Musical Aptitude Screening: A Brazilian Experience under Construction

Abstract

In Brazil, Law n. 9394/96 ensures rights such as the identification of talented students in order to offer specialized educational attention; in this sense, the Protocol for Screening of Musical Abilities was elaborated with 54 items and its complementary instruments (scales and questionnaires) in order to collaborate with the survey of students with indicators of musical talent. This work, therefore, aims to present the instruments and the evidence of effectiveness and usability found in a preliminarily manner. It is an investigation in progress and incorporates experimental psychometric (elaboration of scales) and psycho-physical (peer comparison method) methods. In total, 800 individuals, including children from six to eleven years old, their guardians (family members) and teachers, took part in the research. The results have indicated that participants with higher scores remain with the same indices in the later stage of evaluation; however, only from the statistical tests intended for validation, standardization and reliability, as well as exploratory factor analysis will it be possible to attest the validity, standardization of scores and prepare the final version for wide use of the instruments.

Keywords

• music aptitude
• measurement
• screening