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Do you have a good ear for music? Or would you describe yourself as tone deaf or rhythmically challenged?
Some people can pick up inconsistencies in pitch and rhythm with ease, while others struggle to make them out.
The questions below will test your musical ear. They come from a battery of questions used to screen for musical problems, including tone deafness.
Interestingly, most people who think they're tone deaf just need a bit of help in learning to sing. So if you score badly, don't worry, you will most likely improve with singing lessons or joining a community choir!
In each question you'll hear two tunes separated by a small period of silence. Are the tunes the same or different? We're testing your ability to recognise changes in pitch and rhythm — so listen out for both.
Listen: are the two tunes in each sound file the same or different?
To be properly screened for potential musical problems, including tone deafness (congenital amusia), you need to answer the full battery of questions given in the online screening test developed by Dr Isabelle Peretz and colleagues at the University of Montreal.
Another online screening test for amusia has been developed by Dr Dennis Drayna of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
Want to know more?
So you think you can't sing? It could be all in your mind!
Topics: science-and-technology, neuroscience, music
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