.
The lowest family income average was reported at $7,853 for an inner-city zip code area
to the highest suburban zip code area of $86,947, in 1994 (adapted from a report by the
Bellarmine College Small Business Development Center, JCPS, 1998, 8).
The eight
schools participating in this study were represented by zip code areas o f average family
incomes ranging from $7,853 through $25,755.
Seven elementary schools and one middle school participated in this study with
640 students in grades three through six taking the IMMA. 263 parents signed informed
consent allowing the researcher to examine school records and o f these, 240 individual
student records were collected.
Data collected from student records include reading, language, math, and
composite scores from the CTBS o f third and sixth grade students, KIRIS reading,
science, writing portfolio, and writing on-demand scores o f fourth grade students, and
KIRIS math, social studies, and arts and humanities scores o f fifth grade students.
Demographic data collected includes gender, age, ethnicity, and an indicator o f socioeconomic-status defined by students receiving free or reduced lunch.
Demographic
characteristics o f the sample were fairly representative o f district averages with 73%
white, 23% black, and 4%, other which includes Asian American, Native-American,
and Hispanic ethnicity.
Thirty-nine percent o f the students received free or reduced
lunch, the criteria defining low socio-economic-status for the purpose o f this study.
Fifty-four percent o f the students were boys.
64
Th Music A ptituds T e st
The IMMA was administered to third through fifth grade students at seven
elementary schools and to sixth grade students at one middle school. Gordon designed
the IMMA for grades one through four and developed norms for grades one through six.
Gordon currently publishes five music aptitude tests for different aged students:
AUDIE. designed for three and four year olds; the "Primary Measure o f Music
Audiation" (PMMA) intended for students in Kindergarten through grade three; the
"Intermediate Measure o f Music Audiation" (IMMA), grades one through grade four
(with standardized norms through grade six, and younger students that may have scored
very high on the PMMA); the "Music Aptitude Profile" (MAP) for students in fourth
through twelfth grades; and the "Advanced Measure o f Music Aptitude" (AMMA) for
college students and adults. The IMMA was selected as a best fit for students aged 8 to
12, administration time, (approximately 30 minutes is required to administer the IMMA
compared to two an one half hours required to administer the MAP), and with interest in
Gordons intent to measure music aptitude that may fluctuate with environmental
influences and formal and informal instruction.
In 1982, Gordon calculated validity and reliability estimates for the IMMA from
analyzing test scores from 2,736 first, second, third, and fourth grade students in
Pennsylvania and New York state. This sample created the pool of scores for which he
developed norms stating that these students, "... appear to be fairly representative o f
typical elementary school children." (Gordon, 1986, 85) Means and standard deviations
o f composite (combined tonal and rhythm) scores on the IMMA (Table 3.1) yielded the
following results:
65
TABLE 3.1
In term ed iate M easu res e f M usic A udiatlen
M eans and Standard D eviation s
Grade l
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
N
675
656
653
752
Mean
60.3
6 5 .1
66.8
68.8
SD
7.21
6.18
5.60
5.48
Adapted from M anual fo r the Primary M easures o f M usic Audiation and the
Interm ediate M easures o f Music Audiation (Gordon, 1986, 88).
Estimates o f reliability o f composite scores o f fourth grade students indicate that
the IMMA is a reliable measure o f music aptitude. Gordon reported grade four spiithalves reliability at .80, and test-retest reliability at .90 (l 986, 92).
66
TABLE 3.2
In term ed ia te M easu res o f M usic A udiatlen
P er ce n tile Norm s
Tonal Test
Grade
Raw
Score
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
99
95
85
75
65
55
50
45
35
25
15
5
1
Rhythm Test
2
3
4
Percentile Rank
99
95
85
75
65
50
35
25
15
5
1
99
95
85
75
.65
50
35
25
15
5
1
99
95
85
75
65
50
35
23
15
5
1
5/6
99
90
80
65
50
35
20
10
5
1
Grade
Raw
Score
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
99
95
90
85
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
15
10
5
1
2
3
4
Percentile Rank
99
95
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
5
3-
99
95
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
5
1
99
95
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
5
1
5/6
99
95
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
5
1
Adapted from M anual fo r the Primary Measures o f Music Audiation and the
Intermediate Measures o f M usic Audiation (Gordon, 1986, 64).
The IMMA is a tape-recorded listening test. It has two sections, tonal and rhythm
tests, each with forty musical examples.
administer.
Each section takes about twelve minutes to
The entire IMMA can be administered in about thirty minutes. The test
answer sheets are marked with pictograms rather than numbers. Each listening example
is identified with a picture o f a common item such as apple, dog, or hat. The announcer
says, "Apple, first followed by the tonal or rhythm pattern referred to as a song,
followed by the announcer saying, second. (Gordon, 1986) Students do not have to
read in order to take the test. Although it is assumed that most intermediate level students
would be capable readers, this format is utilized in both the PMMA and the IMMA. Each
pictogram task contains two pairs o f pictures. The first pair shows two similar smiling
faces, and the second pair shows a smiling face and a frowning face. If the short, three or
four note tonal or rhythmic pattern played sounds alike, the student circles the picture o f
two smiling faces. If the pattern sounds different, the student circles the picture o f two
different faces. The student simply circles the appropriate box, describing the musical
examples heard as either same or different.
A nalysis
To determine whether musical aptitude is related to instruction and positively
correlates to other areas o f learning, partitioning o f variance using multiple regression
(MR) will be employed.
Multicollinearity can pose problems in multiple regression
analysis, obscuring relationships in variables that are highly correlated. A strategy based
on the partitioning of variance can help explain these interrelationships. The effects SES.
ethnicity, gender, (and the music aptitude score) may have on achievement test scores
will be examined by entering the demographic variables into the equation first. This is
done in order to determine the contribution the measure o f music aptitude may have on
achievement scores having first removed the effects o f the demographic variables.
CHAPTER 4
Findings
This study analyzes the effect o f music instruction on developing musical aptitude
and correlates music aptitude scores with measures o f academic achievement. This study
explores how a measure o f music aptitude may relate to various levels o f academic
achievement in children 8 to 12 years old. Events related to the Kentucky Educational
Reform Act o f 1990 indirectly affecting music education in Jefferson County motivated
this quasi-experimental study that recorded differences in hours and types o f classroom
music instruction, and after administering a music aptitude test, compared results with
measures o f academic achievement. Seven elementary schools and one middle school
voluntarily agreed to participate in this study with music instruction ranging from zero
hours to over two hundred hours during the 1997-1998 school year.
IMMA composite scores for all third through sixth grade ranged from 42 to 78.
with a mean score o f 6S.95, and standard deviation o f 6.62.
According to norms
developed by Gordon, the entire sample o f 240 IMMA scores averaged at about the 25th
percentile. (Third grade IMMA composite scores at the 20th percentile, fourth grade at
the 30th percentile, fifth grade at the 20th percentile and sixth at the 30th percentile.)
Scores from the tonal subtest ranged from 19 to 40, with a mean o f 34.03, and standard
deviation o f 3.94. The range o f the rhythm subtest was 19 to 39, mean o f 31.92, and
standard deviation o f 3.85. The composite score is the sum o f the tonal and rhythm
scores.
Analysis by grade level is necessary to accurately describe the music curriculum
o f each school and the different academic achievement assessments administered at each
grade level.
Third and sixth grade students were given the California Test o f Basic
SkilIs-5 (CTBS) published by CTB McGraw-Hill. Schools in Kentucky were given the
option o f administering the entire battery o f 13 sections o f the CTBS or only required
69
sections o f reading, language, and math, which combined produced a total score. Several
elementary schools (3) administered the entire battery and the remainder o f schools
administered only the three required subtests. Third and sixth grade CTBS data collected
included reading, language, math, and total scores.
Fourth grade students were given the KIRIS assessment, which included sections
in reading, science, writing portfolio, and writing on-demand. Fifth grade students were
given the KIRIS assessment with sections in math, social studies, and arts and
humanities.
KIRIS data collection recorded all o f this information but this study was
specifically interested in reading and mathematics achievement.
Indication of Music Instruction Effecting M usic A ptitudo S coros

This study calculated music instruction hours for each student during the 19971998 school year. At the elementary level, general music instruction by a certified music
specialist was offered in five o f the seven participating schools. All elementary schools
offered instrumental music instruction in band and orchestra instruments by certified
itinerant band and orchestra directors. Piano instruction was offered at one elementary
school. Other musical instruction included percussion and mallet-keyboard training. The
total music instruction factor was calculated by adding hours o f instruction from each o f
these areas for each student.
The middle school offered music instruction in band, orchestra, choir, and pianokeyboard lab. Middle school students are not required to take music and may enroll in
one or more o f these classes. Instruction hours in music at the middle school ranged from
0 to 225 hours.
70
Introduction to th o A nalysis: E stablishing Positive C orrelations

