Absolute Pitch

Naming any note without reference

Overview

Absolute pitch, or perfect pitch, is the ability to identify or produce a musical note without a reference tone. It is rare in the general population, and a figure of 1 in 10,000 is widely quoted though uncertain; it is considerably more common among musicians who began training in early childhood, speakers of tonal languages such as Mandarin, and some autistic people. Its development appears to depend on early musical exposure during a sensitive period in childhood, and it tends to run in families, suggesting a genetic contribution. Brain imaging studies have reported differences in the planum temporale and in connectivity of regions involved in auditory processing and labelling. Absolute pitch is not always an advantage, as transposed music or instruments tuned to a different reference can sound wrong to possessors, and accuracy can shift with age. Relative pitch, the ability to recognize intervals between notes, is far more common, can be trained at any age, and is more central to most musical skills.