Can people really be tone deaf?

At the recent Promise of Music Symposium at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the question above was posed to Dr. Daniel Levitin, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at McGill University (and best-selling author of the book "This is Your Brain on Music"). Dr. Levitin's response was interesting.

This is a paraphrase: Lack of exposure to music in utero or before age 8-10 can shut down the music circuitry in the brain. This, however, is extremely rare. Perhaps, 1 in 500? A person with true tone-deafness would find it difficult to differentiate between different voices, since the same perception measures pitch and tone quality! End of paraphrase.

So, although you may think that you are tone-deaf, you are more likely a member of the large group of people in need of training to develop and fine-tune your sense of pitch. If you get a chance to do so, you won't regret it!