I know this is going to sound stupid but I never considered tone deafness at all. I know it exists......but I guess I assumed that people who wanted to be singers (or other musical roles) knew enough to avoid the art if they were tone deaf. But.....that assumes that they knew they were tone deaf. I guess if they didn't.......no amount of feedback from us would ever make sense to them.
Good point TAE.
It's really impossible to put yourself in that position.
I mean, you can 'imagine' being blind but, really, you can't; Not properly.
People who are legitimately tone deaf not only can't tell that they're singing the wrong note, but they can't tell that they're meant to be able to tell! lol.
Seriously, think about that. They don't know that they're meant to know... Twists my mind a bit.
It's the equivalent of thinking you just strum a guitar and move your hand wherever and the right tune comes out,
but because that's a physical skill and knowledge of the instrument is required, no one ever really thinks that way.
It's not something I'll argue with anyone but I don't think I'll ever move on the idea that tone-deafness, or genuine inability to perceive differences in pitch, is a thing.
Now, contradictory to that these same people can tell the difference between "It's all good!" and "It's all good?" which is really just a difference in pitch.
That sort of baffles me, but I have met plenty of people who, when tested, simply could not tell me that two notes played on a piano were the same, or different.
The same people, when trying to sing, usually hovered around the same note regardless of what the melody was meant to be.
Some say that anyone with a voice can be taught. I usually say that anyone who demonstrates an awareness of pitch can be taught.
It's why I often say to 'bad' singers around here, "You're clearly aware of pitch", because there are plenty of people who are loose or inaccurate and really sound quite bad but they know up is up and down is down.
They're moving in the right direction at the right time, just not necessarily the right amount.
I'd liken that to playing an out of tune guitar quite well. They know what they're doing, but the instrument needs attention.