What Happens When A Professional Musician Takes Music IQ Test?

[@CharlesCornellStudios]

Well this was just ridiculous lmao. GO TAKE THE TEST!! It's fun, if nothing else. And then go grab the Intro to Piano course for 50% off! betterpiano.com/intro-to-piano

[@Pixomite]

I wonder how your musical IQ can relate to your intellectual IQ

[@minhuang8848]

hugged it dead, apparently

[@StalinBeWallin]

Charles has too much power, their website is down LOL

[@circuitgamer7759]

I didn't save my scores for the individual segments (because I thought they would be saved in the image export), but overall I got a 113. I did worst in the melodic discrimination category (I think it was around 105 for that category), and I did better by about the same amount in the other two categories. That matches what I expected for myself pretty closely, although I want to get better at these because I try to arrange my own version of a lot of different songs. I chose to interpret it as ignoring style, so purely the actual pitches or rhythms rather than the application. If it was asking you to choose the one that felt "best" or "most fitting", I would agree with your annoyance, but it was asking specifically about the pitch or beat itself rather than the context.

[@beachmobjellies]

Hi Charles, I just re-descovered the amazing 70s italian cartoon soundtrack of Signor Rossi by Franco Godi. Every track a banger. Maybe something you would enjoy. Anyways thanks for your always interesting videos.

[@nuberiffic]

also, they picked the worst possible click sound to use for testing beat perception

[@00SNIVY00]

Yeah, not wrong there, but it's still part of the test, so the fact that it's consistently inconvenient for everyone still makes it useful

[@stephanmarcello9047]

Someone's door-ajar alarm is going off.

[@WillFlyTheLightingGuy]

This is more of a producer’s test…a “which take would you use”, where neither is perfect, but one has a better overall feel than the other.

[@hyperbaroque]

I would say two of the clips should have been correct instead of incorrect.

[@SmaMan]

I don't think it's that at all. The test is only asking you to identify which one is in tune, on beat, etc. Which one you might actually put into the recording is another matter.

[@CIA-m1v]

I work as an arranger and songwriter, I'm a multi-instrumentalist, music was my major, and am known for having very, very good relative pitch and I only got 115. Some of them were quite hard, you really have to concentrate. There are issues with this test, and it really only tests within western musical concepts.

[@yaroslavslyuda9475]

I have a theory that this test is mostly taken by other musicians. So in this case 100 would be average for musicians, not for all people. I am a self-taught musician. I got 104. And i was concentrating very hard. And this would aling with my theory. I am neither a total beginner nor a professional by any means. Your result is average between musical geniuses and someone like me then. I think it makes sense.

[@lordneeko]

That third test, i could definitely tell when tuning software has been used to manipulate the vocals. You can hear the sampling issues as well...and digital "slurring"

[@johnathanmcdoe]

This is how I got them all but one while scoring mediocre on the other two. Feels like involuntary cheating.

[@storiesofnotes4059]

I do think it should be noted that whilst this is a very interesting watch, it’s by no means a serious “musical iq” test by reliability. Music isn’t decided in ability of transcribing Melodies. There’s more to ear training. And musical ability also does not end at ear training. Technique, composition and simply an innate musical conception and understanding are components that are not to be understated

[@InventorZahran]

The original IQ test had the same flaws. I don't know why so many people are obsessed with the concept of quantifying intelligence, but I believe it's an impossible goal. Every person has a unique set of skills, abilities, talents, and aptitudes, which they developed through their unique experiences of life, upbringing, and education. Since no two people are alike in this regard, data cannot meaningfully measure "better" or "worse" intelligence. And since music is so subjective and largely defined by implicit cultural norms, 'musical IQ' is even harder to quantify! We should really stop trying, and instead focus on helping everyone grow and develop their musicality.

[@MaggaraMarine]

_"Technique, composition and simply an innate musical conception and understanding are components that are not to be understated"_ The test isn't meant for musicians only, though, so technique and composition are irrelevant. I'm interested, how would you test "musical conception and understanding"? And doesn't this test also kind of test them in a way? It is definitely not perfect, but pitch and rhythm perception, and musical memory are quite important things, and definitely things I would say fall under "musical conception and understanding". If you had to test the "musicality" of someone (and let's say you don't know if they are a musician, so you can't test their playing skills), how would you do it? Also, this test doesn't test your ability to transcribe melodies. It tests your musical memory. It tests how sensitive your ears are to tuning and rhythm. These aren't things that are only useful if you want to transcribe stuff. I would say they are pretty fundamental "musician skills".