Botwoon M usic In stru ctio n H ours and Music A ptitude S co res
Total music instruction hours calculated for each student were compared to the
IMMA music aptitude scores producing the following correlation coefficients for third
through sixth grade students presented in table 4-1.
T a b le 4.1
C orrelational A n a ly sis o f IMMA S co res and M usic Instruction
Total Music Instruction Hours
Band or Orchestra Instruction Hours
Piano-Keyboard Instruction Hours
Other (Percussion-Mallet) Instruction Hours
Certified Music Instruction
IMMA Correlation Coefficient

.321**
.220**
.203**
.210* *
.259**
**p < .01, N=240

Positive correlations between music instruction hours and music aptitude scores
suggest that music instruction may influence the development o f music aptitude.
C orrelational A nalysis
A cadem ic A chievem ent
of
IMMA S co res
and
M easures
of
The second group o f hypotheses examines IMMA total scores and general
measures o f academic achievement.
Tables 4.2 and 4.3 indicate several significant
positive correlations between music aptitude scores and third and sixth grade CTBS
reading and math achievement scores.
KIRIS fourth and fifth grade scores selectively
support the second group hypotheses indicating positive correlations between IMMA
scores and KIRIS science placement levels for fourth graders (.290, significant at the .05
level), and KIRIS mathematics placement levels for fifth graders (.408, significant at the
.01 level).
71
T a b la 4 .2
Correlation CoofHc ion t R atios off IMMA Total S core to CTBS Scores:
Grade 3
CTBS Reading Score
CTBS Math Score
CTBS Total Score
IMMA Total Score

.411**
.542**
.520**
**p<.01
T a b te 4 .3
Correlation C oefficient R atios off IMMA T otal S core to CTBS Scores:
Grade 6
CTBS Reading Score
CTBS Math Score
CTBS Total Score
IMMA Total Score

.305*
.324* .
.310*
*p < .05
72
FIGURE 4.1
RalatlonaM p l i h w m IMMA Se t and CTBS S e r n a :
Orades 3 and S
CTBS and IMMATotal Scoraa, Grad* 3 and 6

Linear R eyw i on w th
95.00% Mm d PredfcCon trterv*
CTBS total
<D
I f l r i a i l i 4M .43 M l
700J30 -
JT 8 0 0 4 0 -
90
90
70
IMMA total scor*
From SPSS 9.0 for Windows, Copyright 1999 by SPSS Inc.

Reproduced with permission o f SPSS Inc.
To verify statistical significance of IMMA scores effect on CTBS scores, and

KIRIS assessment results, each hypothesis employed multiple regression analysis to
73
estimate significance (F-ratios). Multiple regression analysis allowed each hypothesis to

be tested for significance by controlling variances in scores that may partially be
explained by demographic independent variables. This study recorded the demographic
variables o f socio-economic-status, ethnicity, and gender and designed each test o f
significance to input these variables into the equation before entering the effect o f music
instruction or music aptitude test results.
74
Hypothasas:
The first set o f hypotheses is represented by a single hypothesis examining the
effect o f music instruction on developing music aptitude as evidenced by IMMA scores
for the entire sample. The first null hypothesis expected music instruction hours to show
no effect on IMMA scores.
H ypothesis
# /.*
Ho: Music instruction hours will have no effect on IMMA total scores.
Ha: Music instruction hours will positively correlate with IMMA total scores.
T able 4.4
H ypothesis #1
Relationship Between M usic Instruction H ours and IMMA Total Scores
Grades 3, 4, 5, & 6
Source o f
Variance
Degrees of
Freedom
Sum of
Squares
Mean
Square
FRatio
SES
Ethnicity
Gender
Music Inst. Hrs
Error
Total
I
1
1
1
235
239
667.8
6.612
46.571
818.5
8867.4
10406.9
667.8
6.612
46.571
818.5
37.734
17.699**
0.175
1.234
21.691**
Note. N=240.
* =significant at .05 level ** ^significant at .01 level.
The first hypothesis can be rejected for the entire sample indicating that music
aptitude is developed with instruction and strongly effects scores achieved on the IMMA
(For analysis by grade level see appendix D).
75
H ypothusus 2 - 5 : R elationships B etw een IMMA S cores end

G eneral M easures of A cadem ic A chievem ent
The second set o f hypotheses (hypotheses 2, 3. 4, and 5) compares IMMA total
scores to general measures o f academic achievement. This study is especially interested
in relationships between the measure o f music aptitude, the IMMA score, and measures
of mathematics and reading achievement. To obtain accurate analysis o f the data without
overstating or misinterpreting findings, the second group of hypotheses analyzed each
grade level separately. Third and sixth grade students were given a CTBS total score.
which is the sum o f reading, mathematics, and language scores. Fourth graders reading
placement levels collected from KIRIS assessment data were compared to IMMA total
scores as a measure o f general reading achievement and, fifth grade KIRIS mathematics
placement levels were compared to IMMA total scores, as a measure o f general
mathematics achievement, in lieu o f KIRIS total scores.
H ypothesis #2:
H0: There will be no relationship between third grade IMMA scores and CTBS
total scores.
Ha: Third grade IMMA total scores will positively correlate with CTBS total scores.
76
Tabls 4.5
H ypothesis #2
Relationship Between IMMA Total Scores and CTBS Total Scores
Grade 3
Source o f
Variance
Degrees o f
Freedom
Sum o f
Squares
Mean
Square
FRatio
SES
Ethnicity
Gender
IMMA Total Score
Error
Total
1
I
I
1
71
75
21272.02
5861.623
10.395
27337.82
72421.328
126903.197
21272.02
5861.623
10.395
27337.82
1020.019
20.854**
5.746*
0.01
26.801**
Note. N=76
* =significant at .05 level ** =signiflcant at .01 level.
The second null hypothesis can be rejected indicating that third grade IMMA total
scores are strongly related to general measures o f academic achievement.
77
Hypothesis # J:
Ho.' There will be no relation between sixth grade IMMA scores and CTBS
total scores.
Ha: Sixth grade IMMA total scores will positively correlate with CTBS total scores.
T a b ls 4.6
H ypothesis #3
Relationship Between IMMA Total Scores and CTBS Total Scores
Grade 6
Source o f
Variance
Degrees o f
Freedom
Sum o f
Squares
Mean
Square
FRatio
SES
Ethnicity
Gender
IMMA Total Score
Error
Total
1
1
1
1
48
52
1744.77
3795.15
238.922
7804.398
45557.19
59520.453
1744.77
3795.15
238.922
7804.398
949.108
1.838
3.998
0.251
8.228*
Note. N=53.
* =significant at .05 level ** =significant at .01 level.
The third null hypothesis can be rejected suggesting that sixth grade IMMA total
scores are significantly related to general measures o f academic achievement.
78
Hypothesis U4:
Ho: There will be no relation between fourth grade IMMA total scores and
KIRIS reading placement levels scores.
Ha: Fourth grade IMMA total scores will positively correlate with KIRIS
T abte 4.7
H ypothesis #4
Relationship Between IMMA Total Scores and
K IR IS Reading Placem ent Levels
Grade 4
Source of
Variance
Degrees o f
Freedom
Sum o f
Squares
Mean
Square
FRatio
SES
Ethnicity
Gender
IMMA Total Score
Error
Total
1
1
1
1
60
64
1.266
0.266
0.585
0.096
17.848
20.062
1.266
0.266
0.585
0.096
0.297
4.26*
0.895
1.969
0.323
Note. N=65.
The fourth null hypothesis must be accepted indicating that IMMA total scores
are not significantly related to KIRIS fourth grade reading placement levels.
79
Hypothesis #5:
Fi,: There will be no relation between fifth grade IMMA total scores and
H: Fifth grade IMMA total scores will positively correlate with KIRIS
mathematics placement levels.
Tabte 4.0
H ypothesis #5
R elationship B etw een IM M A Total scores and
K IR IS M athem atics P lacem ent Levels
Grade 5
Source o f
Variance
Degrees of
Freedom
Sum o f
Squares
Mean
Square
FRatio
SES
Ethnicity
Gender
IMMA Total Score
Error
Total
1
1
I
1
38
42
5.529
3.502
2.08
3.221
22.644
36.977
5.529
3.502
2.08
3.221
0.596
9.276**
5.875*
3.489
5.404*
Note. N=43.
The fifth null hypothesis can be rejected suggesting that fifth grade IMMA total
scores are related to mathematics achievement.
80
R elationships B otw oon IMMA Tonal S c o re s an d M oasuros of

