The measurement precision, efficiency, and validity of an adaptive test and four conventional listening tests designed to assess musical ability were compared. The conventional tests were the Seashore Tonal Memory Test and three tests (peaked, rectangular, and maximum discrimination) constructed from items in the 278-item adaptive test pool. The results were based on data from 468 high school and college students. The 30-item adaptive test provided comparable or, in the vast majority of cases, superior measurement precision to the conventional tests at all ability levels. Measurement precision comparable to the conventional tests was achieved by the adaptive test using 34% to 69% fewer items. Although differences tended to be small, in most cases adaptive test validities exceeded those of the conventional tests. The findings suggest that adaptive testing procedures, which, prior to this study had been limited to written items, can provide significant improvements in the measurement of listening skills. Five tables and three graphs provide study information. (Author/SLD)