Measure your pitch perception abilities in 3 minutes!
Posted by
jake in
Music and the Brain
If you enjoyed taking the tonedeaf test, then you will also have fun with this one. This is a completely new test designed to quickly measure how well you can tell two tones apart.
Like the tonedeaf test, this test was also developed while I was a researcher at the Music & Neuroimaging Lab at Beth Israel Deaconess/Harvard Medical School.
I love listening to music and and quite sensitive to tonal differenciations .. cool to see I average around 1.5 on 3 seperate tests (sometimes it’s hard to tell as they are very close to eachother)
28 M Netherlands
I got a 0.7875… Is that legit?
i didn’t see a result for the test, just the demographic questions
I scored 0.45 (which considering I have no musical training and have always played music by ear Im quite happy with that result). Making electronic music requires a good ear and sense of melody and pitch. Combining many elements to make a good track (without using pre-programmed loops), editing them, & playing them, is harder than it might seem. I like making new sounds from the bottom up and adding suttle nuances and tonal changes as well as slight pitch changes that are only noticed when really paying attention to the track. Anyway, this is a good test, it was fun. Peece
0.1675
Hi,
I’d like to thank you for putting this test online. I had a lot of ear problems as a child and took hearing tests monthly for about 2 years. I also participated in a study when i was too young to understand what it was and they ran me through this very test rather frequently. I assumed that I didnt do very well because I was told that I didnt hear the same range of sounds as the average population and have always had bad hearing, however I scored a 2.4! I am amazed. I took your tone deafness test and scored a 66. What would cause such different results?
Pitch Perception improved from 16 to 12 in second test.
Also scored over 80% on first test and improved to over 90% in second attempt. in phrasing test
Having fun sending this teat to trained muscians!
Jh Treasure Island, Florida
i got .3hz. this test was fun =P
My score was 0.6 Hz apart. Is this why I think I can hear things that others can not? However, I can barely make out conversations on the telephone! If there is any line noise or echo on the line. It seems I hear that and not the speaking voice on the phone. I need to go back now and take the other tone deaf test. Thanks.
Thanks for the test. I wouldn’t say I was tone deaf, but I don’t have perfect and am unable to say whether a guitar string, for instance, is in tune or not. Yet your test reported that I could reliably differentiate between tones 1.35Hz apart, which you class as World Class. I guess your test isn’t a test for perfect pitch, though.
Didn’t get e score for the pitch test.
Probably because I use Mac OS9 with Firefox 1.2…. yeah?
I got 1.2 Hz at this and 91.7% at tonedeaf test. I have musical backgrounds so it is very interesting tests to me. Good luck!
i have 0.475 a think i don’t remember or less xD
it’s that good ? or bad?
and in the other i have 86.1 i think , it’s realy fun =)!
Does the frequency at which the test is conducted matter? ie is it the difference in Hz or the percentage difference that matters in perception?
make the results emailable, so you can keep them!
you should have a repeat option for tones and melodies b/c other stimuli can distract one’s attention so they may not provide accurate results
Very informative and interesting results. I really enjoyed both tests. 69% on the phrases was not impressive to me, so I have some training to do. 1.05hz for the pitch was quite satifactory, but ha no idea it was considered “world class”.
Nice stuff here!
87% on the phrase test
.38 on the tone test
Here’s something thing I don’t get. The hz difference only measures the deviation from the fixed first tone, right? That is, don’t go around telling people that you can, in fact, reliable tell the difference between tones .375 hz apart (if that’s what you scored). This should be much easier to do at 50hz than at 15,500hz.
Hi Justin,
You make a good point. You are right that the difference measured by the test is based on the first fixed tone of 500 Hz. The result in Hz would need to be calculated as an octave or semitone value in order to apply it to a different frequency.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Best,
Jake
I got 1.2Hz and I have no musical background.
The pitch test seems to be an updated version of the Seashore pitch test. It is very well presented.