Reading A chievem ent
The third set o f three hypotheses explores relationships between tonal scores
attained on the IMMA music aptitude test and measures o f reading achievement. Third
and sixth grade students reading scores were collected from CTBS reading test results
and fourth grade reading scores were obtained from the KIRIS reading assessment. Fifth
graders were not assessed in reading.
H ypothesis #6:
Ho: There will be no relation between third grade IMMA tonal scores and CTBS
reading scores.
Ha: Third grade IMMA tonal scores will positively correlate with CTBS reading scores.
Tabic 4.9
H ypothesis #6
Relationship Between IMMA Tonal Scores and CTBS Reading Scores
Grade 3
Source o f
Variance
Degrees o f
Freedom
Sum o f
Squares
Mean
Square
FRatio
SES
Ethnicity
Gender
IMMA Total Score
Error
Total
1
1
1
1
69
73
25580.33
10115.28
2.483
14648.54
96736.76
147083.405
25580.33
10115.28
2.483
14648.54
1401.982
18.245**
7.215*
0.002
10.448**
Note. N=74.
* =significant at .05 level **=significant at .01 level.
The sixth null hypothesis can be rejected indicating that third grade reading
achievement is significantly related tonal music aptitude as evidenced by IMMA tonal
scores.
81
Hypothesis # 7:
Ho: There will be no relation between sixth grade IMMA tonal scores and CTBS
reading scores.
Ha: Sixth grade IMMA tonal scores will positively correlate with CTBS reading scores.
Tabls 4.10
H ypothesis #7
Relationship Between IM M A Tonal Scores and CTBS Reading Scores
Grade 6
Source o f
Variance
Degrees o f
Freedom
Sum o f
Squares
Mean
Square
FRatio
SES
Ethnicity
Gender
IMMA Total Score
Error
Total
1
1
1
1
48
52
1153.215
2902.803
48.671
7209.33
50173.113
61487.132
1153.215
2902.803
48.671
7209.33
1045.273
1.10
2.77
0.046
6.897*
Note. N=53.
The seventh null hypothesis can be rejected for sixth grade students suggesting
that reading achievement is related to tonal music aptitude as evidenced by IMMA tonal
scores.
82
Hypothesis #6
H0: There will be no relation between fourth grade IMMA tonal scores and
KIRIS reading placement levels scores.
Ha: Fourth grade IMMA tonal scores will positively correlate with KIRIS
T abls 4.11
H ypothesis #8
Relationship Between IMMA Tonal Scores and
KIRIS Reading Placem ent Levels
G raded
Source o f
Variance
Degrees o f
Freedom
Sum o f
Squares
Mean
Square
FRatio
SES
Ethnicity
Gender
IMMA Total Score
Error
Total
1
1
1
1
60
64
1.266
0.266
0.585
0.001
17.944
20.062
1.266
0.266
0.585
0.001
0.299
4.234*
0.889
1.956
0.003
Note. N=65.
The eighth hypothesis must be accepted for fourth grade students indicating little
relationship between fourth grade IMMA tonal scores and KIRIS reading placement
levels.
83
R elationships Betw e e n IMMA Rhythm S co res and

M easures of M athem atics A chievem ent
The fourth set o f three hypotheses explored relationships between measures of
rhythmic music aptitude, scores from the IMMA rhythm test, with measures of
mathematics achievement including third and sixth grade CTBS mathematics scores and
fifth grade KIRIS mathematics assessment levels.
Hypothesis #9:
H0: There will be no relation between third grade IMMA rhythm scores and
Ha: Third grade IMMA rhythm scores will positively correlate with CTBS
mathematics scores.
T able 4.12
H ypothesis #9
Relationship Between IMMA Rhythm Scores and CTBS M ath Scores
Grade 3
Source of
Variance
Degrees o f
Freedom
SES
1
Ethnicity
I
Gender
1
IMMA Rhythm Score 1
Error
71
Total
75
Sum o f
Squares
Mean
Square
FRatio
13065.33
5861.317
478.082
23623.89
84345.53
127374.158
13065.33
5861.317
478.082
23623.89
1187.965
10.998**
4.933*
0.402
19.886**
Note. N=76.
The ninth hypothesis can be rejected for third grade students indicating strong
relationships between rhythmic musical aptitude and mathematics achievement in third
grade students.
Hypothesis #10
84
Ho: There will be no relation between sixth grade IMMA rhythm scores and
Ha: Sixth grade IMMA rhythm scores will positively correlate with CTBS
mathematics scores.
Table 4.13
H ypothesis #10
Relationship Between IMMA Rhythm Scores and C TBS Math Scores
Grade 6
Source o f
Variance
Degrees o f
Freedom
1
SES
Ethnicity
1
Gender
1
IMMA Rhythm Score 1
Error
48
Total
52
Sum o f
Squares
Mean
Square
FRatio
2711.645
5971.678
907.874
9479.711
58315.01
77385.925
2711.645
5971.678
907.874
9479.711
1214.896
2.23
4.915*
0.747
7.802**
Note. N=53.
The tenth null hypothesis can be rejected indicating a strong relationship between
sixth grade rhythmic musical aptitude and mathematics achievement in sixth grade
students.
85
Hypothesis HU:
Ho: There will be no relationship between fifth grade IMMA rhythm scores and
KJR1S mathematics placement levels.
Ha: Fifth grade IMMA rhythm scores will positively correlate with KIRIS
mathematics placement levels.
H ypothesis #11
Relationship Between IMMA Rhythm Scores and KIRIS Math Placem ent Levels
Grade 5
Source of
Variance
Degrees o f
Freedom
Sum o f
Squares
Mean
Square
FRatio
SES
Ethnicitv
Gender
IMMA Total Score
Error
Total
1
1
1
1
37
41
5.529
3.502
2.08
0.999
24.29
36.977
5.529
3.502
2.08
0.999
0.656
8.428**
5.338*
3.17
1.431
Note. N=42.
The eleventh null hypothesis must be accepted indicating little relationship

between fifth grade KIRIS mathematics placement levels and IMMA rhythm scores.
CHAPTER 5
Sum m ary a n d D iscussion
This study analyzes the effect of music instruction on developing musical aptitude
and compares music aptitude scores with measures o f academic achievement. A section
o f the review o f the literature cites experimental music and cognition studies indicating
that spatial-temporal reasoning abilities may be enhanced through musical training. This
study explores how a measure o f music aptitude may relate to levels o f academic
achievement in children 8 to 12 years old.
Events related to the Kentucky Education
Reform Act o f 1990 indirectly affecting music education in Jefferson County, allowed for
this quasi-experimental study by comparing levels o f musical aptitude with measures o f
academic achievement in relation to hours o f classroom music instruction.
Seven
elementary schools and one middle school voluntarily agreed to participate in this study
with music instruction ranging from zero hours to over two hundred hours during the
1997-1998 school year.
Edwin Gordons concept o f developmental music aptitude appears to be verified
by findings of this study, indicating that scores from the measure o f music aptitude, the
IMMA test, were affected by music instruction, especially in younger students. Music
instruction was found to significantly affect IMMA scores, after controlling for socioeconomic-status, ethnicity and gender. Gordon's theory proposes that music aptitude is
developmental prior to the age o f ten, at which time a child's music aptitude or future
potential to achieve in music stabilizes, and remains at this level through the childs life.
A corollary study o f 48 sixth grade class piano students aged 11 to 12, from the
participating middle school support Gordon's theory related to developmental and
87
stabilized music aptitudes. The IMMA was administered as a pretest and posttest before
and after one semester o f 50-minute daily class piano instruction. Posttest scores were
statistically no different than the pretest scores suggesting that music aptitude o f these
students had stabilized and was not affected by instruction.
A Brief Sum m ary of th e Findings of This Study