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@InventorZahran right? Trying to collapse so many dimensions of data into one number never ends well. And I don't even mean in a societal sense, but even just the fact that it's self-defeating. The number will always say more about the ways one person weighted the dozens or hundreds of independent factors, than it says about those factors themselves. Thus it fails even in its task of being an objective and easily-comparable number. Someone might say they have an IQ of 153 but if they don't know which test they took it's actually less-meaningful than not giving a number at all. The same person on a different test would likely get 130, or 160.

[@LynnHermione]

It is an actual scientific test. you should actually go and read it. it isnt about transcribing btw

[@LynnHermione]

@@InventorZahran this is all, scientifically, wrong. you can absolutely quantify the comparative performance in tasks that represent domains of intelligence.

[@Wagoo]

I guess it's being hammered as I get so many "disconnected from the server" that it's like operating through treacle and not worth getting to the end. Was able to try 3 types of challenge anyhow

[@ZackRappMusic]

Same. I tried for a few minutes and gave up, I'm not going to wrestle with this thing to get it to work lol

[@dunstonlion1342]

These tests feels like how people who don't really make a lot of music THINK musicians work. It's like in those weird music drama shows where everyone is focused on getting all the notes right and faster than everyone else for status or whatnot. Just, this test is so superficial 😂

[@SethCrowderMusic]

Yeah i agree

[@artschiloyan9101]

Haha totally!

[@MaggaraMarine]

It is not specifically for musicians. And it isn't superficial. It tests pitch and rhythm perception, and musical memory. All of those skills are quite relevant to musicians. It can be argued how well it tests them (I think some of these examples were pretty bad), but those are still important musical skills. I guess my question would be, what else should it test if the goal is to test how "musical" someone is (and it isn't only for musicians)?

[@shiinondogewalker2809]

this test clearly isn't supposed to be compared to how musicians work. They're capturing the similarities of IQ tests quite well, but for music, actually - meaning it's a test you can do without any (or minimal) knowledge. What would be your idea for a less 'superficial' test?

[@zxbc1]

This comment feels like how people who don't really make a lot music THINK how music IQ test should work.

[@JessiNaka]

I actually paused the video right at the beginning to go take the test because I didn't want to spoil it for myself!! I got 114, not bad for being out of music school for over a decade!

[@pamdrayer5648]

4:34 - 5:02 How I imagine bad piano teachers listening to their students play.

[@adrianherralgot4071]

Hahahah😂

[@ingridfong-daley5899]

It's why we charge so much for lessons--it's compensation for the PTSD we now experience when listening to Fur Elise, Heart and Soul, and chopsticks (ALL played too fast).😵‍💫

[@cinematthew4431]

I took the test before watching the video, and I got 118. The beat placement one angered as me as a percussionist(I scored 114), and the melody one was also tricky(112), but I did surprisingly well with the tuning, which I don't normally consider to be one of my strengths(127).

[@Skip6235]

How is this a music test? This is just a memory and relative pitch test

[@coxandrewj]

Yeah I was expecting some questions about Chords, keys, different clefs maybe?

[@zappyapp]

@@coxandrewj it's about musical iq, not music theory

[@kinghotcoc0]

​@@zappyappwhich you think would include some questions about MUSIC theory...

[@NightPwnGaming]

⁠regular iq tests don't test knowledge/schooling. That's why your iq is pretty stable throughout your life. Music theory is a form of education/knowledge, not actual intelligence

[@nbeutler1134]

@@kinghotcoc0IQ tests are based on intuition, not studied knowledge

[@SugarcoatedSheepdogs]

Charles: "It's not MY fault, it's the test's, obviously. 🙄"

[@dragoon9airsoft560]

Hey, I just took the test over here. Believe it or not, I'm partially deaf, as I lost all hearing in the high frequency and roughly 50% in volume, I guess? But I love music, my dad was a musician, but sadly I never took classes on anything music related, I just hear music all day long, it's in the blood. For the results: Average is 115 Mistuning was 111 Beat alignment was 102 Melody discrimination was 131 I dunno how accurate is this test supposed to be, for what the commentaries say in here, but I'm pretty dang satisfied with my score.

[@yetanothermetaname1118]

Charles, you are always a joy to watch!

[@Malak1man]

Editing is on point in this video. Really great stuff. Shout out to the editor

[@NickxTM]

We crashed it 💀

[@David_prod-eNGee]

yup

[@PiercingSight]

It's a very flawed test, for sure. It's not testing what it claims to be testing because it's introducing WAY too many variables without any warning. It also starts samples before you're ready. The melody test is a MEMORY test, and without a total center before each melody, it just becomes hard to calibrate between them. The rhythm test doesn't take into account swing, push, pull, or anything like that. The tuning test uses a TON of super indie stuff where being out of tune is sometimes part of the style, especially when the accompaniment is SO LOUD and DISSONANT. I got 126, but the few I got wrong were either because I was distracted by it telling my results for the previous question, or because of a stylistic issue.

