Amusia (Tone-deafness)

[Vitul]

Let's discuss the disorder present in 4% of the world population. Ask me questions if required.

[overtone]

Any human being actually tone-deaf would be unable to speak any of the major Chinese languages, or recognize the difference between a question and a statement in English.

[DrP]

A friend of mine claims he is tone deaf. I heard him whistling 'Rudulf the Red Nosed Reindeer' over Christmas and he was hitting the tune spot on. I told him that he was not tone deaf, or he wouldn't be able to carry that tune. He got quite angry and insisted that he was tone deaf. I think he is exaggerating - he probably can't sing or is very bad at it and lacks confidence with singing... maybe his parents shouted at him to shut up when he tried singing when he was a kid or something like that because there seems an overly defensive insistence on his being 'tone deaf'. Not being able to sing in tune is not the same as being tone deaf.

 

Vitul - are you actually tone deaf? Does that mean you can't tell the difference between different pitches? Can you tell if someone else is singing out of key?

[Vitul]

A friend of mine claims he is tone deaf. I heard him whistling 'Rudulf the Red Nosed Reindeer' over Christmas and he was hitting the tune spot on. I told him that he was not tone deaf, or he wouldn't be able to carry that tune. He got quite angry and insisted that he was tone deaf. I think he is exaggerating - he probably can't sing or is very bad at it and lacks confidence with singing... maybe his parents shouted at him to shut up when he tried singing when he was a kid or something like that because there seems an overly defensive insistence on his being 'tone deaf'. Not being able to sing in tune is not the same as being tone deaf.

 

Vitul - are you actually tone deaf? Does that mean you can't tell the difference between different pitches? Can you tell if someone else is singing out of key?

Hi! Well, I'm not tone-deaf but it is an actual disorder. It does mean that you can't process pitch differences. There are various forms of musical disorders, you should look them up.