While working at the music and neuroimaging lab at Beth Israel/Harvard Medical School in Boston, I developed a quick online way to screen for the tonedeafness. It actually turned out to be a pretty good test to check for overall pitch perception ability. The test is purposefully made very hard, so excellent musicians rarely score above 80% correct. Give it a try!
In our research, we were looking for neuro-anatomical correlates of tonedeafness (called "congenital amusia" in the scientific literature. We gave several dozen subjects an MRI scan and used a sophisticated statistical technique to analyze the images. This technique, called VBM (voxel-based morphometry), has been used to study the changes in the brain caused by Alzheimer disease and many other neurological conditions. The test you are about to take was used as a screening test to roughly characterize a patient’s pitch discrimination and musical memory abilities. Even though musical memory is strongly tested here, we have found that people who are tonedeaf tend to have normal musical memories.
About me:
I am a resident in Radiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. I am interested in applying radiological technology to brain tumor treatments, neurodegenerative diseases, and acute treatment of stroke. Before I started medical school, I had a career as a musician, composing several electronic music albums under my own name. My fourth album has just been released and is now available for purchase and preview at the iTunes music store.
Flash is necessary to take the tonedeaf test. It may take a few moments to load, please be patient.
After completing the test, your score will be automatically and anonymously submitted.
I've taken the test, now what?
If you found the musical cues intriguing you may interested in listening to my most recent album, Scales of Magnification, which is available at iTunes or CDBaby for preview or purchase. Seven years in the making, Scales of Magnifications features arrays of biological melodies that collide with alien rhythms, and microedits dancing elegantly with the macro-scale.