[@CoolGutrun]

Yea my vocal one was the worst one because a few of them they were both out of tune and it sounded stylistic/intentional either way, one would clearly be slightly sharp and the other would clearly be slightly flat. Still 112 on that one, the indie ones just really threw me.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Imagine if they did the test with punk, where being off beat and out off tune isn't as important as the message, so everything sounds a bit ..... rough

[@timphillips5543]

I would argue that ability to memorise melodies is a sign of musicality, and being able to establish a tonal context is part of the difficulty. Ear training is a huge part of developing this skill though so I’m not sure how much it has got to do with innate musical intelligence

[@saddlebag]

I got 117! I’ve been taking piano lessons for most of my life, I’m in chorus during the school year, and beginning last school year I’ve begun taking voice lessons as a class.

[@vayix]

I got 112. I also had low beat alignment and melodic discrimination, mostly because the melodies were wacky and I couldn't remember them! You win.

[@bobblebardsley]

I got 110 overall. Tuning 111, beat 113, melody 107. And yeah I tended to get the longer melodies wrong because although my memory isn't bad, remembering 3x 10-12 random music notes and then figuring out where there was a minor difference among them in three different keys feels way off the expectation scale 😂

[@dansehyanou6827]

i got a 127? i don’t really know any theory but i have synesthesia so that helped

[@letoatreides5165]

113. My best one was beat alignment

[@CoolGutrun]

Feel like most would have gotten better beat allignment if the sound for the click wasn't so shit, it has a slight attack and very little notable transient which makes it slightly hard to tell when the actual sound of the click starts. Use the metronome from like any DAW and it'd be much easier lol

[@vit.budina]

If anyone wants a comparison of how someone without musical training did on the test, I got 106. I've been playing the guitar for 2 years. I can transcribe some simple music to guitar by ear, although chords are still difficult. My biggest weakness is rhythm, to this day.

[@Purple11011]

The problem with this test is the same problem with the STAAR test (State of Texas Assessment of Aademic Readiness) (more the case in the latter). They want to know the MOST correct (or incorrect) answer. Any number of them could be described as such, based on your opinions. At some point, it becomes less of 'how much do you know?' and more of 'how good are you at contextless riddles?'

[@roceb5009]

the instructions for the second one should have said “in which of these are the beeps clapping on the 1 and 3?”

[@TachyBunker]

Nah because it beeped on the 4 beats (and all 6 eighth notes in the 6/8 songs).

[@fashnek]

It’s about tempo matching and tempo consistency, mostly not about where the beep sits.

[@shiinondogewalker2809]

you just outed your musical iq

[@shiinondogewalker2809]

@@fashnek they're the same tempo, it's about hearing when the beeps are offset wrongly so yes it's about where the beeps sits

[@MaggaraMarine]

Got everything correct in the tuning test. Score: 149. (I wonder if this is the highest possible score, or if how fast I answered each question also makes a difference.) Got two wrong in the melodic discrimination test. Score: 124. Got one or two wrong in the beat alignment test. Score: 115. Overall score: 130. Strangely I feel like I did better in the beat alignment test than in the melodic discrimination test, but I still got a lower score. Maybe it depends on how supposedly "easy" the mistakes I made were...

[@johnnycbad]

Your results are calculated based on the results of all other participants. So if more people start to get max score on tuning it'll count for less points for future participants, and vice versa. I felt the same way as you about beat alignment and melodic discrimination.

[@lomaximus_music]

Their servers aren't keeping up with the demand :( I keep getting "Disconnected from the server"

[@almendratlilkouatl]

for being a jazzhead, I was surprised with your face expressions whenever you encountered dissonance, I found myself smiling and bopping at dissonance and seeing the ick in your face made me wonder If something´s wrong with me

[@hornymonk23]

Nothing wrong, but you should probably stop listening to jazz for a couple weeks. Dissonance aside, those could hardly be called melodies

[@asgeirsoe]

There’s pleasant dissonance, and there’s out of place dissonance. In my ears most of the examples was certainly the latter😂

[@johnnycbad]

I think it's because the examples in the test lacked musical context to make the dissonance sound good (in my opinion). For example, two notes a major 7th apart sound pretty bad to my ears, yet a major 7th chord (which contains the same interval) sounds lovely.

[@BlackNoteStudios]

i got 116. It certainly keeps you on your toes. I wish you had the option to re-listen to the examples but yeah, easy stuff with a couple of harder ones. Thanks Charles!