우와 ~ 나 월드 클래스다아 ‘ㅁ’
1.35 예~ ㅎ
When I saw you got pitch perception test, I expected something like
‘What is this note?’, which can test absolute pitch perception or
‘What is the difference btw these 2 notes?(not in Hz, but in do,re,mi), which can test relative pitch perception.
Isn’t this more necessary for playing and writing music?
Saque 0.9Hz nice
Unlike the Tonedeaf test, which to a great degree measures memory, this test seems like it can be repeated without skewing the validity of the results. I scored 0.825 on the first try and 0.6 on the second. Frankly though, I am skeptical that this identifies my abilities as ‘world class’. How big a control group are these designations based on? What percentage of people tested are ‘ world class’?
Hi Bill,
I will post statistics soon on this test - then we’ll have some performance descriptors based on the test results of thousands of people. The current descriptors were based on a small sample size.
Thanks a lot!
Jake
That was pretty cool! I scored 1.2! Apparently that’s good.
나두 월드 클래스 (1.05Hz)그리고 다른 테스트도 88.9%나왔어요.
I think training occurs in the process of testing. A bunch of my friends tried this test, and those who scored poorly on it the first time around decided to take it again. Everybody in that group got much better results the second time, and sometimes the progression continued. E.g., somebody had the following sequence of results on 4 consecutive tests: 34Hz-15Hz-9Hz-4.8Hz.
my result was 0.9Hz on the first try which i took pretty rashly.
i was a bit smarter the second round and made better use of the replay button until i could tell whether it was higher or lower. didn’t get any wrong until it reached 0.046875Hz, and then it said undefined Hz. the adaptive pitch discrimination remained at 0% until i made a mistake right at the first time it said undefined Hz. I was hovering around 0.1875(i think), and finally came up with the score of 0.20625Hz. My score seems a bit too good to be true?
But I guess I can see why my score seems to be higher than average. I’ve been playing guitar for 5 years, and when something is just a little out of tune (particularly chords), I can tell the difference when my friends can’t tell, even to the extent that I can still tell that chords go out of tune on a guitar due to intonation or the nut being too high.
However, i got 75% on my 1st tonedeaf test, and 80.6% on the second try, which seems to vary greatly from some people who get like 90% but 1.5Hz.
Excellent test! Great fun, and a great way of measuring my pitch perception. Thanks!
Really interesting! And a clear message; from now on I won’t sing anywhere but in the shower.
hi, I missed every question on purpose but couldnt get more than 24hz difference.
Also my ears are pretty bad but I still managed to get 1hz if I went really fast. Ie, I sort of heard there was a differece but I had trouble saying if they were higher or lower unless I went very fast(I had the last question still in memory). Are the higher tones shorter or something? Maybe its the timing issue Im picking up on.
0.5625 at 500Hz.
Thanks very much for making time to prepare these tests and offer them online. Hearing is the most valuable and yet under-respected sense we have. Rock concerts and movie theaters and any number of machines & urban soundscapes are hostile to good hearing and I worry that we’re not documenting the damage and working toward a more intelligent view of noise pollution and SPL limits. Your work is appreciated!
-Bob
나 10번해서 0.2나왔지롱 ㅎㅎ
나도 계속 1.05 나오네^^
0.9도 해보고…
As a singer with a major chorus in the LA Basin, I was very interested to see how I ranked (59th percentile in suboptimal listening conditions). Thanks for providing the opportunity.
I thought it was interesting that all the other posters showed discrimination at the 80+percentile level; maybe only those with good scores thought it was worth posting?
I’ll be looking at the other tests shown after leaving this comment. But I would be interested (if you do not have one yet) in a test that showed sensitivities at multiple frequencies, up through 20KHz.
Thanks again.
Hi
I got down to 0.1Hz something on the pitch test. I have no musical training, but i can hear when a guitar is out of tune when others cant.
And i got about 97% on the other test.
