London - Do dogs howl and glasses shatter when you attempt to sing?
You may believe that you are tone deaf – but now scientists say the condition doesn’t exist and anyone can have the voice of an angel.
Their research has turned conventional wisdom on its head by finding that ability to carry a tune is not a natural talent, but a skill learned through training.
Telling children they are tone deaf may be a self-fulfilling prophecy, the US team added, making them less likely to enjoy music or to practise enough to sing well.
Steven Demorest, a professor of music education at Northwestern University, in Chicago, explained: ‘When people are unsuccessful they take it very personally, but we think if you sing more, you’ll get better. No one expects a beginner on violin to sound good right away.’
The study, in the journal Music Perception, compared three age groups: children aged five and six, children aged 11 and 12, and young adults at university. Each group was played four repetitions of a single pitch, then asked to sing it back.
There was considerable improvement in accuracy between primary and secondary school, during years when the children were having regular music tuition.
But in the adult group, the gains were reversed – to the point that university students did only as well as five-year-olds.
Professor Demorest said the results suggest the ability to sing on key is linked to regular practice, although he admitted that for some people the knack will come more easily. He said: ‘It is a skill that can be taught and developed. Our study suggests adults who may have performed better as children lost the ability when they stopped singing.’
Professor Demorest said children who are told they are tone deaf are less likely to engage with music in adulthood, and often vividly remember the negative experience for the rest of their lives. He added: ‘So much of elementary school music revolves around singing, but that’s only one way to measure musicality.
‘Everyone should be able to have music as a part of their life.
‘It’s OK to select out of it, but it should be by choice, rather than because you think you don’t have talent.’
Daily Mail