[@daanverbree5693]

1:13 literally me handing my first written improvisation to my piano teacher 😭

[@joesquadcoptervideos2067]

I think something that made the beats of the music hard is that some of them were not the same tempo, so they got close during a certain segment of the clip

[@studious0782]

I've played trombone for about 12 years now and that test just seemed absurd! Someone else made a comment about a non-musician making a music test based on how they think music works and I completely agree. I got a 103 for anyone who cares

[@BryanLu0]

The worst for the beat perception test they had was a sample that was playing on off beats, and they deemed the one with the click track playing on the off beats is correct. Hopefully they've taken it out by now

[@yellowcactustvz4929]

Still there

[@UnshavenStatue]

Honestly watching the video and getting an idea gives all of us a big advantage on knowing when and how to focus. If you did it again, even with completely diffferent samples, you'd do much better the second time

[@AdamFBuchanan]

Praise to the courage. the Music Lab test was for your musicianship, the uploading test was for your ego-less humility big love.

[@CharlesHenryVolk]

I got 128!. My best was Beat Alignment, 137, which apparently is so good it's off the end of the chart 😂 Next best was Musical Discrimination, 130. Worst was Mistuning Perception, 118.

[@Bthelick]

so its just a test of diatonic recognition more than musical IQ. who on earth came up with this.

[@Mtaalas]

If this proves something, is that music is not exact science, it's art. It's alive... if it feels right, it's right. And that we as humans are not machines, give us random notes as melodies and we give random answers... some people int he academia really train melody perception such that they can retain very complex, completely nonsensical and random melodies in their heads... and most just go by "does this make sense?" and if it does, we retain it better...

[@novpato39]

3 months late, but is 115 good considering ion take any lessons and only practice my instrument during band class

[@gdvortex2169]

I did the test: Got one wrong in Melodic Discrimination: 130 Got 2 wrong in Mistuning Perception: 121 Got 2 wrong in Beat alignment which were almost identical. (Im still salty that i knew the right answer on one but pressed the wrong button while spaced out): 112 Total Musical IQ: 121

[@andymooo]

I got 120, interestingly thats roughly the average I score on normal IQ tests as well

[@cybersnake3260]

This whole test is like an exam to see who's a classically trained musician and an improvisational musician. Like a lot of this is based purely on classical training, its quite similar to the listening exams i would've done on my trinity piano exams. Music is based on preference and style imo.

[@gabrieldoon]

Not really sure I agree here. This test feels way more on the lines of improvisational and by ear music than classical. My classical hearing exams were all about identifying specific intervals, scales, chord progressions, and similar things. Specific things that can be named with theory. The first question was the one most like my classical exams, but all three are really just fundamental music skills regardless of classical or by ear. Still a pretty poor test though.

[@InventorZahran]

Some of those rhythm tests felt like I was choosing between two equally valid ways of perceiving a particular rhythmic pulse/accent pattern.

[@MaggaraMarine]

How is it classical? Essentially none of the musical examples were classical. Also, classical musicians would have a much harder time with the "rushing vs on beat vs dragging" test - that's a thing that jazz and pop musicians talk a lot more about than classical musicians. Actually, the out of tune test was also something where pop musicians would have an advantage because of the musical examples. The test isn't based on any musical training. The first part tests your musical memory. That's not something only classically trained musicians have - it's something everyone who listens to music has. Actually, I would argue that musical memory is more important to people who only play by ear.

[@stefanhaffner]

Some of the aural tests are similar but wouldn't use such weird melodies that meander all over the place since that isn't really common in real music.

[@cybersnake3260]

I appreciate the replies to my comment and I understand the miscommunication and mistakes on my part, I’m not as knowledgeable on this topic as I would like to be and I may have worded this comment wrong but what I meant was that the rhythm and melody parts of this test reminded me of the aural exams for my piano grades, they would often make u clap along to a rhythm and name the time signature along with playing two Melodie’s and trying the name the tonal differences between them. The exams were often very rigid and required specific answers relating to the specification. But ever since I’ve started to shift and learn from the trad and jazz musicians in my school I find that when doing these sorts of tests they could have a completely different opinion on what chords, tones and rhythms are being played and they would still be right even though technically their answers could be considered “wrong” it’s just how you hear or interpret the music. For example I have two piano teachers, one who teaches me classical piano and the other who teaches me how to compose and improvise and I’m telling you now if you were to give them a chord, tone or rhythm both would have different answers depending on the complexity

[@ericperreault461]

Would love to hear a melody/harmony breakdown on Tell Me a Bedtime Story by Herbie Hancock. Always loved listening, but reading the lead sheet and playing it blew my mind

[@DanielTompkinsGuitar]

One big problem I have with the test (in addition to all you brought up) is that it's labeled a "Music IQ Test" yet all the examples are Western tonal music, the majority of which are in recent pop/rock styles with English lyrics. Yes, those are very popular styles in the world and important to learn, but there is a whole world of music out there. It's like having a math IQ test and only testing addition. (also I think the test is loosely associated with Harvard since the main guy went there but isn't officially affiliated with them, and I'm fairly certain it's not at all associated with Yale) I've met some of the researchers from The Music Lab, and they are all very kind and do interesting work. But they often stir up controversies claiming certain "universal" traits of music through somewhat limited studies, although sometimes the issue comes when mainstream non-music outlets publish about their work and make their sweeping claims even more sweeping and grandiose.

