Implicit Tonal Ability Test - Reliability and Validity

Measuring musical-perceptual skills in elementary education remains a challenge. Existing tests only measure a limited number of musical features. Moreover, such tests are not always suitable for a young target group. We developed and validated a measuring instrument that measures five musical features: pitch, timing, tonality, timbre, and loudness suitable for young music learners. Rasch model-based analysis of dimensionality and differential item functioning was chosen as the principal analysis strategy. The results indicate our measurement instrument has good validity, reliability and sufficiently differentiates between high and low performers. The distinct musical features behave as one Rasch dimension in our test, indicating it is possible to measure very distinct musical features within just one test. This study is somewhat limited in scope because participants were not randomly selected from a large international population. Additional research could focus on a larger and multi-country scope to augment generalizability of the findings. Individual results and classroom averages per musical feature may help teachers to add additional and specific listening exercises to their curriculum, aimed at strengthening musical perception, increasing musical awareness, and training effective listening skills.