Can i trust this test?
I know that i have a good ear, but that good?
Best regards from norway
I think a few years of singing helped my score of 1.35 hz and 88.9% on the tonedeaf test. But being fit (not tired) and very concentrated helps too. Thank you for some very entertaining and enlightening tests.
I tried the test twice and got the same results twice: 80.6% at the ‘melodies’ test and 1.5 Hz at the pitch test. Funny that I’d get twice the same results; it seems to indicate that it is a reliable test. Very much fun!
As a musician specializing in low brass instruments, I was wondering if the pitch perception results would be different in different octaves. I can reliably tell the difference around 1.35 hz @ 500 hz. Just wondering if I’d do better at a lower frequency, say 110 hz? or higher? Might be interesting…
Cool! Tried it four times. The first two times I got 1.3 or something. the third I godt 0.3… and the last time 0.1875 Hz. I also took the other test two times, and got 88.9 the first time, and 94.4 the second time. It isn’t cheeting is it? Because this is what I’m able to hear, isn’t it? I mean the best results
I`m a bass player from Russia. Play for about 1 year.
I got 1.225.
Cool test. Make more.
Thanks.
Thank you for your wonderful tone deaf and pitch tests. It clearly settled a dispute my husband and I have been having for way too long. (years in fact) I have no idea how he even scored a 66%. I thought that was a very generous score.( i think he just plain guessed a few times) It quickly ended any conversation over his certain superiority when I scored a 91. something % and a 1.05 hz on the pitch test. He won’t argue with me over this again, I’m certain. THANK YOU!!
I was listening so intently that I missed the score entirely the first time.
Could you make it last on screen longer and in brighter colour to catch my eye?? Otherwise a great test! Thanks. I will pass this on to my musician daughter.
Interesting test, ITA that the results should be emailable (perhaps an option)
It would be interesting to re-do the test at different frequencies (like 200hz, or 1000hz or 3000hz) Maybe some people are better at lower frequencies, while others are better at the higher frequencies.
Very good tests. I enjoyed it.
I wonder why the results are measured in Hz and not cents…
A good test.. but what the deal with me felling out the survey BEFORE i see my score… but then asking me my score in the survey?:|
luv shamp.
Oscilloscope rulez! Got 0.09375 Hz! =)
Even using the ocilloscope it was rather difficult. Thanks to 44100-hz resolution of the sound-card - the steps are like timestapms, which drifted with the frequency difference.
Fadi Dorninger’s favourite blogs Pt.4!
Which blogs do I like in “blogistan” (Blogistan by Ritchie):
networked_performance, Jake Mandell, Sound Art Performance Software
scored 1,2. Some backround noice in this house though
Pretty nice test. doesn’t actually test musical skills though. Just your ears. The musical pharse test is better.
I quess there could be small delay before new sounds come , i atleast did get bit confused in start cause those did come right away. Else quite nice test
Got 0.6Hz. I think I could do better if the damned test would stay in the “high roller range” instead of having to mess up my psychosis and concentration by having to go through the noob parts again after restarting..
500Hz is probably the most sensitive frequency for humans, so I doubt you’d do it “better”, but this is just speculation.
0.16875 달성~
Fascinating. Since I have a partial hearing loss I get a kick out these tests. Got 72.2% on the rhythm test.
weird…the results page says that 6Hz is average, but statistics show something interily different. Is seems that our ears have been underestimated
1,95Hz , M 21, music lover, singing once in a while
drez
:), well, small update - 0,9Hz
i’m entirely happy now
Well, I surprised myself. I got 0.16875 Hz or 99.7th percentile. This explains why I’m rarely happy when tuning my guitar. Very ineresting test but I think I’ll quite while I’m ahead
This test was very unpresice, i got all between 6 hz to 16 hz. (no less, when under 3, it was only guessing and luck) And only 55 on the music test (it should have been a repeat at the music test aswell)
Awesome test!! I sometimes can’t tell up or down when tuning the guitar. I have to hum it, and “feel” the difference. I was wondering, I have no formal training though- but will my own tampering with musical instruments count as training?
i got 52 and 58 on this
and did
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/tunetest/dtt.asp
wich was exrutiating. got 26 og 26
what does that mean ?
