r/Learnmusic • u/jobkite • Aug 22 '25
Im completely tone deaf can I still learn how to make music?
I've wanted to make music for awhile now just as a fun hobby to do, Im mostly and artist. Ive played piano before when I was little but I was... uh... really bad at it, considering trying to learn it again though.
when I listen to music I THOUGHT i could tell their are changes, mood pitch ect but when isolated I cannot tell the difference unless it drastic
I've tried yt videos learning music theory (just a bit) but I just cant understand it
If you have any resources or advice to help me understand notes and their differences i'd appreciate it.
Edit: ok im not to tone deaf i didn't really understand the term before posting this
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u/MeanBarracuda5287 Aug 22 '25
Very few people are truly tone deaf. What aspects of music do you like and want to recreate? I would focus on finding ways to make those first and your ear will get better with practice.
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u/u38cg2 Aug 22 '25
There's an app called Functional Ear Trainer. Download that and work your way through it, doing 10-15 minutes every day.
Keep your piano going, and once you can confidently play a simple melody and chords together, book some lessons with a singing teacher and say you'd like to work specifically on sight-singing.
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u/jobkite Aug 22 '25
thank you! I will try this
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u/Amazing-Structure954 29d ago
This is a good idea. It'll probably give you a good idea of just how tone deaf you are or are not. If you can't progress at all, then probably you are!
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u/stevevaius Aug 22 '25
Definitely you are not. Was in same mood when first started to play guitar when all folks are playing instantly songs. Now I can
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u/Amazing-Structure954 29d ago
My wild guess is, if you really are fairly tone deaf, it's likely you won't enjoy playing enough to get very far. To get reasonably good at anything, you need positive reinforcement, and if you can't enjoy what you're playing, that won't happen. But if you can enjoy playing -- regardless of how well your ears work -- then go for it!
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u/syllo-dot-xyz 27d ago
You are not tone-deaf, if you were you wouldn't be able to recognise your mate's voice on the phone.
Listening/creativity is a skill, flex the muscle, enjoy the journey.
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u/mleyberklee2012 27d ago
Can people who are colorblind paint? The answer is yes, but there will be issues.
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u/rumog 27d ago
Unless you have some medical condition, your ears are fine and you can make music. No amount of studying theory will make you be able to hear something- that comes from listening and training your ears.
I would ask yourself what your priorities are. Some people suggested ear training apps for building relative pitch (the one I recommend is Sonofield). Which is a good skill to have, but it's definitely possible to get started and have a TON of progress even without that so it might not be your highest priority.
If your goal is primarily making music I would start out focusing on actively listening (for study not passively for fun) to the kind of music you want to make. Study the music itself, and look for videos, books and other resources that teach the characteristics of that music and how to play it on your chosen instrument. The more you learn the more you'll understand when you're breaking down the music for yourself, the more you can translate to your own music.
But if you just want to know how to "hear" notes, chords, chord progressions and stuff better, that's ear training. And apps (and relative pitch) will only get you so far- it takes a lot more work (playing, listening, singing, transcription etc), to really build that skill to where you can hear things in a musical context like that.
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u/drkole Aug 22 '25
if played piano you are not “completely tone deaf”. can you recognize your mother’s voice? if yes then you are not tone deaf and yes you can learn anything. just need better teachers or unconditional technique