Amusia

When I was a kid, one of my most prominent memories was my dad trying to sing hymns in church. He was always way, way off from everyone else. I always kind of wondered if he was tone deaf.

More people claim to be tone deaf than are actually tone deaf, of course. True tone deafness is called amusia, and usually arises from brain injury. Some people have amusia from an unknown cause.

Of course, as an educator, I'd have to wonder how many of these people had a sufficient music education when they were younger and the parts of their brain relating to pitch identification were forming. They just have never been taught to match pitch!

This BBC article helps give a better definition. I like this NPR article, too.

Here's one of many tone deafness tests online you can take.

You might try this one too.

Don't worry if you're actually diagnosed with amusia, you can still have a long, prosperous career as an opera singer. Really! Just ask Florence Foster Jenkins, an early 20th century opera singer with amusia. She has several recordings, even though they sound like this: