BBC R3 test: How Musical Are You?

[doversoul1]

The person who is conducting this ‘groundbreaking science experiment (sic)’ was on In Tune today. I can’t remember very much of what he said (it didn’t sound particularly groundbreaking) but he said something like he had not scored very high on emotional connection because he tended to listen to music cognitively. He sounded distinctly…apologetic if not embarrassed.

Bert
A little change from Tristan and The Ring (Re: Things you might like)

[Eudaimonia]

Social creativity (What is it?) 12%

From the description:

"This looks at creating music and sharing in group activities where music is involved. You scored high for Social creativity, which suggests that you have a good memory for melodies and have no trouble recalling new songs or musical phrases. It’s likely that you are confident in group activities where music is involved and are able to join in, singing or clapping along with others. You probably find it easier than most people to imagine new melodies in your head."

I started piano lessons as very small child, studied singing at university, and played the viola in student orchestras and ensembles for years. I took night classes at Juilliard for fun, and regularly collaborate with composers at the Music Technology Group of Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona by contributing samples to an online sound archive. I used to volunteer at the Music Center Education Division of Los Angeles County, was a member of the Los Angeles Opera Speakers Bureau, and have been known to go belt standards at a piano bar just for the hell of it.

So if you're wondering how I scored 97%, that probably covers it.

[Lateralthinking1]

Hi Bert, I fully respect your views and the fact that you placed your results on the site. You have 38% for curiosity and that is reflected by your comments. No problem with that at all. I find it less comprehensible that someone with a 99% curiosity in music could be so dismissive of Stuart Maconie. Still, we have to believe what we are told. For the record, I was given recommendations for Zane Lowe and Music Matters, neither of which are entirely my cup of tea, but surely that is the point. It is to recommend new music interests to people. A bit disappointed how this discussion has descended actually. In my first posting, I made the point that the tests were almost certainly not designed to find winners and losers. People were honest enough to give their results but several only did so by being very disdainful of the tests themselves. The general thrust of the arguments was that the tests weren't suited to classical music interests. The connotation was that a test of true musicality would produce higher marks for those interests. In a sense what was being introduced was a notion of competition between classical music and other genres.

I chose the example of chart writing in response to that competitiveness. It is all perfectly true. I did do what I said. It is also the case that my interests in music were always far broader - world, folk, and a lot more besides including classical music - and I have had little interest in most mainstream chart material for around ten years. I just don't think though that it is fair to view musicality purely from the classical perspective, nor for people to blame the tools we are working with, particularly when two results appear to confirm that the tests aren't populist. Don't get me wrong. I have tremendous amounts of respect for classical music and for those who understand the more technical music terms. I would also defend quality broadcasting more than most. But musical intelligence, like any other intelligence, comes in a variety of forms and Radio 3 is all the better for incorporating a range of musical styles. Lat.

[Bert Coules]

Bert. A little change from Tristan and The Ring (Re: Things you might like)

Well, I do like a good many things in addition to Wagner, but I'm afraid I'd be hard put to it to find any of them on Radio 1.

...but surely that is the point. It is to recommend new music interests to people.

Suggest rather than recommend, perhaps, but yes, that's a fair point. I don't see though how a possible interest in anything on Radio 1 could have been deduced from the answers I gave. It would be interesting to know the thinking behind those suggestions.

Radio 3 is all the better for incorporating a range of musical styles.

Well, that rather depends on what you want Radio 3 to be, doesn't it? If you want a station that broadcasts classical music and high art, then the present "range of musical styles" is not exactly going to be to your taste.

[Eudaimonia]

The general thrust of the arguments was that the tests weren't suited to classical music interests. The connotation was that a test of true musicality would produce higher marks for those interests.

Anyone who scored poorly up for a perfect pitch test or a graduate-level music theory throwdown?
Come on, you know you want to. Go big or go home!

Speed and Competency Rudiments Examination (SACRE)

Graduate Assistant and Doctor of Musical Arts Exam (GADMA)

Graduate Review Theory Test (GRTT)

Perfect Pitch Test

[Bert Coules]

The Perfect Pitch test site isn't working for me. I get no sound on the first test, and the link to the second (relative pitch) just brings up the first again.

[Eudaimonia]

Hm, it worked for me. Are you sure you have all your plug-ins in order? I'm using a Firefox browser, for what it's worth.

[Bert Coules]

Yes, I'm using Firefox too. The R3 test all worked perfectly; curious that the pitch test site didn't. Mind you, it might have spared me some ignominious scores...

[Vile Consort]

It was rather narrow in its definition of musicality, wasn't it?

I think I scored low in some areas because I don't clap or sing along with the "song" at orchestral concerts, and I can't sing the tune of Transports de Joie no matter how many times I listen to it.

The grouping into genres question was impossible unless you actually like that sort of dross (my personal opinion, not an objective judgement). I wonder how well, say, Alfred Brendel would have scored on that?

[Eudaimonia]

I don't clap or sing along with the "song" at orchestral concerts

Really? You don't say!
(The smiley couldn't possibly be rolling its eyes hard enough.)

The grouping into genres question was impossible unless you actually like that sort of dross

No it wasn't. I didn't know the genres either, but got through it grouping "like with like". I'm sure I missed more than I would if I could put a name to the categories, but I didn't totally bomb thanks to being sensitive to differences in orchestration. Which when you think about it, is what the test amounted to. If someone had presented it to you as an orchestration test, you might have been able to overcome your "ooh icky people music" bias and actually got down to solving the problem.

[tony yyy]

What is Lab UK?
Lab UK is a BBC website where you can participate in groundbreaking scientific experiments.

I wonder how much the BBC is paying for this? It's disappointing that they can close the R3 message boards but carry on with this. I'm afraid it seems rather a waste of effort to me.

[Lateralthinking1]

I had hoped that the people who didn't like the tests would still congratulate those who had done well in them. Lord Reith would have done. Perhaps we are learning more about modern Britain.

Eudaimonia - How did you get a couple of 100% marks? I'm very impressed. You did really well there.

[mercia]

I had hoped that the people who didn't like the tests would still congratulate those who had done well in them.

I heartily congratulate all who took part whether they did well or not.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It wouldn't let me do all the tests, but the recommendations of what I might like to listen to were way off the mark. "Radio 3 Requests"? You've got to be joking.

[Eudaimonia]

Eudaimonia - How did you get a couple of 100% marks? I'm very impressed. You did really well there.

Thanks! I don't know, I just answered as honestly as I could. Besides, I'm sure it was "100" on a sliding scale. What I'm really surprised about is why I did relatively poorly under "Enthusiasm for Music"... I would have predicted that would be one of my higher scores, not my lowest. No clapping, tapping, or background music, so that could be a lot of it.

I had hoped that the people who didn't like the tests would still congratulate those who had done well in them.

Why should they if they don't find the categories to be of any value? Never in a million years did I expect to see so many people proudly crowing about being unmoved, uncurious, apathetic, and amusical. The antisocial bias I could have predicted, but good grief! I was fully expecting to be subjected to a huge pile-on of people with perfect scores gloating and rubbing it in.

I'm actually sorry I brought it up... if anyone from the BBC is reading this, I don't think we're going to come across too well. In fact, it's quite the credibility underminer, isn't it.