[@thejungwookim]

Yeah I refuse to believe I have a higher musical IQ than someone who can hear a melody and play it on piano immediately... For the record, have 10+ years experience of music but nowhere near Charles' experience and still got a 123 (133/115/122), one point above him.

[@Nessafiction]

As someone who’s just got a Bachelor’s but also did audio recording, I’m not mad at my results. I will say, the tuning part I’m proud of. My alto ear usually hears things that are flat and not sharped but once I went into the mindset of flat or sharped, I got a lot better. I also actively love percussion and pride myself on being a vocalist who actually can keep time. But I was STRUGGLING to figure out if they wanted some of them were correct because they were dragging or rushed (a few examples had one rushed and one dragging). Overall though, I had a blast! My results were: Overall: 113 Melodic Discrimination: 103 Mistuning Perception: 123 Beat Alignment l: 109

[@m3m3sis]

This reminds me heavily of Karman testi (Karma's test) that I and everyone that wanted to go to a music focused elementary school had to go through at around 8 years of age. But instead of melodies, it tested your ability to separate different intervals and some rhythm repetition.

[@benasay8279]

Love learning things I realized I can't tell notes very well yet watching you do this 😅

[@chrissnyder4439]

Hours later and your traffic is still overloading their servers

[@SomeoneSomewhere42069]

I did, probably about the same as you, if not a little better, except, I got to listen to them multiple times. I'm excited to try it out tomorrow, when I wake up

[@snowy893__]

Wow can't believe this got recommended to me seconds after it came out wth

[@LucidMlem]

I got it 5 minutes after

[@B0K1T0]

probably because they paid money to get such priority?

[@jemmahooper7415]

116, but the ones I missed I was uncertain about, while the ones I got were really obvious. :)

[@Crates-Media]

127 on my first try, and it made my whole dang week better. Thanks for sharing this test with us!

[@JdogTLoZ]

I did this on my own and I learnt that I'm really good at figuring out differences in pieces

[@None-lx8kj]

134, but like Charles I take exception with at least 1 that I got wrong in the beat alignment (#5 for me - not sure if they're randomized or not). I did find that trying to ignore the click and tap along with the music (when you could actually hear it) helped quite a bit (but I also did the worst on that section so what do I know?).

[@MrKittykatz101]

Definitely a flawed test with too many variables. My "Musical IQ" was 116, but that tuning perception was pretty difficult, since some of the styles presented stylistically feature dubious tuning.

[@nitzeart]

The cuts to the meme clips on this video were ON POINT! 😂 The whiplash one!

[@dogman15]

I got a score of 110. I did the best on the rhythm portion, which makes sense, since I once took drum lessons.

[@JohnNathanShopper]

I’m only starting to understand the beauty of being slightly behind the beat, but it really does improve the groove compared to being slightly ahead or spot on.

[@valarya]

I love the idea of this test, and wish I could take it, but I think we crashed the server or something lol. Based on the 'examples' it seems pretty simple

[@marievoiceteacher]

As a professional singer and voice teacher I received 121 and that is lower than the iq test I did when I was younger, that was somewhat in between 132-135. My cognitive skillset deteriorated clearly due to a syndrome I had while giving birth to my son, 14 years ago. My husband agrees that it made me more stupid, haha, but my son's birth was worth it. My ability to remember melodies and lyrics also deteriorated during this period, but beat and pitch perception is still strong the test shows.

[@MOSMASTERING]

In British music exams from ABRSM, there is an aural section where you're played 2 melodies and asked what all the differences were between them.. melodic, rhythmic etc. There are 8 grades in British musicianship. The aural tests get longer and longer per grade. I think the last grade is like a minute of music, its REALLY hard. First few grades I rememebr being relatively easy.

