ABSTRACT

Tests of musical ability in children have relied on diverse conceptions of what musical abilities are. Recent investigations suggest that such conceptions can be seen as socially constructed and differ between cultures, sub-groups, and individuals. Based on a previous study on conceptions of adult musical ability, we designed a questionnaire targeting musical behaviours of 3–6-year-old children. 922 German adults who regularly spend time with children assessed how often a musical child would show these behaviours. Principal component analysis revealed four components of childhood musical ability: musical communication, enthusiasm and motivation, analytical understanding of music, and musical abilities in a narrow sense. The importance assigned to the components differed depending on musical expertise: Participants with higher expertise rated analytical music skills as significantly less important. Results suggest that ecologically valid tests of musical ability in childhood should cover a wide range of skills and observable behaviours.

摘要

对儿童音乐能力的测试依赖于对音乐能力的不同概念。最近的调查表明，此类概念可以被视为社会建构的，并且因文化、亚群体和个人而异。基于之前对成人音乐能力概念的研究，我们设计了一份针对 3-6 岁儿童音乐行为的问卷。922 名经常与孩子在一起的德国成年人评估了一个音乐孩子表现出这些行为的频率。主成分分析揭示了儿童音乐能力的四个组成部分：音乐交流、热情和动机、对音乐的分析理解和狭义的音乐能力。分配给组件的重要性因音乐专业知识而异：具有较高专业知识的参与者认为分析音乐技能的重要性明显较低。结果表明，对儿童音乐能力的生态学有效测试应涵盖广泛的技能和可观察到的行为。