A positive correlation between music instruction hours and IMMA scores
suggests that music aptitude may be related to instruction. Multiple regression analysis
then allowed demographic variables o f socio-economicrstatus, ethnicity, and gender to be
entered into the model before estimating the effect o f music instruction on music aptitude
scores.
Socio-economic-status (defined by free or reduced lunch data) explained a
significant portion o f variance in music aptitude scores. SES also influenced third- and
fourth-grade reading achievement scores, and third-, and fifth-grade mathematics
achievement scores. Neither ethnicity nor gender influenced music aptitude scores. To
reduce the influence o f multicollenearity, or the effect one or more variables may have on
other variables, SES was entered into the equation first, proceeded by ethnicity and then
gender. The fourth independent variable o f hypothesis #1, music instruction hours, was
entered into the model after SES, ethnicity, and gender and accounted for a statistically
significant portion o f the variance in IMMA scores o f the entire sample (F=21.61,
significant at the .01 level). Statistical significance o f rejecting the first null hypothesis
(which expected no relationship- between music instruction and IMMA scores) is
important. Rejecting the first null hypothesis and supporting the alternative hypothesis
indicates that music instruction enhances musical aptitude scores and may be related to
general or specific cognitive development. The study then explores variances between
88
IMMA scores and measures o f academic achievement in the second, third, and fourth
groups o f hypotheses.
The second group o f hypotheses compares IMMA scores with general measures
o f academic achievement. A regression model (Table 4.3) indicates that third and sixth
grade IMMA and CTBS scores are linearly related. For each point o f increase in IMMA
composite (total) scores, CTBS total scores can be expected to increase by 9.8 points,
within a 95% level o f confidence. This is a significant finding, suggesting that music
instruction, related to music aptitude scores, established by rejecting the first null
hypothesis, may also be related, to academic achievement. Fifth grade KIRIS assessment
math scores, used as a general measure o f academic achievement were significantly
related to IMMA total scores.
Fourth grade KIRIS reading scores, used as a general
measure o f academic achievement were not significantly related to IMMA total scores.
These findings suggest a long-term effect o f transferring skills acquired in music learning
to other areas o f cognitive development.
The third and fourth groups o f hypotheses compares the two subtests o f the
IMMA. tonal scores and rhythm scores to reading and math scores respectively. Support
is cited for rejecting the third group o f null hypotheses, (which expected no relationship
between tonal and reading scores). Relationships between third grade (hypothesis #6)
and sixth grade (hypothesis #7) IMMA tonal and CTBS reading scores strongly support
rejecting each null indicating that IMMA tonal scores are significantly related to CTBS
reading scores. Fourth grade tonal and reading scores require accepting the eighth null
hypothesis, citing no significant relationship between IMMA tonal scores and KIRIS
reading scores. The KIRIS assessment ranked this sample o f fourth grade reading scores
89
near the mean (1% novice, 54% apprentice, 43% proficient, and 1% distinguished) and
possibly reduced the accuracy o f statistical analysis, and suggests that the KIRIS reading
assessment results may be unreliable.
Without variation in scores, the high-stakes
accountability process that rewards and sanctions schools and school districts based on
these scores becomes suspect.
The fourth group o f hypotheses explores possible relationships between IMMA
rhythm scores and math scores. The fourth null could be rejected for grades 3 and 6,
students assessed in mathematics with the nationally standardized California Test o f
Basic Skills (CTBS).
Multiple regression analysis estimates an F ratio of 19.88,
significant at the .01 level, for grade three, and an F ratio o f 7.8, significant at the .01
level, for grade six, after variances in scores effected by socio-economic-status, ethnicity,
and gender are subtracted. Comparison o f fifth grade IMMA rhythm scores and KIRIS
math scores are also possibly limited by the four category KIRIS ranking system and
clustering o f scores, (74% o f fifth grade math scores were ranked in the bottom two
levels), and do not support rejecting the eleventh null hypothesis. Fourth graders were
not assessed in mathematics. Third and sixth grade results indicate that IMMA rhythm
scores are significantly related to CTBS mathematics scores. This relationship supports
findings by Shaw (1999), Rauscher (1998), and others indicating spatial-temporal
reasoning abilities can be enhanced with music training.
90
Interpretation of Findings
This study finds failed to accept 8 o f the 11 null hypotheses tested, suggesting, in
a broad interpretation, that the measure o f music aptitude, the IMMA score is related to
several measures o f academic achievement. Accepting the fourth, eighth, and eleventh
null hypotheses are perhaps more reflective o f the KIRIS categorical ranking system than
evaluating relationships between measures of music aptitude and measures o f academic
achievement. Analysis o f CTBS data supports significant relationships between IMMA
total scores and CTBS total scores, IMMA tonal scores and reading achievement, and
IMMA rhythm scores and mathematics achievement. It is important to note that third
and sixth grade CTBS and IMMA scores found no significant outliers (Table 4.3). The
regression model could not have calculated an equation, the regression line, with
excessive variance in pairs o f scores (IMMA total scores and CTBS total scores).
This
can be interpreted to suggest that as music aptitude develops, related cognitive processes
including mathematics and reading skills, also develop.
Relationships between IMMA tonal scores and CTBS reading scores support
alternative hypotheses suggesting that developing tonal musical aptitude, may be related
to the skills children acquired while learning to read.
Learning to read silently may
parallel the musical cognitive process Gordon refers to as audiation.
Elementary school
teachers have long realized connections between music and language through the success
most children enjoy in learning the ABC's, multiplication tables, names o f presidents,
states, or a variety o f concepts set to melodies o f well-known songs.
Policy makers, administrators, teachers, and parents should benefit from the
findings o f this study. School councils and administrators may reconsider the overall
91
educational benefits o f music instruction in relation to academic achievement as they plan
school curricula.
Music A ptitude S co res of Jefferso n County S tu d en ts

The Intermediate Measure o f Music Audiation was selected for this study because
o f its intent to measure the developmental nature of music aptitude. This concept o f
Gordon's as reviewed in Chapter 2 is intriguing. Most tests o f musical ability currently
available, including musical sections o f the Kentuckys KIRIS/CATS Arts and
Humanities assessment, are largely achievement measures, questions about musical facts,
dates, music theory, as well as assessing students writing abilities.
The IMMA is
designed to measure the developmental and stabilized nature o f music aptitude through
aural skills, rather than achievement tasks.
JCPS students participating in this study scored near the 25th percentile on the
IMMA. Third grade average composite scores were at the 20th percentile, fourth grade
composite scores at the 30th percentile, fifth grade composite scores at the 20th percentile
and sixth grade scores at the 30th percentile. Tonal scores were about two points higher
than rhythm scores at each grade level, which is in line with Gordon's estimations. (The
50th percentile for third grade on the tonal test is represented by a raw score o f 34, out o f
40. and the 50th percentile on the rhythm test is 32, out o f 40, suggesting that the rhythm
test is more difficult than the tonal test.) It is likely that the 25th percentile on the IMMA
is a fair estimation o f Jefferson County's third through sixth grade student's average
music aptitude. This is not necessarily reflective o f poor instruction or a below average
student body, but perhaps a long-term result o f curricular reductions affecting music
instruction.
One elementary school in this sample had not offered curricular music
instruction within the past seven years, one school had reintroduced music instruction in
1997-98 after a five-year absence, and one school offered only nine-week instruction
blocks in music taught by the visual arts teacher. Average composite IMMA scores for
the three elementary schools that had reduced or eliminated music instruction was 64.92
compared to 67.26 for the four schools that had maintained curricular general music
instruction. Teacher-to-student ratios remain a critical issue. The five elementary music
teachers participating in this study taught on average, 748 Kindergarten through fifth
grade students during the 1997-1998 school year.
A rts and H um anltias A ssassm an t

In the KERA core content matrix, music is aligned with the category o f "Arts and
Humanities" for assessment purposes, and may have influenced many elementary schoolbased councils to re-design curricula and re-evaluate funding o f programs to meet the
demands o f the accountability process. The Arts and Humanities assessment score o f
KIRIS/CATS accounts for only 7.13% o f the accountability process o f middle school
scores and 4.75% o f elementary scores.
Reductions in music education are possibly
related to the high-stakes accountability process, the emergence o f site-based school

councils, and the de-centralization o f district supported music education programs.
School councils since 1993 have made all funding and curriculum decisions for their
individual schools.
The high-stakes accountability index with rewards and sanctions
determined by test scores has possibly influenced the funding o f music programs and
salaries for music educators in favor o f academic programs intended to improve test
scores more visibly.
The small percentages that Arts and Humanities assessment
contributes to the total accountability index have possibly influenced school councils to
redirect funds into other areas. In the 1998-1999 school year, 18 o f the 90 elementary
schools in Jefferson County did not employ a certified music teacher. Many o f these
schools have substituted non-certified music teachers including visual arts teachers,
classroom teachers, teachers with the most visible musical talent (including a physical
education teacher), and non-certified para-professionals to teach music. Near-sighted
funding o f school curricula in response to the accountability process are likely to
influence reductions in other areas including physical education and foreign language as
well as other disciplines included in arts and humanities: visual arts, drama, dance, and
other creative arts. Home economics and industrial arts have been virtually eliminated
from school curriculum offerings.
V alidating th a K antucky KIRIS/CATS A ssa ssm a n t Systam

