Is a Tone Deafness Genetic or Environmental?

Scientists know that genetics is important in tone deafness (also known as congenital amusia). They’ve done some twin and family studies that show that. They also think that the genes involved are pretty specific to not being able to tell when a wrong note is played in a song. This is because being tone deaf isn’t associated with any other trait. For example, you can be tone deaf but have good hearing, a sense of rhythm and a good memory. You just can’t tell one pitch from another very well.1 Studies also show that genetics are not the only factor that determines whether you are tone deaf. Listening to a lot of music, playing an instrument, or singing can help people get better at telling wrong notes apart. What scientists haven’t figured out yet are the actual genes that are involved. Nor can they easily predict the chances that a tone deaf parent will have a tone deaf child or that two parents that aren’t tone deaf will have a child that is. All we can say is that if tone deafness runs in your family, then you are more likely to end up with it as well. What I thought I’d do for the rest of the answer is go a bit deeper into some of the evidence that genetics is involved in tone deafness. Then I’ll end by showing that having perfect pitch is probably not simply the opposite of tone deafness.