[@Capton357]

i got 99. i got a little distracted and couldnt tell for somethings, but if i focused a bit more i could probably get higher

[@snapple1]

Hey man, this is random i know but idk why but, have you been working out becase youre looking slightly leaner and bigger than usual, if its just the lighting, then I guess its working 💪, sorry if this is off video topic😂

[@Dragens2]

first time I did this I had 130 but then I did it 4 years later after 2 years of music break and it was 105. So practice and having music around you helps a lot :D

[@andrew_ray]

I want to balance out and defend the test. If this is supposed to be anything like the normal IQ test, then basically nobody should be getting everything right. IQ tests are designed to produce a normal distribution. If very many people get everything right (or wrong), that creates a sampling problem that prevents you from getting that nice normal distribution. The results are normalized to have an average of 100 and a standard distribution of 15, so 122 is a very good score. Also, to address comments about subject matter, it doesn't make sense for a "musical IQ test" to test compositional technique, expression, or performance ability any more than it would for a traditional IQ test to test calculus, literature, or history. IQ isn't the same as knowledge, and somebody with a low IQ can be very knowledgeable, just as someone who scores poorly on this test could still go on to become a skilled musician. It will just take more practice and effort for them to do so.

[@dkosmari]

But IQ tests do include questions such as "which image would follow the sequence". That would be similar to "which is the next measure". It would require the ability to comprehend the purpose of a musical piece and extrapolate it.

[@MaggaraMarine]

@@dkosmari I agree that there could be more questions - this test is definitely not perfect. I just wonder, how would you test "which is the next measure"? Also, how would you determine the correct answer in that case? There usually isn't a single correct answer to "which is the next measure", because music can intentionally break the pattern. You don't have to follow strict rules of logic in music - it just doesn't work the same way as logical reasoning, even if there are plenty of logical patterns in music. The point is, in many pieces people intentionally do something different than the most predictable thing, because that's what makes the piece interesting. Also, just because it says "musical IQ", doesn't mean the things that it tests need to be similar as in an IQ test. First you would have to figure out which musical skills are part of your musical IQ. Once you have figured that out, then you come up with tests that test those skills. Again, they don't need to be similar as in a stabdard IQ test, because "musical IQ" is a different thing than IQ.

[@dkosmari]

@@MaggaraMarine Your ability to read the intent of music is a sign of intelligence, just like text reading comprehension. Like I said, IQ tests already include questions with nothing but abstract shapes in a "sequence", and you ave to select the "next shape in the sequence" with no explanation. Being able to handle abstractions is directly correlated with intelligence.

[@MaggaraMarine]

@@dkosmari Yes, but if you see 3 shapes, and then need to choose the 4th shape, there is usually one obviously logically correct answer. In music, there are many possible "correct" answers. Like if I have a phrase that goes C D E, D F A, E F G, what would be the correct way of continuing it? Sure, the most "obvious" continuation would be F G A. But why would that be more correct than continuing it with F D C or A B C? I mean, it would follow the pattern, but it's not like in a musical context the next measure needs to follow the same pattern. Okay, if we reworded the question as "which measure follows the established pattern most closely", then it would be possible. But "which measure comes next" is way too vague and subjective, because what if I prefer continuing my example with A B C or F D C instead of continuing it with F G A? Is my answer then wrong?

[@dkosmari]

@@MaggaraMarine You're not being asked to choose the "next shape" from an infinite collection, only from 4 to 6 candidates. Same thing can be done with music. You look at the previous measures and identify the patterns of what is changing and what's repeating, and you choose the candidate that continues the progression obeying the same rules you identified. Yes, your answer is wrong, if you don't choose the one that obeys the most rules, that means you failed to identify all the patterns.

[@TheButterZone]

6:16 beep makes it even cooler

[@mrridikilis]

as an opera singer, i'm pretty proud that I scored a 132, higher than 98.3% of participants. it's possible that since keyboard players don't have to tune each note while playing, that they might not have developed intonation to the same level as singers or other instrumentalists. also, as for beat precision, having to follow a conductor and listening to other musicians and singers must also help one's ability to score pretty high. my two cents.

[@SethCrowderMusic]

I think that makes sense, although from a guitarist/singer songwriters perspective i think the style of music can be more subjective, Sometimes i'll play a chord with my guitar, and i'll have two strings ring the same note, and it creates this interesting sound for certain chords, aswell as guitars aren't perfectly intonated just naturally because of how the frets work (they're pretty close still) and so there's a tamber of sharpness and or flatness that i quite enjoy! I suspect opera differs from that since i'd assume you have more of like precise pitch and harmony rather than maybe more western music, But yeah i see what you mean

[@gammafoxlore2981]

Depends on the keyboard player... organists and harpsichordists are a different breed.

[@leebuzz]

134. was struggling with the exact same bits as you... 😂

[@thebigdawgj]

I normally watch videos at 2 or 3x speed. After you started the first test I had to rewind and slow it back down to 1x to follow what's going on.

[@00SNIVY00]

I got 118, beat alignment was 108 and tuning perception and melodic discrimination were both 123. Kinda reinforces what I know, I don't have the best rhythm, but pleased with myself overall!

