BBC R3 test: How Musical Are You?

[tony yyy]

Based on your results, we think you might like:

Chris Evans Radio 2 Enjoy chat, live guests and great music with Chris Evans at Breakfast time on Radio 2.

Could I live without music? Of course not. I might not like it but I wouldn't die.

How long do I spend listening to music each day? Well, not very long as I spend much of my spare time practising the violin in a futile attempt to improve my playing.

Do I tap my feet, etc. when listing to music? No, especially not at concerts.

Do I listen to music because I'm bored? No, I'm hardly ever bored.

etc.

You scored low for enthusiasm, which suggests that music isn’t particularly important to you. You probably spend less time than most people just listening to music or having music on in the background while you do other things.

[tony yyy]

Emotional connection 0%

Congratulations! Now I'm envious.

[french frank]

Congratulations! Now I'm envious.

Hmmmm. I think I might be too literal when answering the questions, because I got more than half marks on all the music tests (except the groups). I did email them to say I thought 'groups' would be things like baroque and minimalism.

Can I tell if people are singing out of tune? I don't know. It depends where I'm standing and how out of tune they are

[James Wonnacott]

Yes, that one caught me too- I've never heard of hop-it genre (or something like that)

[Mark Sealey]

Hmmm..... Yerrrrs :-((((

It wasn't very well thought-out, was it?

When they wanted us to identify items where the 'beat track' was 'in time', they really meant 'syncopated' according to the most relentless downbeats.

Nor, I suspect, are the differences between rock, pop and 'hiphop' as discernible as those between, say, Baroque and Classical. And if you can't tell them apart (I certainly can't) then your score as a musical person goes down… about which I'm beyond consolation.

My impression was that it was a popular quiz, not a scientific survey, directed towards casual listeners to pop, light, jazz etc - in order to discover whether there are any budding geniuses who don't know it! That seems like a good idea to end on.

[Suffolkcoastal]

Hmmmm. I think I might be too literal when answering the questions, because I got more than half marks on all the music tests (except the groups). I did email them to say I thought 'groups' would be things like baroque and minimalism.

Can I tell if people are singing out of tune? I don't know. It depends where I'm standing and how out of tune they are

Sorry I've had to post using a quote. FF I can only seem to reply with quote atm, even though I'm logged, in any reason for this?

Anyway I'm always sceptical of these sort of tests, though it seems to be the 'in-thing' in music higher education atm. I expect if Mozart took the test he'd score bugger all on everything, whereas one of my tone-deaf neighbours would probably score highly!

[Bert Coules]

Based on your results, we think you might like:

Damn, I missed that bit. Is there any way of going back in and seeing the results and conclusions again?

[french frank]

Sorry I've had to post using a quote. FF I can only seem to reply with quote atm, even though I'm logged, in any reason for this?

Yes, we dispensed with Quick Reply, but it will be reinstated tonight.

Anyway I'm always sceptical of these sort of tests, though it seems to be the 'in-thing' in music higher education atm. I expect if Mozart took the test he'd score bugger all on everything, whereas one of my tone-deaf neighbours would probably score highly!

Well, a number of the questions seemed to be based on self-assessment of one's abilities ...

[subcontrabass]

Damn, I missed that bit. Is there any way of going back in and seeing the results and conclusions again?

Just go back to the Radio 3 Home page, click to start the test. Then when you log in you will get your previous results.

[subcontrabass]

Hmm:

Enthusiasm for Music 49%
Musical Perception 99%
Emotional Connection 41%
Social Creativity 72%
Musical Curiosity 90%


Suggests I might like "Friday Night is Music Night" (yuk - only if the only alternative is "Smooth Classics" on CFM ), plus other programmes I have no interest in on Radio 2 and 6 Music (and one or two I find extremely boring on Radio 3).

[Lateralthinking1]

Yes, this exercise is full of curiosity. I have to admit that I was surprised by my 99% for musical perception because while I was significantly above the halfway mark for correct answers in all the tests, I didn't get all the parts right by any means. And as more of a populist, I would have expected to score highest on genre and that wasn't the case.

Nevertheless, he says, in attempting a robust defence of a good result, the gold medal is currently with the initial poster who is undoubtedly a classical music person. If it turns out that said person was the designer of the exercise, I'm chomping at the bit to claim the winners prize. It will prove that writing the Top 30 out every week from the age of 7 to the age of 40 and seeking to memorize every record wasn't a sign of long-term disturbance after all.

[VodkaDilc]

I thought it was a pleasant way to spend half an hour. I couldn't be bothered with the first test (Genres) and thought of opting out at that point. But I persevered and got decent scores:
Enthusiasm for Music - 98%
Musical Perception - 99%
Emotional Connection - 100%
Social Creativity - 97%
Musical Curiosity - 99%

I wasn't impressed by the suggested listening. Proms 2011 perhaps, but what is Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone and Zane Lowe on R1?

[Flosshilde]

You might enjoy the Proms from the comfort of your own home". I do, but how did they know that?

Probably because the majority of the population live outside London & can't get to the RAH to listen in person.

I tried to do it but forgot the instructions for the musical clips & tried to go back to remind myself & got into difficulties loading the previous page (there's no 'back' button) & gave up. The first clip IU listened to sounded like glass (not Glass) falling & lasted about half a minute.

Also, the first page didn't have 'England' or 'Scotland' in the list of countries, & I don't think that the UK is a country, & the list of occupations didn't have 'artist' or anything similar.

I might have a go another day, if I can be bothered. It sounds like one of those idiot questionnaires you get in magazines - 'How generous are you?' or 'how good are you in bed?'.

[Lateralthinking1]

VodkaDilc.....Ah, so in other words it does not discriminate against classical music interests.

[Bert Coules]

Just go back to the Radio 3 Home page, click to start the test. Then when you log in you will get your previous results.

Thanks for that. Things I might like apparently include BBC Blast Music and Audio (of which I must confess I've never heard), the Radio 1 Official Chart (don't think so), Zane Low on Radio 1 (ditto) and the Radio 1 Live Lounge (also ditto), together with some things I actually do like such as Music Matters, Discovering Music, Performance on 3 and Classical Collection, the latter having a description which starts, "You know what you like!" Yes, I do, but I don't think the test does.