A screening tool of amusia: a pilot study

Background Amusia, also known as tone deafness, involves problems with the auditory accuracy of music perception and the recognition of well-known melodies. These deficits are not related to hearing loss, amount of musical training, or overall intelligence. The present study applies a screening tool for the detection of amusia in Greek children and adults. Methods The present detection tool was created via laboratory evaluation and includes seven acoustic tests: “dissonant intervals”, “out of tone”, “contour”, “memory”, “rhythm”, “integration” and “emotion”, based on the pre-existing data on the diagnostic criteria and the features of the disorder. All music stimuli were presented on a piano timbre and constructed in major mode according to Western tonal-harmonic conventions. Before administering the test, the Directorate of Primary Education of Achaia, which belongs to the Ministry of Education of Greece, approved the research for the application of the test to adults and students aged six to twelve. Simultaneously, each parent signed a form for their child’s consent to participate in the listening test. All participants were native Greek speakers, 80 students aged 6 to 12 years and 120 adults, with normal hearing thresholds bilaterally. The recorded stimuli were presented through supra-aural headphones at a comfortable hearing level, and the procedure was based on a laboratory evaluation lasting 15 min. All data were analyzed using SPSS (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.25912411). Results According to the findings, only 4% of the participants suffered from amusia and it was found that those who had music education for more than two years performed better in the present test than the others. In conclusion, factors such as sex and age did not affect the occurrence of this musical disorder. Conclusion The present screening assessment tool was intended to detect individuals with amusia. There is a suspicion of the existence of amusia in the population at a rate of 4% as confirmed by other research It is recommended to administer the test to a larger sample to estimate its sensitivity and validity.