VII. TONE DEAFNESS
Certain anomalies of structure in the ear give rise to tonal “gaps” and “islands.” The ear does not discriminate among pitches, in certain segments of the scale for pitch. Such a condition may occur in but one ear of a given individual, the other ear then hiding the defect.
The child who is extensively deaf to tones has, of course, no means, save the testimony of others, of knowing whether he is or is not singing properly (unless he sees his singing on a tonoscope). He cannot be taught to sing in key, because the receptors which would enable him to profit by training are absent from the structure of the ear. Many a tone-deaf child has doubtless suffered much from persistent, conscientious efforts to make him sing.