THE AUDITORY PERCEPTION OF MUSICAL SOUNDS BY A SAMPLE OF 600 CHILDREN IN THE FIRST 6 GRADES WAS STUDIED. THREE TESTS WERE CONSTRUCTED FOR THIS STUDY. THEIR CONTENT WAS BASED UPON AN EXTENSIVE ANALYSIS OF TONAL AND RHYTHMIC CONFIGURATIONS FOUND IN THE SONGS CHILDREN SING. THE 45-ITEM AND ONE OF THE 20-ITEM TESTS WERE DESIGNED TO COLLECT DATA REGARDING THE AUDITORY PERCEPTION OF COMMON TONAL CONFIGURATIONS. FOR EACH OF THESE TESTS, THE SUBJECT HEARD AN AURAL PRESENTATION OF THE TONAL CONFIGURATION AND THEN WAS ASKED TO SING AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TO THE STIMULUS. THE ACCURACY OF THIS RESPONSE WAS THEN INTERPRETED AS A MEASURE NOT ONLY OF VOCAL CONTROL, BUT OF THE LEVEL AT WHICH AUDITORY PERCEPTION FUNCTIONED. IT WAS FOUND THAT AURAL UNDERSTANDING, WHICH IS A REFLECTION OF ACCURATE AUDITORY PERCEPTION, RESULTS FROM THINKING AND NOT FROM MECHANICAL IMITATION. JUDGMENTS WERE MADE INDEPENDENTLY BY THE CHILD AND BASED UPON HIS UNDERSTANDING OF BASIC MUSICAL CONCEPTS AND NOT JUDGMENTS MADE FOR THE CHILD BY SOMEONE ELSE. MUSIC EDUCATORS NEED TO EXAMINE THE CONTENT OF THE MUSIC PROGRAM NOT ONLY WITH REFERENCE TO THE KINDS OF ATTITUDES THIS PROGRAM SEEKS TO DEVELOP, BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF THE KINDS OF MUSICAL SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES WHICH GIVE MEANING AND PURPOSE TO SUCH A PROGRAM. (JL)