ABSTRACT

The aim of the study is to figure out any connections between scholastic achievements and being tone-deaf. Having surveyed on the subject, I randomly chose an elementary school in Gwangju, Korea. Out of about 250, I screened 27 students, who have difficulties reproducing right pitches or right tones. Thinking that if a student has difficulties singing right tones, his or her academic achievements as has as his or her a tone producing ability should be verified. To understand and get data for it, I made a questionnaire and a answer sheet named Tone Distinguishing Ability Test. Applying it to the 27 students, I used a up-right piano. The questionnaire consists of 3 parts, asking their musical background, testing their cognitive power to musical notes and reproducing power toward several notes. In this study, I point that some definitions of tone-deaf which are shown in several Korean dictionaries are not accurate, nor academic. I suggest my definition of tone-deaf be considered to be used in general, in stead of using some unauthorized definitions on it. According to the study, I found that there are no connections between tone distinguishing ability and scholastic achievements. The data I obtained also said that although they are not good at reproducing the right tones or pitches they heard, they have no difficulties to discriminate changing tones. In other words they can hear right tones, but they are hard to sing them in a right way. Despite good grade, he or she is not good at reaching the tones he or she hear. In spite of being good at reproducing the right tones, he or she has not got good grade. Lastly, I agree with a opinion that there is no one who is considered as a tone-deaf. Being tone-deaf can be adjusted by some special training.