(and the rythem test had no instruction so i had problems understanding what is mean t and what they call high , i did notice the obvius diffrence but not if ist high) mybee the testers are
thanks for improveing our music skill by testing our abillity in testing music.
i would like to say much more but my english does help me.
any way, iam a great thankful.
Hello,
Thanks for posting the tests–they were very educational. I noticed something interesting, and decided to leave a comment… I wanted to see if one of my ears was better at detecting differences in pitch. My right ear was able to detect differences of around 2.5 Hz, while my left ear was able to detect differences of 0.3 Hz. In either case, I had to close my eyes to hear the difference at or below 1.5 Hz.
Additional information that might be useful: My left eye is very dominant, as well, with a right-eye perscription of -6, and a left eye perscription of -4.5. However, I am ambidextrous, so that says nothing.
Again, thanks!
I am 18-year old, boy, I have no musician trainig, i don’t ( and i can’t ) play any instrument and also I can’t read notes at all. But I think I can remeber sounds at a desent level. Any sounds. As for music i can remember melodies. After having listened to some melody i can bring the music back in my memory and often it “sounds” in my mind as if I am listenig to it at the moment. After that I am usually capable of playing the melody by whistling, well sometimes one time is enough to remember sometimes not. But if they ask my anything about notes I can say nothing. When I hear two tones ( as here ) I remember them, I can replay them but it is very difficult to me to say whic one is higher. And that’s when you know that one of the two tones is higher. If there was a possibility that they were the same it would be a great confusion. The rhythm test I think is actually checking the capacity of your working memory and the ability to use it as well as yor perseption for time ( it just seems to me like that, it may be not so… ). I made 4 mistakes out of 25 on it. The pitch test I did it 3 times, it was just intersting, first time my rezult was about 3,8Hz, the second 2,2Hz and the 3rd 0,98Hz. I think i began to get it. Just imagine the sound of an engine which is accelerating - every following sound i higher. So when you listen to the tones try to make out whether the “engine is accelerating or deselerating”. Imagine that you are hearing such engine for a veri short time. This way i reached difficulty of 0.1875. What is really amazing i that I have graeter problems when the difference is about 6-12Hz
I got a 23 out of 26, a fine sense of pitch, on the www.nidcd.nih.gov test.
I took your test many times and only scored between the 0th and 5th percentile. Can you explain the difference? I did enjoy the test, but I was unable to improve by taking it several times.
After the test, I don’t see the result…!
How can I? I wasn’t able to recognize the green percentage bar from progress bar……
It was so interesting, I wasn’t looking at any counter.
Also the other, tonedeaf test! Why does it ask me about my score? He should know
The tests are very good. The sounds should however not start right after pushing a button but a few seconds after (it would be nice if the delay in seconds could be chosen by the user) as I don’t have enough time to shift my attention from pressing the button to carefully listening to the tune.
Like the tests - how do I answer the question about mentrual cycles? I am 6 months post partum and breast feeding so I have no cycle as yet, but this isn’t offered as one of the options. Something to consider? Good luck with your study.
I can’t remember exactly what I scored after reading all the comments, but I did well enough. However, I noticed that when the tones got really close, I was almost always right when the second tone was higher. Strangely, though, when the second note was lower, it sounded the same as the first or even higher to me, thus I was wrong a lot in that case.
Hm… this test is good but I feel that I got lucky on the 3rd time. The 1st 2 times i tried i got about… 3.0Hz. th 3rd time i tried i strained my ears reeeallly hard and got about 0.3Hz. Interesting. Its cool how it can test my hearing but i feel i wont really strain my ears THAT hard even when i sing or listen to music..
this test somehow gets harder when you move towards the end. I could differentiate 0.7 Hz, but after failing with 0.3 and hearing these beeps repeatedly, I coldn’t hear difference with 1.5 Hz. (my score was 1.95).
cool tests.
