Are you tone deaf? Take this test and find out once and for all

Most conversations about tone deafness probably take place around 8pm on a Saturday night while enduring excruciating auditions on The X Factor. But, according to Tonedeaftest.com, we’ve all been using the term incorrectly.

People who struggle to sing in tune or play the right notes on a musical instrument are not necessarily tone deaf, but more likely just lack musical training, according to the website.

True tone deafness is a cognitive impairment known as amusia that affects less than 5% of the population and makes you incapable of processing sounds properly in order to make sense of them. So, the chances are that – like me – you are not fact tone deaf but just terrible at singing. Which might not be that much better.

If you think you there’s a chance you might be tone deaf, the quickest way to find out is by taking the test on the site. You can be pretty confident it’s not a medically binding diagnosis, but it’ll give you a rough idea of how able you are to identify different pitches. If you do score badly, the good news is you might be able to boost your musical skills. As the site explains: “If you fail the test, this is not a diagnosis of a cognitive impairment and it is possible you can still develop your ears for music.”

There’s even better news if you score well: “If you pass the test you can be quite confident you have the fundamental pitch abilities required to become a good musician.” So no need to give up on that dream of becoming a rock star just yet, although if you’re spending your morning taking internet tests, you might not have the dedication required to make it big.

The test is split into three stages consisting of 12 questions each. First, you’re asked to identify whether two tones are the same or different. Next, you have to determine whether notes are moving up or down and finally, you are asked to choose whether a note is the higher or lower pitched of a pair.

The site explains “The vast majority of people who believe they are tone deaf in fact do have the basic pitch discrimination skills necessary to tell notes apart. They can enjoy music, recognise melodies, and have just as much musical potential as anybody. They simply lack musical training”