The purpose of this study was to determine whether a standardized test of music aptitude developed for American children yields results, which may have valid interpretation when used with 5-year-old Korean children. The specific questions regarding the Primary Measures of Music Audiation (PMMA) norms were: (1) Does PMMA when used with 5-year-old Korean children yield reliability estimates similar to those of American children? (2) Does PMMA have predictive validity when used with Korean children? (3) Can norms already developed for American children be used with Korean children for research and for teaching to their individual differences? and (4) What is the nature of response from one child who scored lowest both tonally and rhythmically on the PMMA tests during a 12-week period of play-based informal music guidance?

From the extant literature, it appeared that the nature of children’s music aptitudes has received increased attention in the United States. However, in general the same level of attention is not afforded this topic in Korea. There are a limited number of studies regarding the nature of young Korean children’s music aptitudes. The research is scarcer when considering how their music aptitudes are assessed.

The children who participated in this study were enrolled in five kindergarten classes (N = 128) in the Republic of Korea. One intact class (n = 17) was selected to participate in informal guidance for purpose of music learning. Music classes consisted of two weekly 30-minute classes, for a period of 12 weeks. Data were collected through administration of the Primary Measures of Music Audiation (PMMA) as a pretest of all subjects (N = 128) and the Test of Early Audiation Achievement (T-EAA) as a posttest of the intact class (n = 17). The criterion measure used for the predictive validity investigation was the T-EAA, an on demand performance event.

From the results of this study, it was concluded that PMMA tonal is useful for teaching to individual tonal differences while the PMMA composite is useful for predicting overall music achievement. It was suggested that IMMA would be more suitable for teaching to the individual musical differences of 5-year-old Korean kindergarten children because the results may better discriminate their musical behaviors. In particular, it was valuable to gain insight into the nature of response from one child (Chea-Yeon) who scored lowest both tonally and rhythmically on PMMA.

Chea-Yeon, whose tonal aptitude was higher than her rhythm aptitude on the PMMA pretest, showed a higher gain in tonal aptitude after the music instruction, whereas her rhythm aptitude remained unchanged. It was noticed that the social aspect of Chea-Yeon’s kindergarten experience had a significant impact on her music development. Chea-Yeon’s increased self-confidence led to dramatic improvement in her musical development by her newfound comfort in trying even unfamiliar activities. It is recommended that it would be beneficial to the music learning of young children if teachers would guide children learning through the types and sequential stages of preparatory audiation.