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So, you think you are golden ears...

audimus

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I'm shocked - I listened with my computer speakers at low volume and got 29/32 with an average response time of 0.6s.

I am surprised because I simply cannot sing - I just cannot seem to hit proper notes and always assumed I must be tone deaf. But at the same time I've always had a keen ear when it comes to listening to music. So I guess I'm not actually tone deaf, and must have some other issue when it comes to singing.

This tests for relative pitch perception, not absolute pitch that naturally gifted and trained musicians have. Vocal control involves more than that but requires the minimum of relative pitch perception. People who don’t even have relative pitch perception are the tone deaf people.

From a physiological point of view, this test isn’t just about the ability to hear in your ears. It is also how the brain registers the tone in short term memory (in the same way some people can easily register a name they heard while some forget it a few seconds after they hear it). For relative pitch, the brain needs to “remember” a tone before it can compare to another. People differ a lot in their short term memory ability. The better the registration, the smaller the intervals they can detect.

If there was a way to control the speed of playing these tones, you might find some people do better when it is faster and some when it is slower depending on their short term memory “clock rate” :)

Some may be much more accurate when they take longer to press the up or down but get tripped in converting difference they can perceive into up or down quickly under pressure. They can perceive a difference but cannot accurately convert to up or down action.

You can see this with people starting to play a musical instrument where they have to convert the need for a tone to action on the instrument.

If only human beings were as simple to measure as these electronics reviewed here. :)
 
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Sal1950

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What about the folks who couldn't carry a tune in a paper bag???
You hear them singing all the time, and they think it's good!! :eek:
 

day7a1

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You can see this with people starting to play a musical instrument where they have to convert the need for a tone to action on the instrument.
I used to play trombone. I did a bit worse than average on this test the first time, but I never tried to hear pitches this way. When do you ever listen for 1/64 up or down? You just adjust the slide to match the pitch, which I can (or could) do quite well. The second time I did a lot better, but it's not a good test.

There's another series of tests, https://www.audiocheck.net/blindtests_pitch.php?cent=5, that I think is my limit here. The same website has another series of tests, notch and peak tests, that I was surprised to still be able to complete after all these years of being away from 31 band eqs. In fact, that whole site is great.
 

audimus

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That comment was to illustrate that while some people may distinguish a heard tone difference, the cognitive faculties needed to transform the hearing perception to an action (say, play that note on an instrument) is different than just hearing and it might be difficult for some without training. The reverse case is different.

In any case, I don’t think it is a good test for “tone deafness” either let alone music abilities. My first reaction was that this was a psychology test rather than aural test, to record what people thought of themselves before taking the test and what feedback they provided after the test based on results.
 

day7a1

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That comment was to illustrate
My comment was a full endorsement of yours. If anything was added is that different types of actions in response to different stimuli don't help one in this particular action with this particular stimuli. That is, my playing trombone didn't seem to help much with this action, it was like playing a new instrument.

I also agree that it may very well be a psych test. How would you know you were tone deaf if you were tone deaf? I met someone once, nearly blind, that got glasses for the first time at age 18. He had no idea. Just thought that's how the world looked.
 

ajawamnet

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Don't get too discouraged when you see this kid:

and he states that no matter how hard you try, adults can't just learn perfect pitch

Now here's a girl - blind since the age of three I believe -with perfect pitch - playing ELP's Karn Evil 9 second impression:

Playing guitar with Dweezil Zappa - from the movie about her I just watched:
She plays more like Frank than Dweezil does and Dweezil's badass ... Lady Gaga should give Franks estate/studio to him (yea she bought it)

Here playing keys with dweezil:
 

Don Hills

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Oh and I think Keith Emmerson gave her one of the big Moog's - Deservedly so

Rachel played Keith's Moog while it was at the home of Gene Stopp, who was overhauling it.
 
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