This paper suggests that there are ways to organize the literature, both within music and in related fields of study, so that the interested professional can engage in an active organized study of creative thinking in music. There are also ways of defining musical behaviors that are indicative of creative thinking in children as well as adults. Additionally, it might be possible to suggest a model of creative thinking in music that might serve as a basis of discussion and perhaps further research, and finally actually to measure creative behavior in music. This paper reviews studies from the general literature on creative thinking and music literature specifically. This is not a comprehensive review, but rather is aimed at those writings that hold particular importance for content and construct validity in assessment design. Attempts to construct a measure of creative thinking based on these constructs are identified. Measure of Creative Thinking in Music (MCTM) was developed with the belief that creative thinking ability in music might be measured early in a child's musical development, between the ages of 6 and 10. MCTM is a set of structured activities that must be given on an individual basis. It evaluates expressive and productive levels of creative products by engaging children in improvisatory and quasi-improvisatory musical activities with simple but expressive musical instruments. A definition of creative thinking in music, linked to a conceptual model representing the thinking process conclude the paper. Contains 51 references. (DK)