The
former
Kentucky Instructional
Results Information
System (KIRIS)
assessment was revised the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) in

1998 and uses the KIRIS framework assessing children in reading, mathematics, science,
social studies, arts and humanities, practical living, and writing portfolios.
CATS
assessment remains a four-category matrix with categories termed novice, apprentice,

proficient, and distinguished. Portions o f CTBS tests will continue to be used to assess
students in grades three, six, and nine. Improving the validity and reliability o f CATS
assessments will continue to be issues relevant to developing a realistic assessment
system in Kentucky.
Results o f this study indicate that fourth and fifth grade KIRIS
results are suspect and vague at best. Follow-up studies comparing KIRIS and CATS
scores with nationally standardized CTBS scores could illuminate areas o f concern and
help revise and standardize the CATS system.
The arts and humanities section o f the CATS assessment could be improved by
including musical assessment events, possibly similar to Gordon's IMMA or other tests
that assess aural musical ability. Recent KIRIS and CATS arts and humanities test items
have included creating new words to well-known melodies or, describing in writing,
emotions evoked from musical examples associated to characters in Disney movies.
These assessment methods do not measure musical understanding, and rely largely on
linguistic and verbal skills rather than musical skills.
Original aspects o f arts and
humanities assessment in the early 1990's attempted to use creative performance events
to assess musical understanding (i.e. filling glasses with varying amounts o f water to
create a major scale, or tightening a wire to match a pitch), but proved to be too time
consuming and difficult to administer state-wide.
The arts and humanities section o f the CATS assessment has evolved into an
extremely broad field containing cultural and historic elements o f visual arts, music,
dance, theater, literature, and architecture. Assessing the development and appreciation
o f the arts and humanities will remain a complex issue. In this study, only grade five was
assessed in arts and humanities. Fifth grade arts and humanities scores were not related
to music instruction or music aptitude scores.
Using and Improving G ordon's IMMA

The IMMA originally published in 1982 was developed for use with a tape
cassette player.
The IMMA is available on compact disk (CD) with substantial
improvement in audio quality.
The CD is dubbed from the original analogue tape
recording and is remixed a little too "hot" producing some booming low pitches and
clicks between test items.
Unlike the Music Aptitude Profile (MAP), Gordon's first
95
aptitude test, which was recorded with professional musicians on acoustic musical
instruments (violin and cello); the IMMA was recorded with an electronic keyboard,
which now sounds dated.
Improvements in digital technology allow for higher audio
quality and warrants revision o f the test.

Confusion occasionally occurred during administrating the rhythm test o f the
IMMA.
The twenty-first test question is announced as "truck" but the test sheet
pictogram portrays a "car. Outbreaks o f discussion or laughter often occurred during

administrating the IMMA to young students, even afier addressing the error before
beginning the test.
The rhythm subtest included several test items relating more to
duration o f notes rather than to differences between rhythm patterns, often causing
misunderstanding by older students. Six test items, numbers 3, 7, 8, 24, 29, and 32, are
notated with pick-up notes, or incomplete measures, which are not heard as such without
establishing a meter or point o f reference to the tempo.
Gordon's Music Learning
Theory, and Jum p Right In methods books recommend teaching rhythm patterns by first
establishing the meter (macro beats) in duple, triple, combined, or unusual meters. In the
skill learning sequence o f teaching duple meter, Gordon recommends setting the meter by
chanting, rea-dy sing" as notated by two eighth notes followed by a quarter note, thus
establishing the usual duple meter. In usual triple meter the teacher sets the tempo by
chanting the same words, "rea-dy sing" in a 6/8 meter notated by quarter - eighth, dotted
quarter note pattern. This method o f setting the m eter and tempo could be used in the
rhythm subtest o f the IMMA by chanting "rea-dy, hear", in similar 2/4 or 6/8 notation.
Twenty-six o f the forty rhythm test items are written in mixed meters (5/8, 7/8) or as
Gordon terms, "unusual.
Distinguishing between usual duple and triple meters is
96
perhaps more appropriate for this age level and in line with the tenets o f his Music
Learning Theory.
S haw 's Continuing S tudios Exploring th o Mozart E ffect

Gordon Shaw plans to continue numerous experimental designs involving the
Mozart Effect, including clinical applications. He and several colleagues have developed
pilot studies exploring the effects o f music stimulation with stroke victims, patients
suffering from epilepsy, Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease, Williams syndrome,
and Downs syndrome.
In an educational setting, Shaw and fellow neurologists,
scientists, and musicians have developed the Music Intelligence Neural Development
Institute (M.I.N.D., 1999).
The world-wide-web on-line site
Cwww MINDInst.org.)
offers materials available to educators and parents and describes recent and ongoing
experimental and clinical trials with applications into educational settings.
Petersons spatial-temporal animated reasoning (S.T.A.R.) computer program,
available through the M.I.N.D Institute, is currently being tested with second grade
students in Los Angeles. Petersons pilot study compared math achievement scores o f
students receiving music (piano-keyboard) training and S.T.A.R. training to students
receiving English language training and S.T.A.R. training.
The music group scored
27% higher than the English group on a measure o f higher-order math concepts o f
factions and proportions. Further studies could use this unique animated computer game
and compare relationships between S.T.A.R. performance scores, music aptitude scores,
and mathematics achievement scores.
R ecom m endations for Further S tudy

Gordon's music aptitude tests, with further exposure, could provide valuable
information to music teachers, classroom teachers, administrators, and parents. Music

teachers could use knowledge o f student's developmental and stabilized music aptitude to
form lesson plans and develop curricula.
The window o f opportunity in developing
musical aptitude is especially critical during the early and middle childhood years.
Findings o f this study indicate that developing music abilities is related to higher reading
and math abilities, across economic, ethnic, and gender lines.
Jefferson County
elementary schools in lower income neighborhoods with high percentages o f minority

students have also been the schools most affected by reductions in music instruction. By
controlling the effects of SES and ethnicity on achievement test results, interpretation o f
this data indicates that lower income, minority students in schools that have maintained
certified music instruction scored significantly higher on academic tests in grades 3, 5,
and 6, than students attending schools that have reduced or eliminated music instruction.
This is a significant finding, suggesting not only that music aptitude can be developed
with instruction, but also, as Shaw speculates, neural connections that develop with
musical training improve spatial-temporal reasoning and other cognitive abilities.
Administering Gordons IMMA test to more Jefferson County (JCPS) elementary
students could increase participation in choral and beginning instrumental programs that
are offered to students as early as grades four and five. Identifying students with high
music aptitude could furnish general music teachers, itinerant instrumental teachers,
middle school choral, band, and. orchestra directors, and parents information about
individual student's potential to achieve in music.
Increasing participation in middle
school choral and instrumental programs would lead to increased participation in high
school music programs as students advance.
Without meaningful music instruction
98
during the primary years, when music aptitude can be most enhanced and developed,
musical participation in middle and high schools will likely decline. Musical enjoyment
and participation in adult life will in turn be diminished.
At the district level, all fourth grade students, numbering approximately 7,000
students, could be given the IMMA with minimal expense, at a cost o f $0.20 per test
form and compact disks costing $20.00 each. Time considerations would be minimal on
the general music or arts and humanities teachers. The IMMA can be administered in
about 30 minutes or two 15*20 minute sessions. GLA, the publishing company o f the
IMMA provides masked scoring cards that allow both sections of the test to be scored in
about two minutes. Music teachers and arts and humanities teachers could be encouraged
to administer and score the IMMA to their students, and include this data with students
individual records. School counselors and choral and instrumental music teachers could
encourage students showing high potential to succeed in music opportunities to
participate in musical ensembles. With access to music aptitude measures, elementary
general music teachers, as Gordon suggests, could tailor instruction based on individual
needs and raise levels o f music aptitude during this critical period o f development.
Parents with access to IMMA scores could encourage musical participation or support
extra-curricular music training.
The elementary school could benefit with improved
instruction through higher scores in arts and humanities, and, as the thesis of this study
suggests, overall increased academic achievement.
In the process o f administering the IMMA to several hundred elementary school
students, an unexpected benefit identified one child with a previously undiagnosed
hearing problem. Although not a diagnostic tool, administrating the IMMA may have
99
brought awareness to at least one potential medical condition.

