Amusia: Learning About Tone Deafness

Not very many of us have singing voices worthy of a professional; in fact carrying a tune is difficult for some people. Most people refuse to sing in public, restricting their singing to the daily shower or the drive to work. Believing that we are probably tone deaf, many others are in the same boat with us. Surveys reveal that one out of every seven people consider themselves to be tone deaf.

There is a misconception that tone deaf is simply an inability to sing, though most people who call themselves tone deaf are quite capable of hearing and enjoying the full scale of a song. When spoken of literally and in a medical sense, tone deafness is defined as not being able to accurately perceive music, rather than just being a poor singer. Studies conducted using musical listening tests reveal that the higher percentage attributed to the tone deaf should really be reduced from one in seven to one in 20. Those who truly experience tone deafness are unable to hear differences in pitch change between high and low notes, so being able to follow along with even a simple melody becomes very difficult.

Tone deafness that is serious is commonly called an amusia by researching groups. When an individual has been tone deaf from birth, we refer to that condition as congenital amusia. Those lacking in the ability to perceive music can be tested as to just where their deficit lies with the Montreal Battery for the Evaluation of Amusia, a series of tests developed by researchers. Specific imaging examinations are allowing analysts to look at the brains of people who are musically inclined and those of people who are not.

A lot of these studies are a result of researchers wanting to know more about the brain and how it processes music. There is no research about curing tone deafness, that we know of, at this time. Through discovering the mysteries of amusia, scientists hope that they will solve other challenges, including learning disabilities, and they believe that amusia itself could help one day with treating a number of alternative developmental disabilities.

The slight difference such as that between B and B-flat and F and F-sharp is a semitone, and the way music in the Western world is organized. For the most part, people don't have any difficulty hearing the different notes, even if they are separated by the smallest semitone. However, someone suffering with amusia would need a much more marked spread between notes in order to truly discern that they were different pitches.

Unable to make out the direction or contour of pitches, individuals who are tone deaf struggle with isolating pitches. The rising and falling of notes that form pitch contour are the building blocks of melodies. Experiments prove that it is especially hard for people with amusia to isolate pitch changes a short musical passage.

It seems that some amusics lack as much rhythm as they do deciphering pitch and melody. However, if the music played is monotone with no variations in pitch, amusics display a good rythmic sense. It's likely that the pitch changes that occur in modern music will confuse an amusic, interfering not only with their ability to appreciate the music but to pick up the rhythm as well.

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