Paul, you have the right of it. True tone deafness is a physical condition. It's exactly what it sounds like: a legitimate hearing impairment, either caused genetically or through brain damage. Rarer than one might think.

A lot of people cry tone-deafness, when what they really mean is that their sense of "relative pitch" is wobbly, often due to simple lack of training. With time and persistance, that kind of thing can be quite fixable.

A truly tone-deaf person can't tell the difference when a note is WILDLY off-pitch. Someone with an untrained ear might hear the same note and perceive "whoa, that's wrong," but have trouble identifying and/or producing the correct note.

Fooles, it sounds like a neat project. :)

Slán,

~Fionn

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