Tone deaf test
Two short games: is the second note higher or lower, and are two melodies the same? Then an honest reading of your score.
Tone deaf means unable to hear small changes in pitch, so wrong notes in a tune go unnoticed. True tone deafness (congenital amusia) affects only about 1.5% of people; most people who think they are tone deaf hear pitch normally and just haven't trained their singing. This test checks pitch direction and melody changes. It is a musical skill check, not a hearing test.
How it works
- Part 1, higher or lower (20 pairs): two notes, the second slightly higher or lower. The change gets smaller when you're right and bigger when you're not, to find your limit.
- Part 2, same or different (8 pairs): two short melodies; in some, one note moves out of tune.
- Then your pitch limit in cents and what it means.
Use headphones in a quiet room if you can, at a comfortable volume (not loud). Guess when unsure: guessing is part of the method.
Turn your sound on. On iPhone, the silent switch also mutes this page.
Is the second note higher or lower?
Keyboard: ↑ for higher, ↓ for lower.
Part 2: same or different melody?
You'll hear two short melodies. In some pairs, one note of the second melody is out of tune.
Your result
This is a musical skill check, not a hearing or medical test.
How do I read my score?
| Smallest change heard | What it means |
|---|---|
| Under 25 cents | Fine pitch discrimination: a quarter of a semitone or less. |
| 25 to 100 cents | Typical: you hear changes smaller than one piano key. |
| Over 100 cents | Small changes were hard today. Retake with headphones; if it repeats, see the note on amusia below. |
For melodies, 6 or more out of 8 is typical; 4 out of 8 is what guessing gives.
Am I tone deaf or just a bad singer?
Almost always the second, and it's fixable. Hearing pitch and producing it are separate skills: if you scored in the typical range here, your ear works and your voice needs practice, like any instrument. Try the pitch matching test to see how close your voice lands.
What is congenital amusia?
A lifelong difficulty with pitch that is not caused by hearing loss or brain injury. People with it often can't tell the direction of a change smaller than about a semitone and don't notice wrong notes. A large online study put its prevalence at about 1.5%. Only a full assessment by researchers can establish it; this test cannot.
How the test works
- Part 1 uses a 2-down/1-up staircase (Levitt, 1971): two right answers in a row make the change smaller, one wrong answer makes it bigger. It homes in on the change you get right about 71% of the time. Your result is the average of the turning points.
- Each pair starts on a random pitch between G3 and G4, so no note can be memorised. The first change is 200 cents (2 semitones).
- Part 2 follows the idea of the scale test in the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia: in half of the pairs, one note moves by a semitone to a note outside the key.
- All sounds are synthesised in your browser at A4 = 440 Hz; nothing is recorded and no microphone is used.
Frequently asked questions
What does tone deaf mean?
Being unable to hear small differences in pitch, so that wrong notes in a melody go unnoticed. True tone deafness (congenital amusia) is rare: a large study estimated about 1.5% of people. Most people who call themselves tone deaf hear pitch fine and simply haven't trained their singing.
Am I tone deaf if I can't sing in tune?
Usually not. Singing in tune needs both hearing pitch and controlling your voice. Many people hear pitch normally but haven't practised matching it with their voice, which improves with training.
Is this a hearing test?
No. It checks one musical skill, hearing which way a pitch moves, at a comfortable volume. It does not measure hearing loss. If you are worried about your hearing, talk to a doctor or an audiologist.
What is a cent?
A hundredth of a semitone. A semitone (100 cents) is the step between two neighbouring piano keys. Many adults can tell the direction of a change of 25 cents or less; people with congenital amusia often need a semitone or more.
Can you fix being tone deaf?
For most people the issue is singing, not hearing, and it improves with practice: listening, matching notes and getting feedback. For people with congenital amusia, research so far shows limited improvement, but they can still enjoy music.
Why did my score change when I took it again?
Attention, speakers, background noise and fatigue all move the result. Headphones in a quiet room give the most reliable score; the best of two tries is a fair estimate.
Sources
- Peretz & Vuvan (2017), Prevalence of congenital amusia, European Journal of Human Genetics 25
- Hyde & Peretz (2004), Brains that are out of tune but in time, Psychological Science 15(5)
- Peretz, Champod & Hyde (2003), Varieties of musical disorders: the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia
- Levitt (1971), Transformed up-down methods in psychoacoustics, JASA 49