Further studies could identify Suzuki trained children and compare results from
the IMMA and academic test scores with scores from children without Suzuki music
training. Data collection should include the ages at which the Suzuki training began, the
length o f training, musical achievement (levels attained in the Suzuki program) and
demographic variables.
Suzuki education and music training usually begins before
children reach school age therefore it would be valuable to document the effects o f very
early musical training on music aptitude and relationships to reading academic
achievement.
The Key school in Indianapolis could provide valuable data on the effects a
multiple intelligence based curricula coupled with daily music instruction may have on
developing music aptitude and scholastic achievement.
Methods used in the current
study could provide a framework for comparing music aptitude scores and academic
achievement results between Key school students and traditional Indianapolis elementary
school students.
Two related studies have recently begun by this researcher. The first study is a
follow-up study to the current project with students from a rural school district in western
Kentucky that has maintained a low music-teacher-to-student ratio, and music instruction
throughout the 1990s. Gordons IMMA will be given to all fourth graders, initially as a
recruitment tool for choral and instrumental programs that begin in grade five. Collection
o f academic data will include 1999 third grade CTBS scores and fourth grade CATS
scores administered in the spring o f the year 2000.
Data collection will include
economic, ethnic, and gender demographic variables and achievement test results in a
100
blind format with assistance from elementary school guidance counselors.
A second study currently in progress with sixth grade JCPS middle school
students will compare music aptitude scores with scores from Peterson's SpatialTemporal Animation Reasoning (S.T.A.R.) computer program. IMMA tonal and rhythm
scores will be compared to two scores generated from the S.T.A.R. program. The IMMA
has been administered to about 60 sixth grade students. Students will be instructed on
how to use the software program and be allowed time to individually play S.T.A.R.
symmetry and proportion games and self-report scores.
Further studies could analyze achievement test results o f school districts that have
increased music instruction and possibly provide additional support for maintaining
music instruction in the elementary schools.
The Daviess County School District in
Owensboro, Kentucky has mandated piano-keyboard training for all primary aged
students, partially influenced by Shaw and Rauschers research.
Experimental studies could explore relationships noted in the present study
between tonal music aptitude and reading achievement, and rhythm music aptitude and
mathematics achievement.
Music teachers could focus on tonal or rhythm instruction
groups and match with objectives from reading or mathematics groups respectively.
Music teachers could emphasize a tonal curriculum for nine week or semester terms, and,
in conjunction with reading and language arts teachers, develop lesson plans that
emphasize relationships between tonal musical development and reading development.
Similarly, music teachers could develop an in-depth rhythm instruction curriculum and,
with mathematics teachers explore relationships between musical-temporal-rhythmic
development and spatial-temporal development as Shaw speculates.
Lesson plan
101
suggestions for the tonal-reading group could develop skills o f recognizing and using
major and minor tonalities in the music class, while studying poetry in English or
Language Arts class, and learning to chant poems in major and minor tonalities.
Rhythm-mathematics concepts could include visualizing meters and rhythms in
geometric shapes. Duple meters, sometimes referred to as down-up meters in relation to
the motion the foot makes tapping the "down" beat and placing "up" beats exactly
halfway between down beats could be visualized by straight lines, or linear shapes.
Triple meter, or triple sub-divisions o f the beat could be visualized with circular or
curvilinear shapes. Tasks could include listening to musical excerpts in duple, triple, and
combined meters and make freehand sketches o f the meters and rhythms heard in related
geometric shapes*. The findings o f this study indicate strong relationships exist between
rhythm, math, and spatial-temporal cognitive processes. Petersons S.T.A.R. animated
computer program could also be used in conjunction with musical rhythm-mathematics
instruction.
Further studies could use information offered in this study to develop music
programs for low SES students or schools in high poverty areas and explore effects o f
concentrated music instruction.
It is possible that grant money through the National
Association o f Music Merchants (NAMM), the American Music Conference (AMC), or

other agencies could support program costs for music instruction in schools that remain
without certified music instruction. Results o f this study indicating strong relationships
between developing music aptitude and various measures o f academic achievement could
S ev era l stu d e n ts a tte m p te d to n o ta te o n th e ir IM M A rh y th m su b te s t a n s w e r s h e e t th e m u sic a l ex a m p le s

h eard . M a n y c re a tin g fa irly a c c u ra te ly sy m b o lic fo rm s o f rh y th m ic n o ta tio n b y p la c in g s la sh e s lik e note
ste m s in r e la tio n to th e n u m b e r a n d le n g th o f n o te s h eard . T h is a u ra l-s y m b o lic ac tiv ity , to n a l a n d rhythm ic
d ic ta tio n is a m a in sta y o f c o lle g e m u sic th e o ry cla sse s a n d c o u ld e a sily b e w o rk e d in to e le m e n ta ry gen eral
102
be the impetus to initiate such a program.
Preliminary research into Edwin Gordon's concepts including his music learning
theory and development with music aptitude tests reveals that instruction based on his
method is sporadic around the country. In Kentucky, Gordon's music learning theory,
aptitude tests, and methods o f instruction Jump Right In: The M usic Curriculum series,
(1986) Jump Right In the Instrumental (1982) series, have had limited use.
Further
research using Gordon's music aptitude tests and methods could develop from knowledge
of this study.
An important tenet o f Gordons music learning theory is the development of
musical vocabularies through a learning skill sequence of tonal and rhythmic patterns.
Exploring relations between developing musical vocabularies and language vocabularies
could suggest numerous experimental designs.
In Gordons skill learning sequence,
students learn to discriminate and name major and minor tonalities. Students could be
asked to identify major and minor tonalities from teacher made tests, or recorded musical
examples, and compare results with measures o f language achievement, possibly the
CTBS language score.
Correlations between the ability to identify tonalities and
language achievement scores may imply underlying cognitive processes common to both
and advance theories between music and language. Comparing Gordon's methods with
other methods o f general music instruction, could offer opportunities to explore the
developmental nature o f music cognition. Readings in Music Learning Theory (Walters
and Taggart, 1989) is a collection o f articles by Gordon followers describing
implementation o f Gordons theory with Orff, Koddly, and Suzuki programs.
m usic le sso n plans.
103
Significance of Improvod M usic E ducation and Rolovanca to th e

G oals of KERA
The Kentucky Education Reform Act o f 1990 (KERA) outlines six goals and 75
valued outcomes o f a successful education (Appendix K). Improving music education
for all JCPS students could contribute to achieving many of these goals. The first goal
termed, "basic communication and math skills", is accompanied by sixteen learning
outcomes. Music, movement, and listening skills are obviously directly linked to music
instruction. Findings o f this study suggest that at least three additional valued outcomes
o f goal one, reading, measuring, and mathematical reasoning, are skills that may be
enhanced through music instruction. Valued learner outcomes o f Goal 2, applying core
concepts and principles, includes understanding patterns, numbers, and measuring, are
linked to findings o f this study with significant relationships between music and
mathematics skills.
The second goal also includes outcomes directly associated with
music instruction: participation, aesthetics, cultural heritage, and second language. The
third goal, developing self-sufficiency, includes outcomes that intend to develop positive
self-concepts and tap students creativities are also outcomes that can be attained through
music learning, participating, and performing.
Goal 4 termed, responsible group
membership ties directly to successful participation in classroom music-making and

performing ensembles. Goal 5, problem solving, includes five outcomes that may be
developed with music instruction and musical participation: critical thinking, creative
thinking, conceptualizing, decision-making, and problem solving. Goal 6 has three broad
goals o f integrating knowledge including developing multiple perspectives, creating new
knowledge, and expanding knowledge. Each goal could be addressed as essential aspects
related to musical participation and developing habits o f life-long learning.
104
Im plem enting e Music Curriculum in th e E lem entary School

