Attitudine musicale e verifica del potenziale di apprendimento in musica: la ricerca e i test di Edwin Gordon

Abstract

This article provides a general overview on the theme of ‘musical aptitude’ and ‘musical aptitude test’, with a focus on the research of American music teacher and psychologist Edwin Gordon (1927-2015). After a quick look at the debate on the origins of 'musicality', and on the history of music aptitude tests and early forms of experimentation in this domain, the article goes more in-depth about the entire research of Gordon and the resulting speculations, ideas, discoveries, and investigations: the source and development of music aptitude, its nature and characteristics, audiation as 'musical thought based on a syntactic understanding of music', and music aptitude tests (MAP, AMMA, PMMA, IMMA, AUDIE). A final look at criticism and research about the tests will bring the reflection back to evaluation and education, a pair that is reganing currency today.