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Glad I waited until the test worked, I got 117 and never been to music school, can’t play an instrument and use the piano roll and tracker but I really, really love the sound of beautiful, complex chords! 😅

[@David_prod-eNGee]

Charles' reactions are the best part of this video

[@robingunnarsson6412]

I got 118. Lots of problems with this test (just like with regular IQ-tests). But I like how they tried to make it so that it doesn't require a lot of previous musical theory knowledge. Anyone can try this, without being able to read sheet music or knowing what chords are. But, of course, these are skills you can practice so it's not really testing your innate musical ability.

[@rogue_114]

you've been uploading a lot recently hah, love it

[@jimbojazz6879]

I think we may have crashed the site haha

[@t3amb4sh]

yeah, disconnected from server. Let's try tomorrow :p

[@mike_havens]

I couldn't even tell the differences in half of those! I'm not doing it because I know I'm gonna get a much lower score lmao,but kudos to you for doing it!

[@bobblebardsley]

I also got the second test question on the tuning/singing task incorrect. I'd be interested to know how many people chose the 'wrong' option on that one. I think on the melodies, some of them only differed by the duration of a certain note, but I could be wrong on that. My overall score was 110, which is about the 75th percentile. I was on headphones in a quiet room and I haven't had any music training (other than a few violin lessons when I was 9 years old and watching KZbin videos like this one).

[@kyokoyumi]

Musical IQ: 121 Melodic Discrimination: 122 Mistuning Perception: 116 Beat Alignment: 126 A little surprised by my mistuning score but I think part of it is because I don't recognise being sharp as being off key even though it is lmfao Flat off key is way worse to my brain. It's intolerable. But sharp is just kind of like "something's wrong but I can't really tell what it is. Oh well, whatever" xD I do agree with a lot of comments but at the same time, some issues could be due to the headphones you're using and also the fact that you're using your eyes for more than just clicking the button. As one with ADHD I knew I'd get distracted by my result so I forced myself to keep my eyes closed the whole time, only opening them to make my selection. It's also likely because of my ADHD that in some instances I legit just forgot the first melody entirely and could only use the other two + process of elimination to get the answer lmfao Some of those melodies were just way too long. Glad I'm good at problem solving LOL With the mistuning... It really didn't help (like some people have said) that the damned band was off too. And the reggae one really threw me because reggae is hardly ever in tune (at least not to me). Do they want me to be accurate to the genre or what? xD I did take this once before and I think my average score was pretty much the same. Good to know I've still got it for not having studied music in some time :)

[@FammySay]

I’m 7 years old and got 183!!!!!

[@1471SirFrederickBanbury]

I drew the line at tuning perception. First, are they asking for equal temperament, or just intonation. Second, if the singer is doing something where it is more suited to have a more meantone or well tempered sound, then the test is just forcing temperament conformity. At least their not asking for older pieces like Bach, Ragtime, etc, where there is no right tuning (I can't stand the idea of perfect equally tempered a=440 ragtime or Bach). The rest of the test is just relative pitch sensing and memory for the first, and completely subjective on the second. I guess they hate swinging rhythms and heavily emphasised notes. I don't see how a test on defining conformity and perception of its lack thereof is a test of music, which is more about creativity and individuality.

[@InventorZahran]

Ragtime would sound awesome in Werckmeister III temperament!

[@1471SirFrederickBanbury]

@@InventorZahran I need to see a piano tuner, or someone with the right software do that! STAT!

[@oldgoat381]

I'm gonna cherry-pick one little detail you made here and have to unfortunately break the news that by the ragtime era 12 tone equal temperament was popular and basically standard practice on many keyboard instruments.

[@1471SirFrederickBanbury]

@@oldgoat381 but doesn't ragtime sound odd on a perfectly in tune piano? I takes away the warmth of tone and feel of rags, when compared to something at least a bit out of tune. That my point.

[@oldgoat381]

@@1471SirFrederickBanbury to me? No, a rag sounds fine on an equally tempered instrument, and the sound of a heavily out of tune piano and ragtime music always struck me as almost a caricature of the style. If you're being historically accurate it's not completely incorrect, but the out of tune sound of a "saloon piano" (which is another thing, ragtime was a different era to most of the old west) has almost nothing to do with temperament. Now if you want ragtime to sound wrong with a perfectly tuned piano you use a piano that was built after roughly 1930, and especially anything non-American or even non-European. Those factors are far more crucial to getting that sound than temperament.

[@ReijiNRen]

I love how during the singing section, the singer said the word like and the like button lit up. it wasn't even you! lol.