The Music Educators National Conference (MENC) supports music education for
all children with a growing library o f curricular development plans. Music education
standards are available through the internet (www.menc.org/standards) along with a vast
amount o f resources for teaching various levels and areas o f music education.
The
MENC standards endorse singing, performing on instruments, improvising, composing

and arranging music, reading and notating music, listening and evaluating music, and
understanding the historical and cultural significance o f music and the arts (MENC,
1999).
The depth o f knowledge and experience required to successfully reach these
standards for all students will require well-trained, degreed and certified music teachers.
Twenty percent o f elementary schools in Jefferson County continue to rely on noncertified music teachers to instruct music.
Maintaining successful arts and humanities
programs will require specialized preparation in music and visual arts. Expecting music,
art. physical education, or classroom teachers to provide meaningful experiences in all of
the arts and humanities areas is unrealistic.
C onclusion
This study has presented data and findings from empirical analysis, citing a
significant relationship between music instruction and the development o f music aptitude,
and relationships between music aptitude scores and several measures o f academic
achievement.
The six goals o f KERA are outlined hierarchically from basic skills to
higher-order cognitive development. Findings o f this study suggest that music instruction
and the development o f music aptitude may be relevant to all six goals. Relationships
between basic communication and mathematic skills (reading and mathematics scores)
105
and music instruction are important findings o f this study. Fostering human experiences
and emotional wellness are fundamental goals o f a successful education and outcomes
that can be attained through enriching musical and arts programs.
At the dawn o f the new millennium, rising numbers o f children are living in
single-parent families, career mobility is reducing the ties o f the extended family,
violence dominates the headlines, drug and alcohol use is on the rise among younger and
younger children, and decreasing human connections resulting from a plethora of
electronic media (i.e. television, video games, computers, the internet), are dramatically
reshaping children's perceptions.
For most music educators, the basic goals o f music
education align with the goals o f KERA. Experiences gained through singing in choirs
and performing in musical ensembles extends beyond the personal aesthetic experience
and fosters the development o f healthy human relationships. Without meaningful music
education in the primary and intermediate grades when the musical intelligence is in full
bloom and instruction has the m ost effect o f enhancing musical abilities, participation in
middle and high school musical ensembles will be limited, with the result that the
chances o f life-long appreciation and involvement in music will be severely diminished.
106
APPENDIX A
T h t K entucky E ducation Reform Act of 1990 (KERA)
Six Looming G oals w ith 75 Valued O utcom es
Goal 1: Using Basic Communication and Math Skills
Accessing Sources o f Information, Reading, Observing, Listening, Quantifying,
Computing, Visualizing, Measuring, Mathematical Reasoning, Classifying, Writing,
Speaking, Visual Arts, Music Movement, Using Electronic Technology
Goal 2: Applying Core Concepts and Principles
Nature of Scientific Activity, Patterns, Systems and Interactions, Models and Scale,
Consistency, Evolutionary Change, Number, Mathematical Procedures, Space and
Dimensionality, Measurement, Change, Mathematical Structure, Data, Democratic
Principles, Political Systems, Social Systems, Cultural Diversity, Economic Systems,
Geography and Human Activity, Historical Perspective, Interpersonal Relationships,
Production, Analysis o f Forms, Aesthetics, Cultural Heritage, Cultural Diversity,
Language, Second Language, Family Life/Parenting, Consumerism, Physical Wellness,
Mental/Emotional Wellness, Community Health Systems, Psychomotor Skills, Lifetime
Physical Activities, Career Path, Employability Attributes, Post-Secondary Options
Goal 3: Becoming Self-Sufficient
Positive Self-Concept, Healthy Lifestyle, Adaptability/Flexibility,
Resourcefulness/Creativity, Self-Control/Self-Discipline, Ethical Values, Independent
Learning
Goal 4: Becoming Responsible Group Members
Interpersonal Skills, Team membership, Consistent, Caring Behavior, Rights and
Responsibilities, Multicultural/World View, Open Mind
Goal 5: Problem Solving
Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, Conceptualizing, Decision Making, Problem
Solving
G oal 6: Integrating Knowledge
Multiple Perspectives, Developing New Knowledge, Expanding Knowledge
(KERA, 1999)
107
APPENDIX B
N ational S tan d ard s for Arts Education: W hat Evory Young
A m erican Should Know And Bo Able to Do in tho A rts.
C ontent and A chievem ent S tan d a rd s for Dance,
Music, T heatre, and V isual Arts; O rades K-8
Adapted from: The K-12 National Standards MENC (1999)
GRADES K-4: M usic Standards
1. Content Standard: Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire o f music
Achievement Standard: Students
sing independently, on pitch and in rhythm, with appropriate timbre, diction, and
posture, and maintain a steady tempo
sing expressively, with appropriate dynamics, phrasing, and interpretation
sing from memory a varied repertoire o f songs representing genres and styles
from diverse cultures
sing ostinatos, partner songs, and rounds
sing in groups, blending vocal timbres, matching dynamic levels, and responding
to the cues o f a conductor
2. Content Standard: Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied
repertoire o f music
perform on pitch, in rhythm, with appropriate dynamics and timbre, and maintain
a steady tempo
perform easy rhythmic, melodic, and chordal patterns accurately and
independently on rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic classroom instruments
perform expressively a varied repertoire o f music representing diverse genres and
styles
echo short rhythms and melodic patterns
perform in groups, blending instrumental timbres, matching dynamic levels, and
responding to the cues o f a conductor
perform independent instrumental parts while other students sing or play
contrasting parts
108
3. Content Standard: Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments
improvise "answers" in the same style to given rhythmic and melodic phrases
improvise simple rhythmic and melodic ostinato accompaniments
improvise simple rhythmic variations and simple melodic embellishments on
familiar melodies
improvise short songs and instrumental pieces, using a variety o f sound sources,
including traditional sounds, nontraditional sounds available in the classroom,
body sounds, and sounds produced by electronic means
4. Content Standard: Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
create and arrange music to accompany readings or dramatizations
create and arrange short songs and instrumental pieces within specified guidelines
use a variety o f sound sources when composing
5. Content Standard: Reading and notating music
read whole, half, dotted half, quarter, and eighth notes and rests in 2/4, 3/4, and
4/4 meter signatures
use a system (syllables, numbers, or letters) to read simple pitch notation in the
treble clef in major keys
identify symbols and traditional terms referring to dynamics, tempo, and
articulation and interpret them correctly when performing
use standard symbols to notate meter, rhythm, pitch, and dynamics in simple
patterns presented by the teacher
109
6. Content Standard: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
identify simple music forms when presented aurally
demonstrate perceptual skills by moving, by answering questions about, and by
describing aural examples o f music o f various styles representing diverse cultures
use appropriate terminology in explaining music, music notation, music
instruments and voices, and music performances
identify the sounds o f a variety of instruments, including many orchestra and band
instruments, and instruments from various cultures, as well as children's voices
and male and female adult voices
respond through purposeful movement to selected prominent music characteristics
or to specific music events while listening to music
7. Content Standard: Evaluating music and music performances
devise criteria for evaluating performances and compositions
explain, using appropriate music terminology, their personal preferences for
specific musical works and styles
8. Content Standard: Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and
disciplines outside the arts
identify similarities and differences in the meanings o f common terms used in the
various arts
identify ways in which the principles and subject matter o f other disciplines
taught in the school are interrelated with those o f music
9. Content Standard: Understanding music in relation to history and culture
identify by genre or style aural examples o f music from various historical periods
and cultures
describe in simple terms how elements o f music are used in music examples from
various cultures o f the world
identify various uses o f music in their daily experiences and describe
characteristics that make certain music suitable for each use
identify and describe roles o f musicians in various music settings and cultures
demonstrate audience behavior appropriate for the context and style o f music
performed
no
GRADES 5-8
1. Content Standard: Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
sing accurately and with good breath control throughout their singing ranges,
alone and in small and large ensembles
sing with expression and technical accuracy a repertoire o f vocal literature with a
level o f difficulty of 2, on a scale o f 1 to 6, including some songs performed from
memory
sing music representing diverse genres and cultures, with expression appropriate
for the work being performed
sing music written in two and three parts Students who participate in a choral
ensemble
sing with expression and technical accuracy a varied repertoire o f vocal literature
with a level o f difficulty o f 3, on a scale o f 1 to 6, including some songs
performed from memory
2. Content Standard: Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied
repertoire o f music
perform on at least one instrument accurately and independently, alone and in
small and large ensembles, with good posture, good playing position, and good
breath, bow, or stick control
perform with expression and technical accuracy on at least one string, wind,
percussion, or classroom instrument a repertoire o f instrumental literature with a
level o f difficulty o f 2, on a scale o f 1 to 6
perform music representing diverse genres and cultures, with expression
appropriate for the work being performed
play by ear simple melodies on a melodic instrument and simple accompaniments
on a harmonic instrument
Students who participate in an instrumental ensemble or class
perform with expression and technical accuracy a varied repertoire of
instrumental literature with a level o f difficulty o f 3, on a scale of 1 to 6, including
some solos performed from memory
Ill
3. Content Standard: Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments
improvise simple harmonic accompaniments
improvise melodic embellishments and simple rhythmic and melodic variations
on given pentatonic melodies and melodies in major keys
improvise short melodies, unaccompanied and over given rhythmic
accompaniments, each in a consistent style, meter, and tonality
Content Standard: Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
compose short pieces within specified guidelines, demonstrating how the
elements o f music are used to achieve unity and variety, tension and release, and
balance
arrange simple pieces for voices or instruments other than those for which the
pieces were written
use a variety o f traditional and nontraditional sound sources and electronic media
when composing and arranging
Content Standard: Reading and notating music
read whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and dotted notes and rests in 2/4, 3/4,
4/4. 6/8, 3/8, and alia breve meter signatures
read at sight simple melodies in both the treble and bass clefs
identify and define standard notation symbols for pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo,
articulation, and expression
use standard notation to record their musical ideas and the musical ideas o f others
Students who participate in a choral or instrumental ensemble or class
sigh tread, accurately and expressively, music with a level o f difficulty o f 2, on a
scale o f 1 to 6
112
Content Standard: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
describe specific music events in a given aural example, using appropriate
terminology
analyze the uses o f elements o f music in aural examples representing diverse
genres and cultures
demonstrate knowledge o f the basic principles o f meter, rhythm, tonality,
intervals, chords, and harmonic progressions in their analyses o f music
Content Standard: Evaluating music and music performances
develop criteria for evaluating the quality and effectiveness o f music
performances and compositions and apply the criteria in their personal listening
and performing
evaluate the quality and effectiveness o f their own and others' performances,
compositions, arrangements, and improvisations by applying specific criteria
appropriate for the style o f the music and offer constructive suggestions for
improvement
Content Standard: Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and
disciplines outside the arts
compare in two or more arts how the characteristic materials o f each art can be
used to transform similar events, scenes, emotions, or ideas into works of art
describe ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines
taught in the school are interrelated with those o f music
Content Standard: Understanding music in relation to history and culture
describe distinguishing characteristics o f representative music genres and styles
from a variety o f cultures
classify by genre and style (and, if applicable, by historical period, composer, and
title) a varied body o f exemplary (that is, high-quality and characteristic) musical
works and explain the characteristics that cause each work to be considered
exemplary
compare, in several cultures o f the world, functions music serves, roles of
musicians, and conditions under which music is typically performed
Available from: Music Educators National Conference, 1994. Stock #1620. ISBN 156545-041-8.
113
N ational S ta n d a rd s for A rts Education

