How to improve tonal perception?

Question

I recently took a tone deafness test, and I got 60% percent of the test right, which means I am just outside of tone deaf.
I took the test at www.bored.com
I am a member of www.singshot.com
Will improving my tonal perception improve my singing?
How do I improve this?

Answer 1

Yes, improving your tonal perception will make a vast difference in your singing ability.

Singing is very different from instrumental music in that we cannot simply push a button to create a note (no offense to instrumentalists--I know there's a lot more to it than that and I will ever be in awe of your transposition abilities). When a singer wants to create a tone, it begins with aural recall. That is, the singer thinks (or hears internally) the tone that is going to be created, synapses fire, and the body-map responds to create the tone.

Note that all this will go horribly wrong if the aural recall stage cannot be completed.

I will argue with anyone who says that they are "tone deaf" and cannot sing. It is true that some people have the ability to match pitch naturally, but that does not mean it cannot be learned.

Practicing to match pitch or aural recall is very easy. My favorite method is to sing with a partner. Your partner will sing a short little phrase to you and you sing it back. If you're alone, you can try just getting a tuner. Play a note on the piano, turn on the tuner, and then sing the note. The tuner will tell you how close you are. Keep adjusting your tone until you hit and hold it. Do a different note and then come back to the original.

Also, Make Music Inc. (makers of the Finale software) has a wonderful product called SmartMusic. This software includes many bundled warm-ups and practice songs--and can check you on intonation if you sing into a computer microphone.

I hope that helps!