[@DodderingOldMan]

I just did this test... got exactly 100, dead center of the bell curve. I'm only slightly disappointed, I would have said I'm a little better in terms of these things than the majority, but honestly I found it quite a bit more difficult than I expected. Especially the melodic discrimination... by the time I heard the third one the first one was completely gone from my head.

[@jb8544]

Took it twice. Kind of frustrating with the constant connecting to server but did 124 the first time and 121 the second

[@0musicistheanswer0]

I got 128. I aced the piano tune one, but you're right about the voice one, it was pretty subjective. The beat alignment was weird too.

[@AfferbeckBeats]

6:27 like zoinks scoob!

[@kevengrenon3219]

I did the test before watching the video to avoid spoiling the questions and exemples. Turns out I did BETTER than Mr. Cornell himself with 124 points on the general music iq score (2 more than Charles). :D (I'm ridiculously proud lol) On the details: -melodic discrimination I did 124, Charles did 125 (so Charles beats me by 1 point here) -beat allignment I did 122, Charles did 114 (although I beat Charles by 8 points, I found that part hard as well and I think I might do the test again since the test started with that topic with me and the practice shots were too easy compared to the first real non-practice question for this part. I think I might have been inattentive so my score on this might have been lower than what I should score when fully ready to anticipate the question. But well, that was my raw first shot at it.) -mistuning perception I did 126, Charles did 129 (Charles beats me by 3 points here. That part was the easiest for me) Overall, Charles did better on 2 out of 3 tests compared to me. I think the only reason Charles got a lower general score than mine was because of his results on beat allignment. I mean, I ain't sure if really Charles was at his best for this one or if I'm just better on that part. But hey, in the end, I can proudly and to my surprise now say that've I scored about the same as Charles in this test! But there are still many other tests out there, so who knows, maybe Charles would get significantly better results than me on some other tests. Who knows... But anyway, it was a fun thing to try and to compare with your result, Charles! :)

[@mollykramer5725]

I took this about 4 years ago before I studied music in college and got 121. I'm interested to see if my studies have increased my score

[@mkieltyperc]

122 as well. I think the beat alignment test is very subjective. In certain styles you might feel the beat as being slightly behind or ahead

[@anvyl6878]

I got a 123 almost exactly the same scores and we missed some of the same examples. I also was furious at some of the beat alignment ones. 125/111/132

[@takemebacktothen]

I got 95 lol. Mistuning Perception: 89 Beat Alignment: 86 Melodic Discrimination: 110

[@maybenaught]

Maybe I'm not understanding "rushing" and "dragging", because you kept saying it was "rushing" but I always felt the beeps were just behind the beat. Like, at 9:21, to me the beep sounds like it's just a smidge ahead of the beat of the music, but you said it's dragging. Also, my score was 118, with my mistuning perception being the lowest number.

[@Ryan-yw5fp]

This test is in no way an indicator of music IQ. I was expecting a completely different test.

[@leeDs718]

just like when you take a regular IQ test, you're not obligated to read an encyclopedia before taking it

[@Uncle-Syn]

I got a 120 overall My melodic discrimination was a perfect 149, beat alignment is 111, and my mistuning perception is 100. Idk though, the mistuning part i actually preffer if some voices were pitched higher or lower, then again not enough melodic context lol

[@naliem8054]

Scored 121. Actually got 100% in the Melodic Discrimination (guess my short term memory is fine) and tanked the beat alignment (104, still above average but whatever).

[@HenshinHead]

Apparently, my Musical IQ is just above average at 109, with my highest score being in beat alignment (despite the metronome noise sounding like a heart monitor). Which is funny for a guy who mostly plays woodwind and strings. Can't tell you how annoyed I used to get in band class when the percussion section was off tempo... the test definitely still has flaws, especially with the way it uses and manipulates its music samples for the questions, but it is interesting to see how the test is averaging out now that so many people have tried it out already. I'd like to think since I'm scoring within the same range as alot of pro musicians in the comments that we're just a touch more musical than we might think.

[@joeldcanfield_spinhead]

it's secretly testing your patience. and, not so secretly, mine. so so horrible.

[@kingblitz1415]

7:08 sounds like my band teacher when the saxophones (me included) suck at playing.

[@judges531]

I love your content. Could you do a video going over the cover of defying gravity by third reprise? It’s one of the best songs I’ve heard in a while

[@Thomas-ps9qk]

I dont play an instrument or make music at all but my overall score is 124: Melodic Discrimination: 123 Beat Alignment: 112 Mistuning Perception: 137 😅

[@dcresistance]

Charles, if you want to hear some amazing wind ensemble band music from anime, check out "Liz and the Blue Bird", composed by Akito Matsuda. It's 22 minutes and 4 movements, uploaded by "Josedolf Staller"