Am I in fact a natural musician? Have I wasted my life? Should I have stuck with those piano lessons when I was a kid? Should I actually be on tour, perhaps laying down some tracks right now? Rather than let it haunt me, I tested my natural musicality with an online test. Not only has it put my mind to rest but the data collected from it helps scientists, thus humanity, better understand human musicality.

Run by The Music, Mind and Brain group at Goldsmiths, University of London, a test is helping scientists investigate whether people who actively listen to a lot of music — such as music journalists, record collectors or active enthusiasts — can develop some of the skills traditionally associated with formally trained musicians.

To help do this they devised the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index. Just complete three tests, preferably with headphones: Keeping track with a beat, grouping samples into music genres and answering multiple choice questions about how you listen to music. It took me about 40 minutes to finish and gave me my results instantly. All the while I felt good about doing my bit for science. [Perhaps one day these scientists would be able why Destiny's Child were more fun as a group, or the enduring popularity of Kasabian - i.e. a good cause.]  

At least that's what I consoled myself with when it told me that my Musical Creativity bears the mark of the beast at 66.666666666667 percent. My Emotional Engagement with music lies at a healthier 78.6% but, as I long suspected, my Bodily Engagement rules the dance floor at 94%.

I asked Jason Jiří Musil, a member of the Music, Mind and Brain group, whether I am indeed a musical prodigy?

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What does the Index aim to do?

With the index we hope to measure various aspects of peoples' musicality with greater detail and accuracy than has previously been possible. At the moment we are developing it from a pool of many questions and tests, and everyone is welcome to help us here.

How long has the study been running now?

The whole project has been running for a couple of years now, but Dr Daniel Müllensiefen's original idea goes back to his student days.

Why do we need one?

Recent research strongly suggests that it is not only musicians who can be considered musical. For example, people who listen to a lot of music may learn to interpret its structure in ways that they are not aware of. The music research community still does not have a measure that has reliably picked up on the different ways in which people engage with music.

Measurement instruments used in other fields may take the form of simple questionnaires, but researchers (such as personality or occupational psychologists) have refined them over many decades to make them fast and reliable. We want to do the same thing for music research, and there is no doubt that we will find out something amazing along the way.

When do you start looking at results?

Somebody is always looking at results because the project involves a series of experiments. We just created a database with millions of datapoints from the experiment that we ran together with the BBC, so I expect some cool results from the 120,000 people tested.

How did you design the tests?

The questions were devised by my colleagues before I joined the project. They looked at how various traits are measured in music research, as well as with chess players, wine tasters and others. They also looked for areas in which these existing measures are lacking. Now we need to confirm that we are measuring what we wanted to, and also that the questionnaire 'works' for a broad variety of people.

Any surprises yet?

Well... so far we know that we can measure different facets of musicality and that not all of these are restricted to trained musicians. I guess you could call that a pleasant surprise. Whether or not it sounds obvious, it will have significant implications for how we think about music.

I scored 94% on Beat Matching and Bodily Engagement. How special am I?

Let me guess... you always drum on furniture with your fingers and look a bit crazy when listening to music on your headphones? You are within the top 20% percent of people, making you 'a frustrated drummer'... or an actual drummer?! [Not quite. But I do usually want to hook up with the drummer. Now I know why.]

If a young Mozart would be near the top of such an index, what popular recording artist might find themselves near the bottom?

Tough question. I have only heard good stuff coming from Australia recently (I am really digging Hilltop Hoods). Peoples' listening is getting so diverse and sophisticated these days, so my choice goes with Denny Blazin Hazen. Denny, will you take the Mozart challenge?



Find out how musical you are here.

More information about the project and the research team here.