You need to have a practice run to get used to the system otherwise the first answer has a good chance of being wrong
Please do not embed results in an image…I’d prefer text I could copy. Thank you.
very nice tests but there should be more of a pause in the pitch test cause now the click of the mouse interferce with the pitches
I was enjoying the test until I had a tone sample with two of the same notes. There is no same button, only lower or higher. I clicked higher to get to the next tone and I knew I was wrong. A few tones later, I came across the same sample. Both tones were the same, no change. I clicked lower, knowing I was wrong, again.
If you’re going to put up a sample of two notes that are the same, there should be a same option, not just lower or higher. Or better yet, if you’re not going to give a ’same’ option, don’t put the example on there in the first place. Otherwise, all of us that are taking the test are never going to get 100% and your results will be skewed!!
Tara — the two tones will become very close together, much closer than the standard Western half-step, but will never be _exactly_ the same. If you can’t tell the difference, it means you’ve passed the threshold where your ear isn’t quite sensitive enough to differentiate between the pitches. The whole point of the test is to determine where that threshold is.
First try I got 1.2 Hz. Second try I turned the volume up a bit and used the “replay” button a little more. I spent a lot of time in the 0.09375 Hz area, and even pushed it down to 0.046875 Hz briefly. The final result shown was .95625 Hz.
No complaints there, but I can’t help but wonder about this result, because A) I seemed to be holding pretty steady at 0.09375 Hz, yet the end result was ten times higher; and B) .95625 Hz was not actually a frequency that was tested. Any enlightenment?
Practicing helps, and missing one by accident early on greatly affects the score, which is probably what the person who commented above me experienced. I first got around 0.85, then brought it down to 0.265. I’ll keep working at it. Interestingly, sometimes at the really small differences I can tell immediately and with great certainty that I’m right, and other times it takes me many, many retries and I may still end up wrong.
Did you chande the kind of tone used for adaptive pitch test on the 8th April? I took the test in March and it sounded as a different tone was used, less noise was heard with the tone before and more noise now. If that is in fact so, please switch the tone back to the old one, it sounded way better and was easier with the test.
Seems that quality of the speakers affects to the results. With headset at work I score 3 - 1 hz but at home the it’s always easy to get under 1 hz…
I couldn’t see my score either, just demographic questions.
Although the lowest I could get to was .1875
I found this test quite self-informative. I have a meningioma brain tumor that impinges on my auditory nerve. I have minor deafness and tinnitus but I had hoped that I might still be able to discern pitch and tone. Maybe I didn’t have the ability before the tumor!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take the pitch test and the tone deaf test. I have always had difficulty differentiating between people’s voices on the telephone, and I only appreciate the lyrics in music, because the sounds don’t seem to mean much to me. Now I know why.
Hi and thanks for posting these wonderful tests! I took the Tonedeaf and the Pitch perception tests. I believe the result of the Tonedeaf test could be considered better “science” than the Pitch differences test. Although, that said, I like the approach to the Pitch test better and believe it’s measurements, results and ultimate conclusions on a broad basis would be more accurate if each subject had a better controlled environment. For me, I had many uncontrolled contributions to the sound field, thus as the pitch tests differential became tighter the ambient sounds (i.e.: kids, wife, computer fan, etc.) became an absolute impediment in drawing a conclusion. All I really mean by that is perhaps suggest they take that test while wearing headphones. Of course, to be more precise, a comfortable db level should be consistent among all subjects. Obviously, that would be nearly impossible to control but it can be reasonably assumed that it would be listened to at a comfortable level. Nonetheless, however, the test process is brilliant and I wish you great success in your studies of this intersting science!