The relationship between musical environtment and primary measures of music audition (PMA) scores of Chinese Children in Private Kindergartens in Penang, Malaysia

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the musical environment and the developmental music aptitude scores of Chinese children in Penang, Malaysian kindergartens. The second aspect of the study investigated whether parents' attitudes toward music, socio-economic status, and children's age have an impact on the music aptitude scores.Measures used to determine children's musical environment included the researcher-designed Home Musical Environment Questionnaire and Kindergarten Musical Experiences Questionnaire. Gordon’s Primary Measurement of Music Audiation (PMMA) was used to evaluate the children’s tonal and rhythmic music aptitudes. The sample comprised 238 Chinese children, aged four to six, enrolled in private kindergartens in Penang, Malaysia. A quantitative method was used in this study.The Pearson correlation coefficient revealed that the home musical environment had a weak but significant relationship with the tonal subtest (r = .192, p < .01), rhythm subtest (r = .178, p < .01), and composite scores (r = .234, p < .001). The kindergarten musical environment had an extremely weak but significant relationship with the tonal subtest (r = .140, p < .05), rhythm subtest (r = .147, p < .05), and composite (r = .176, p < .05) scores. Children’s age and socio-economic status were also significantly correlated with PMMA scores.There was no significant relationship between parents' musical attitude and children's developmental music aptitude. Kindergarten musical environment and parents' attitude toward music were excluded from the regression equation. However, children’s age in months, home musical environment, and socio-economic status were found to be predictive factors for PMMA scores. Limitations and recommendations for future investigations are also included