Abstract. We obtain partial results on the conjecture that for the almost Mathieu operator at irrational frequency, α, the measure of the spectrum, S(α,Λ,,θ) = |4 -2\λ\\. For \λ\ή=2 we show that if a n is rational and α M -^α irrational, then S+(α π ,λ,0)-»|4 -2|λ||.