What is meant by special aptitude in instrumental music?

Definitions of musical aptitude as well as musical aptitude tests frequently are criticized for low ecological validity. In many cases, however, the demand for ecological validity can actually make a test worse as a measure of musical aptitude because a maximally ecologically valid test is necessarily multidimensional. A test that is devised to measure a psychological construct such as musical aptitude should be reasonably homogeneous. Defining musical aptitude as auditory structuring ability is suggested as a compromise between homogeneity and explanatory power. Central aspects of construct validation of an auditory structuring test are presented as examples of theory-driven validation where ecological validity is not the first criterion. These aspects show that the test (a) measures a music-related property, (b) is not much dependent of training in music, and (c) measures sound structuring instead of hearing absolute qualities of sound.

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