Achieving+Absolute+Pitch

=__Achieving Absolute Pitch__=

By: Talaal Zaatari May 13, 2009
There are many factors that should be considered when speaking about an individual’s ability to acquire absolute or perfect pitch. Some researchers believe that it is almost impossible to train an adult to acquire absolute pitch; they believe that the ability is innate (Brady, p.1). While some others such as Paul Brady, who was trained to achieve 97% tone accuracy within one semitone, believe otherwise. The amount of musical experience is usually the first thing that comes to mind when considering what an individual needs to have absolute pitch. Of course it helps significantly to be musically experienced, but that’s not the only factor that one should consider.

Some of the different factors that can assist someone in achieving absolute pitch include specific training techniques, genetics and of course early experience. In “Practice Effects In The Absolute Judgment of Pitch” by Lola Cuddy, she explains how “the ability appears to be related to musical training, and that some musically trained individuals show highly superior performance when judging piano tones. We cannot conclude, however, that musical training is directly responsible for superior pitch judgement.” (Cuddy, p.4). There were subjects in her study that did not have extensive musical training but were still able to improve their tone detection skills, “listeners with or without advanced musical training can improve their identification of a single tone” (Cuddy, p.5).

In “Fixed-Scale Mechanism of Absolute Pitch” by Paul Brady, he mentions that a popular conclusion that is made is that it is almost impossible to train an adult to acquire absolute pitch (Brady, p.1). However, this idea is becoming less popular. Brady himself, as an adult, was able to achieve “nearly perfect semitone discrimination” (Brady, p.2), however he started playing the piano at a young age. He mentions that he has more trouble identifying the key of a melody or song as opposed to individual tones. While other people with absolute pitch have said to him that for them it is easier to recognize the key of a melody or song than to recognize individual tones. This possibly suggests that Brady possibly has not achieved “full” absolute pitch or that there are different types and different levels of the phenomena. His individual tone recognition skills have improved but the training did not help his key recognition. To achieve better tone recognition skills, Brady used a technique that Cuddy developed. This technique involved playing sine waves at frequencies that were selected at random from a musical scale. Cuddy had her subjects identify only the anchor tone, while Brady actually tried to identify all of the tones. The notes must be stored mentally, for example no humming was allowed to assist in the detection of the tone. After two months Brady was able to identify every tone (Brady, p.2).

Absolute pitch is a cognitive ability. Genetics do play a role in a person’s ability to achieve absolute pitch. There hasn’t been a discovery of a specific gene or genes that can give someone the ability of absolute pitch. However, a person with a specific type of gene or genes can develop absolute pitch faster or easier than someone who doesn’t have these genes. A person phenotype, that is their genetic content mixed with environmental influences, is the important factor. A specific group or genes and the right environmental influences will be a factor when an individual is trying to obtain absolute pitch. “Ultimately, the real significance of AP may be that it is an unusually discreet and quantifiable cognitive phenotype that clearly has a substantial genetic component. This will make it possible to open a window on the relationship between inheritance, brain development, early childhood education, and cognition” (Gregerson, p.2).

In “Various Types of Absolute Pitch” by A. Bachem, it is mentioned that many different claims or conclusions have been made about how people achieve absolute or perfect pitch, but that “comparatively a few cases have been studied” (Bachem, p.1). There are many questions on how this skill (if it is a skill) or phenomena is acquired by someone. Bachem also suggests that there are various “levels” and different types of absolute pitch. A certain level of memorization, cognition, perception and other factors are required to achieve absolute pitch. “Pitch-naming ability signifies AP as a distinct perceptual trait, with possible implications for its genetic basis” (Various, p.1). Everyone has different experiences when trying to achieve absolute pitch. For some it may come more quickly than for others, which suggests that environmental influences are also an important factor.



Bachem – “Various Types of Absolute Pitch.” In the class reader [| http://scitation.aip.org/getpdf/servlet/GetPDFServlet?filetype=pdf&id=JASMAN000009000002000146000001&idtype=cvips]

Brady – “Fixed-Scale of Absolute Pitch.” In the class reader []

Cuddy – “Practice Effects in the Absolute Judgment of Pitch.” Cuddy, Lola []

Gregerson – “Instant Recognition: The Genetics of Pitch Perception.” Gregerson, Peter. [| http://www.nslij-genetics.org/pub/gregersen-ajhg-1998.pdf]

Various – “Dichotomy and Perceptual Distortions In Absolute Pitch Ability.” Athos, Alexandra. Merzenich, Michael. []

Research in Absolute Pitch []