Most of these self-declared AP musicians (92% of them) claimed not just an ability to recognise pitches without reference, but also to be able to sing such pitches and 79% of them claimed they could identify pitch from any instrument. The initial survey revealed 15% of respondents as claiming to possess AP. Those aged under 45 got 0.75 points for answers within a semitone, whereas those aged over 45 still got a whole point – because AP is known to shift by as much a semitone with age.Įach participant was also interviewed in more detail about family members with or without AP where possible, these members were brought into the lab to test their AP. The second involved the same procedure, but this time with piano tones (sampled from a 9-foot Steinway Grand).Įach participant was given one point for every correctly identified pitch. The first involved listening to a series of 40 pure tones (sine-wave tones, digitally synthesised) in ‘pseudo-random’ order, with successive tones always separated by at least two octaves and a semitone participants were asked to name each tone as soon as they heard it. Seeking to extend the scope of their investigation beyond the limitations of a written survey, the researchers asked some of the participants to come into the lab for in-person testing and interviews by the end of the project 99 self-declared AP musicians and 12 self-declared non-AP musicians had been tested.Įach participant sat through two series of tests. The survey set out, through its questions, to determine: 1) the percentage of people in the sample claiming to possess AP (by asking about their ability to identify and sing pitches without reference) 2) whether there is a correlation between the starting age of musical training and the development of AP (by finding out about their early music lessons), and 3) whether AP runs in families (by asking about the prevalence of AP among their first-degree relatives). The researchers also differentiated between people able to recognise pitches from pure tones, and those only properly able to recognise them from notes played on the piano.ĩ00 surveys were distributed at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of California San Francisco Symphony, Berkeley Music School at the University of California, Curtis Institute of Music, San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, Peabody Conservatory of Music, La Scala Opera, Aspen Music School, and Interlochen Center for the Arts, with 612 completed and returned. Family studies pointed to a genetic predisposition, with the potential to develop AP being inherited as a ‘dominant trait’. It transpired that early musical training was “necessary, but not sufficient for the development of AP”, with 40% of musicians who had begun training before the age of 4 claiming to have AP, compared with only 3% of those who began over the age of 9. Siamak Baharloo and his colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco surveyed more than 600 musicians in an attempt “to dissect the influences of early musical training and genetics on the development of this ability”. (with thanks to The Institute for Music and Brain Science for the link) Above: University of California San FranciscoĪbsolute (or perfect) pitch (AP) is the ability to recognise a pitch without an external reference. FreimerĪmerican Journal of Human Genetics, vol 62, pp 224–231, 1998 Absolute Pitch: An Approach for Identification of Genetic and Nongenetic Components
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