Tone Deaf Test: What’s Your Pitch Level?

Am I tone deaf?

Probably not. True tone deafness, called congenital amusia, affects about 1.5% of people, according to a 2017 study that screened around 20,000 participants instead of relying on volunteers who already suspected it. What does vary a lot from person to person is pitch discrimination: how small a step in pitch you can still hear. Among 918 adults tested in another 2017 study, the middle listener heard two tones about 14.5 cents apart — roughly a seventh of the gap between neighbouring piano keys — while the best 5% heard steps of about 6 cents.

This test measures that one skill, the way an eye chart measures sight. It plays three short tones and one of them is slightly higher; you tap it. The step starts at two semitones and halves every two levels, down to under 2 cents at level 15. A quick start moves you down a row with every right answer until your first miss; after that each row needs four right out of five, and a second miss stops it. Your level is converted to the same threshold the study used, so you can see where you stand among those 918 adults.

It is not a hearing test and not an amusia diagnosis. Singing in tune also depends on controlling your voice, and a few minutes on one pair of headphones can’t tell you whether you have amusia. A low level is more often about the sound reaching you than about your ears: a quiet room and headphones make a real difference.

What the test measures

One skill, measured like an eye chart: the smallest step in pitch you can still hear.

The task

Three 1 kHz pure tones, the same stimulus as Smith et al. (2017): pick the one that is higher
15 levels, from 200 cents (two semitones) down to about 1.6 cents, the step halving every two levels
A quick start climbs one row per right answer until your first miss; from there each row is up to five trials, four right to pass and two wrong to stop, with one retake
Replay any trial as often as you like before you answer

Your result

Your pitch level (1–15) and your threshold in cents
Where you stand among 918 adults: the share of people you hear finer than
Reference points from the same study: no music training (about 19.5 cents), music training (about 12.9), music before age six (about 11.2), the best 5% (about 6.2)
Your threshold in everyday terms: how far the A at 440 Hz has to move before you notice, and how much a guitar string would have to shorten
A shareable card and a link that challenges a friend to beat your level

Before you start

Sound on; headphones help, and a quiet room helps more
On an iPhone, switch off silent mode first
About two minutes

Pitch and tone deafness FAQ

Is this test free? Do I need to sign up to see my result?

Yes, it’s free, and there’s nothing to sign up for: no account, no email, no payment. Your result appears on this page the moment you finish, and you can share it or play again straight away.

How do I know if I’m tone deaf?

Clinical tone deafness, congenital amusia, is rare: about 1.5% of people in the largest prevalence study. Researchers identify it with longer tests of melody and memory, not with a single run of tone pairs. This test tells you how fine your pitch discrimination is compared with other adults; it can’t tell you whether you have amusia.

What is a cent in music?

A cent is a hundredth of a semitone. Neighbouring piano keys are 100 cents apart and an octave is 1,200. In the 918-adult study, the middle listener needed a step of about 14.5 cents to hear a difference between two tones.

Can you get better at hearing pitch differences?

Yes, by a lot. In a 2006 study by Micheyl and colleagues, people without musical training started with thresholds several times higher than musicians’, and needed roughly four to eight hours of practice to catch up with them.

Does music training make a difference?

In Smith et al.’s sample, people with formal music training heard finer steps (about 12.9 cents) than people without (about 19.5), and those who started before age six did best (about 11.2). Younger listeners also did better on average.

Why did I get a different level the second time?

One short run is noisy, and the phone, the headphones and the room all move the number. A few runs tell you more than one, and the best of them is closest to what your ears can do.

Where the numbers come from

Percentiles compare your threshold with the 918 adults in Smith et al. (2017), who did the same three-tone task on headphones. Your level is converted to their threshold criterion by simulation. The site does not publish its own players’ data.