Finding Aid for Richard Colwell Audio Recordings and Papers, 1965-2001 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Jonas Yela

Service Location	Boxes
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 1-3

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Collection Overview

Title: Richard Colwell Audio Recordings and Papers, 1965-2001

ID: 12/5/89

Primary Creator: Richard Colwell (1930-)

Extent: 2.15 cubic feet

Arrangement: Audio tapes in Boxes 1 & 2 are arranged alphabetically by test and chronologically thereunder, with some misceallaneous tests at the end of Box 2 (n.b. Box 1, Item 9 through Box 2, Item 6 are presumed to be part of the development of the MAT, and are placed thereunder in the order). Papers in Box 3 are arranged chronologically.

Date Acquired: 07/18/2025

Subjects: Education, Educational Psychology, Faculty, Faculty Papers, Music, Music, School of, Music instruction, Music teachers, Music teachers - Training of, Testing

Formats/Genres: Papers, Sound Recordings

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of magnetic audio tapes, test documents, correspondence, and notes documenting Richard Colwell's work with music standardized tests, especially the development of the Music Achievement Test (MAT).

Biographical Note

Richard Colwell was born on May 27th, 1930 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Colwell earned his BFA and MM in 1953 from the University of South Dakota. He taught at the University of Montana, Billings, from 1957 to 1961. In 1961, he earned his EdD from the University of Illinois and accepted a position as the chair of music education at the U of I, where he remained until 1989. After leaving Illinois, he taught at the University of Northern Colorado (1989-1990), Boston University (1990-1993) and the New England Conservatory of Music (1993-2005).

Much of Colwell's research is foscused in music education assessment. He is the author of several books and papers on music education, incuding the textbook Basic Concepts in Music Education, as well as the creator of the Musical Achievement Test (MAT) series.

Subject/Index Terms

Education
Educational Psychology
Faculty
Faculty Papers
Music
Music, School of
Music instruction
Music teachers
Music teachers - Training of
Testing

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Acquisition Method: Transfer from SSHEL

Related Materials: See the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library's Test Collection for related material, including the MAT and the experimental files for the Elementary Music Achievemnet Test (EMAT), also by Colwell.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[All]

Box 1

Item 1: Experiment I: USOE Project, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 2: Experiment III, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 3: Listening Test #2, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 4: Listening Test #2, Undated: 7" magnetic reel. Two pieces by Mozart.
Item 5: Listening Test #3, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 6: Listening Test #3, Undated: 7" magnetic reel. Schoenberg, Verklarte Nacht and Mozart, Symph. #2, 1st mvmt.
Item 7: Listening Final Test, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 8: Listening Final Test-Master, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 9: Test A1: Major, Minor, Other, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel. Items 9-39 likely early development of Music Achievement Tests. See Box 3, Folder 10 for more information.
Item 10: Test A2 I: AV Melody Complete, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 11: Test A2 I: AV Pitch Test, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 12: Test A2 II, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 13: Test A3: AV Rhythm I, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 14: Test A3 II: Rhythm, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 15: Test A4 I: Harmony Master, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 16: Test AB I: Monophony, Homophony, Polyphony Master, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 17: Test AB2: Chord Recognition Master, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 18: Test AB3: Repetition, Contrast 3, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 19: Test AB3: Repetition, Contrast 4, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 20: Test AC1 Master, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 21: Test AC2, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 22: Test AC3: Intervals Master, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 23: Test AC4: Intervals Master, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 24: Test AD1, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 25: Test B1: Three Note Chords Master, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 26: Test B2: Four Note Chords, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 27: Test B3 Master, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 28: Test B4: Chord Recognition, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 29: Test C1: Tonal Center - Keytone, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 30: Test C1: Tonal Center - Keytone, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 31: Test C2: Tonal Center - Chords Master, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 32: Test C3: Unison, 2 part, 3 part, more, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 33: Test C4, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 34: Test D1, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 35: Test D2: Musical Styles - Composer, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 36: Test D3: Musical Styles - Periods, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 37: Test D4: Musical Expression Master, ca. 1960s: 5" magnetic reel
Item 38: Test D5 Master, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 39: Test DB3, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel
Item 40: AV Rhytm Tests A and B Master, ca. 1960s: 7" magnetic reel

Box 2

Item 1: AV Pitch Test 3 Master, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 2: Pitch Part B, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 3: Major, Minor, Other Master, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 4: Pitch Questions 31-60, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 5: Major, Minor, Other, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 6: Major, Minor, Other Sym. Excerpts 1-30, Undated: 7" magnetic reel. Note on label: "Apparent test. Male voice. Poorly recorded…"
Item 7: Music Achievement Test: #1 Major and Minor Modes, #2 Auditory Visual, 1965: 7" magnetic reel
Item 8: Music Acievment Test: Questions Part 1, 1965: 7" magnetic reel
Item 9: Music Acievment Test: Questions Part 2, 1965: 7" magnetic reel
Item 10: Music Acievment Test:#1 Scalewise Melodies, #2 Skip Melodies, 1965: 7" magnetic reel
Item 11: Music Acievment Test: #1 Pitch Test, #2 Major-Minor, 1965: 7" magnetic reel
Item 12: Music Acievment Test: Major Minor Modes 5th or 6th Grade, 1965: 7" magnetic reel
Item 13: Music Acievment Test: Finding Keytone Melodies, Auditory-Visual Pitch, Rhythm, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 14: Music Acievment Test: Scalewise Patterns Part I, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 15: Music Acievment Test, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 16: Music Acievment Test: Meter, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 17: Music Acievment Test: Auditory-Visual Rhythm 5th or 6th Grade, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 18: Music Acievment Test: Auditory-Visual Rhythm and Pitch, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 19: Music Acievment Test: 25 Questions, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 20: Music Acievment Test: Blank Score Test (pre-test), Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 21: Music Acievment Test Master, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 22: Music Education Placement Examination Part III & IV-University of Illinois, Undated: Audio Cassette
Item 23: Music Education Placement Examination History, Literature, and Analysis-University of Illinois, Undated: Audio Cassette
Item 24: Pflederer, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 25: Pflederer-Zimmerman Double-Deformation Tape, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 26: Proficiency Evaluation for Music 101-University of Illinois, Undated: Audio Cassette
Item 27: Survey of Musical Aptitude, Undated: 5" magnetic reel
Item 28: Two Tone Patterns 1-90 Gayle Ackley, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 29: Melody #11-#18 Gayle Ackley, Undated: 7" magnetic reel
Item 30: Training Session - Are You Sleeping?, 1971: 7" magnetic reel
Item 31: Sample Test Tape: Rhythm, Tonal Pattern, Undated: 7" magnetic reel

Box 3

Folder 1: Music Achievment Test: Part 1, 1965
Folder 2: Music Achievment Test - Listening Tests - Key, ca. 1965
Folder 3: Music Achievement Tests: Directions for Administration, ca. 1965
Folder 4: Music Achievement Tests: Pitch Test Instructions, ca. 1965
Folder 5: Music Achievement Tests: Pitch Test 1
Folder 6: D1 - Instrument Recognition Test Correspondence and Development Files, 1968
Folder 7: U of I School of Music Standardized Test Collection Inventories, 1996-2000
Folder 8: Test Files Floppy Disk, 2001
Folder 9: Music Psychology Bibliography, Undated
Folder 10: Letter-coded Music Test Title Cards, Undated: Cards refer to the tests documented in Box 1, Items 9-39.

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[Box 1],
[Box 2],
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