Does being tone deaf mean you can't hear notes correctly?

Question:

Does being tone deaf mean you can't hear notes correctly?

Or does it just mean you can't sing them correctly? Do people who are tone deaf hear the same music / melody that people who are not tone deaf hear???

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Being truly tone-deaf means that you can't tell one note from another. If a tone-deaf person heard two notes played or sung, they would both be unable to sing them back but also unable to tell which one was higher.

It is EXTREMELY rare to be completely tone-deaf. Nearly every one who thinks they are or has been told they are simply has trouble matching the pitch when they sing- yet they are still able to hear the difference between different notes and therefore aren't actually tone-deaf.

Someone who is truly tone-deaf would not only not be able to hear music as others hear it, they would also be unable to distinguish between many sounds lin tonal languages like Thai (where the same word can mean different things depending on the intonation)- however, there are said to be almost no incidences of tone-deaf people in these societies, which I think points to the fact that the ability to hear pitch is probably at least partially a learned skill...which means that even those who are truly tone-deaf and can't hear the difference between pitches may be able to be taught.

To sum up, when most people say "tone-deaf" they mean that a person can't interpret notes and sing them back. However, that's not the true definition.