Roprint Perm ission Policy
The following permissions are granted to any person, organization, or other
entity wishing to reprint or duplicate portions o f the National Standards
for Arts Education:
Permission to reprint all or part o f the summary statement.
Permission to reprint all or part o f the content standards.
Permission to reprint quotations o f up to fifty words from the
introductory materials.
All copies o f material reprinted or duplicated from the Standards must
include the following credit line:
From National Standards fo r Arts Education.
Copyright 1994 by Music
Educators National Conference (MENC). Used by permission.
The complete National Arts Standards and additional materials relating to the Standards
are available from:
MENC The National Association for Music Education,
1806 Robert Fulton Drive, Reston, VA 20191.
114
APPENDIX C
Analysis Sum m ary
Relationships Between Music Instruction Hours, Music Aptitude Scores, and Measures o f
Academic Achievement of Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grade Students,
Controlling for SES, Ethnicity, and Gender
R elation ship s Batw oa w M usic Instruction Hours and IMMA T otal S cores
Hypothesis #!: Relationship Between Music Instruction Hours and IMMA Total Scores
1.0. Grades 3 - 6 (N=240),. F = 21.69**
1.1. Grade 3 (n=78),F =11.216**
1.2. Grade 4 (n=65), F=2.361
1.3. Grade 5 (n=44), F = 1.112
1.4. Grade 6 (n=53), F = 11.984**
R elation ship s B etw een IMMA T otal S c o r es and

G eneral M easures o f Ac ad em ic A chievem ent
Hypothesis #2: Relationship Between IMMA Total Scores and CTBS Total Scores.
Grade 3 (n=76), F = 26.801**
Hypothesis #3: Relationship Between IMMA Total Scores and CTBS Total Scores.
Grade 6 (n=53), F = 8.228**
Hypothesis #4: Relationship Between IMMA Total Scores and KIRIS Reading Placement
Levels.
Grade 4 (n=65), F = 0.323
Hypothesis #5: Relationship between IMMA Total Scores and KIRIS Mathematics
Placement Levels.
Grade 5 (n=43), F = 5.404*
115
R elation ship s R stw ssn IMMA Tonal S c o r es and Reading A chievem en t

Hypothesis #6: Relationship Between IMMA Tonal Scores and CTBS Reading Scores.
Grade 3 (n=74), F = 10.448**
Hypothesis #7: Relationship Between IMMA Tonal Scores and CTBS Reading Scores.
Grade 6 (n=53), F= 6.897*
Hypothesis #8: Relationship Between IMMA Tonal Scores and KIRIS Reading
Placement Levels.
Grade 4 (n=65), F=0.003
R elation ship s B etw een IMMA Rhythm S co res and M athem atics A chievem ent
Hypothesis #9: Relationship Between IMMA Rhythm Scores and CTBS M athematics
Scores.
Grade 3 (n=76), F =19.88**
Hypothesis #10: Relationship Between IMMA Rhythm Scores and CTBS M athematics
Scores.
Grade 6 (n=53), F= 7.802**
Hypothesis #11: Relationship Between IMMA Rhythm Scores and K IRIS M athematics
Placement Levels.
Grade 5 (n=43), F= 1.431
* = significant at .05 level **=significant at .01 level.
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David Allen Johnson was bom October 14, 1957 in Danville Illinois. He was
awarded a Bachelor o f Arts in Music Education diploma from Western Illinois University
in 1980 and a Master o f Arts in Education diploma from Western Kentucky University in
1988.
His teaching career began in his hometown before moving to Kentucky where he
accepted positions as assistant band director in the public school systems o f Bowling
Green and Franklin. In 1989 he accepted the position o f director of instrumental music o f
the Cumberland County Schools, Burkeville, Kentucky receiving tenure in 1993.
College and university teaching experience includes four years at Western
Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky, two years serving as graduate assistant
in the instrumental music department, followed by two years as adjunct instructor o f
percussion. He is in his sixth year as instructor o f percussion studies, music methods,
jazz theory and improvisation, and director o f the percussion ensemble at Campbellsville
University, Campbellsville, Kentucky.

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INFORMATION TO USERS

Bell & Howell Information and Learning

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC APTITUDE AND EFFECTS ON

UMI Number 9983062

Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC APTITUDE AND EFFECTS ON

February 25, 2000

nowii ig Reading Committee:

First I would like to thank Dr. Alan Dittmer, my dissertation

encouragement. I also owe much gratitude to members o f my committee, Dr. Loren

ACKNOW LEDGEM ENTS..............................................................................................

LIST OF FIG U R E S.........................................................................................................

INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF THE PRO BLEM

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE........................................................

SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION.............................................................86

Gagnes Eight Types o f Learning...........................................................16

Gordon's Six Stages o f A udiation...........................................................26

Gordon's Eight Levels o f the Skill Learning Sequence.........................27

1998 SAT Scores for Students Having

Barretts 1993 Study: Correlations Between

MENC Kindergarten - Grade 4 Standards Content Standards

Intermediate Measures o f Music Audiation

Intermediate Measures o f Music Audiation Percentile N o rm s

Correlational Analysis o f IMMA Scores and Music Instruction

Correlation Coefficient Ratios o f IMMA Total Score

Correlation Coefficient Ratios o f IMMA Total Score

Hypothesis #1: Relationship Between Music Instruction

Hypothesis #2: Relationship Between IMMA Total

Hypothesis #3:Relationship Between IMMA Total

Hypothesis #4: Relationship Between IMMA Total Scores

Hypothesis #5: Relationship Between IMMA Total Scores

Hypothesis #6: Relationship Between IMMA Tonal Scores

Hypothesis #7: Relationship Between IMMA Tonal Scores

Hypothesis #8: Relationship Between IMMA Tonal Scores

Hypothesis #9: Relationship Between IMMA Rhythm Scores

Hypothesis #10: Relationship Between IMMA Rhythm Scores

Hypothesis #11: Relationship Between IMMA Rhythm Scores

Relationship Between IMMA Scores and CTBS Scores:

Many o f these schools have

The new assessment process, called the

T heories of G ardner and Gordon

Gardner is a former recipient o f the MacArthur

criteria for inclusion o f a specific intelligence. According to Gardner, an intelligence is,

interpersonal and intrapersonal (1993, vii).

Gardner identified eight criteria o f a distinct intelligence:

Existence o f idiot savants, prodigies, and other exceptional individuals

An identifiable core operation or set o f operations

A distinctive developmental history, along with a definable set of expert 'end

An evolutionary history and evolutionary plausibility

Support from psychometric findings

Susceptibility to encoding in a symbol system (Gardner, 1993, 63-66).

Gardner challenges the concept o f a "G" (general) intelligence, often identified as

School administrators and policy makers struggle to

address assessment and accountability processes that remain largely dependent on

curriculum, and musical intelligence.

Originally, the test included five sub-tests Seashore believed contributed to

In 1925, Seashore added a sixth subtest,

Gordon refined the task o f