She's hearing voices...

Amusia is a disorder, which is often called ‘musical deafness’. The sufferer cannot process musical pitch or rhythm or both. There are two types of Amusia; Acquired Amusia and Congenital Amusia. Congenital Amusia is when you are born with the defect and Acquired Amusia is when Amusia is developed, often due to an accident or event.

            As someone who includes music into most attributes of my life, even the thought of developing Amusia both scares and intrigues me. I can’t even image how much it would affect my everyday life.

            Musicophilia states, “Many people are unable to sing or whistle in tune, though usually we are very conscious of this” It also states “Five per cent of the population” have it and people who suffer from it “can veer off key without realising it”.  Amusia is also known as “tone deaf”.

            When I was reading about Amusia, I found a lot of the symptoms remind me of my mother. I have made jokes about her being “tone deaf” before, but did not realise that she may actually be it.  There is a difference between Amusia and bad singing, so I wanted to test my mother.

            I started by asking her to sing notes I played on the piano. She only got one note right, which she wasn’t aware was correct. I then asked her to listen to me sing two songs; one that was in tune and one that I sang with sharp notes thrown in. I then asked her which she preferred. When asked she said she “liked both” and could not tell me what was pleasant or not pleasant about either.

            I have always thought it was strange that she does not listen to music and when she has been to performances and concerts with me, she could never tell who was singing well and who was not. She has also never understood why I have such an interest in music and Amusia has made me realise that she possibly does not hear music with as much intensity as I do.

            Severe Amusia sufferers cannot recognise, for example, the tune of Happy Birthday. I am not sure if my mother does have Amusia or not because she can recognise some tunes, but I definitely think this shows that people hear things in different ways.