Editing Absolute pitch

{{Short description|Ability to identify musical notes by ear without reference}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Perfect pitch|Pitch Perfect}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

'''Absolute pitch''' ('''AP'''), often called '''perfect pitch''', is the ability to identify or re-create a given [[musical note]] without the benefit of a [[reference tone]].<ref name="phil-494">{{cite book |author=Deutsch, D. |chapter=Absolute pitch |editor=D. Deutsch |title=The Psychology of Music |edition=3rd |pages=141–182 |year=2013 |doi = 10.1016/B978-0-12-381460-9.00005-5 |isbn=9780123814609 |chapter-url=http://philomel.com/pdf/PsyMus_3_Ch5_Absolute_Pitch.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://philomel.com/pdf/PsyMus_3_Ch5_Absolute_Pitch.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Ward, W.D. |year=1998 |title=The Psychology of Music |chapter=Absolute Pitch |editor=D. Deutsch |pages=265–298 |publisher=Academic Press |location=San Diego |isbn=0-12-213564-4|edition=Second }}</ref> AP may be demonstrated using linguistic labelling ("naming" a note), associating mental imagery with the note, or sensorimotor responses. For example, an AP possessor can accurately reproduce a heard tone on a musical instrument without "hunting" for the correct [[Pitch (music)|pitch]].<ref name="Zatorre, 1989">{{cite journal |first1=Robert |last1=Zatorre |year=1989 |title=Multiple coding strategies in the retention of musical tones by possessors of absolute pitch|journal=[[Memory & Cognition]] |volume= 17 |issue=5 |pages=582–589 |doi=10.3758/BF03197081 |pmid=2796743 |last2=Beckett |first2=Christine|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Zatorre, 2003">{{cite journal |first=Robert |last=Zatorre |date=July 2003 |title=Absolute pitch: a model for understanding the influence of genes and development on neural and cognitive function |journal=Nature Neuroscience|volume=6 |issue=7 |pages=692–695 |doi=10.1038/nn1085 |pmid=12830161|s2cid=7431996 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What Is Perfect Pitch? {{!}} The University of Chicago |first1=Max|last1=Witynski|url=https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/what-is-perfect-pitch |access-date=May 5, 2023 |website=news.uchicago.edu |language=en}}</ref>

==About==
The frequency of AP in the general population is not known. A proportion of 1 in 10,000 is widely reported, but not supported by evidence;<ref name="Bachem, 1955">{{cite journal |last1=Bachem |first1=A. |title=Absolute Pitch |journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America|date=November 1955 |volume=27 |issue=6 |page=1180 |doi=10.1121/1.1908155|bibcode=1955ASAJ...27.1180B |doi-access=free }}</ref> a 2019 review indicated a prevalence of at least 4% amongst music students.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Carden |first1=Jill |last2=Cline |first2=Tony |date=July 9, 2019 |title=Absolute pitch: Myths, evidence and relevance to music education and performance |journal=Psychology of Music |volume=47 |issue=6 |language=en-us |pages=890–901 |doi=10.1177/0305735619856098 |s2cid=199149622 |issn=0305-7356}}</ref>

Generally, absolute pitch implies some or all of these abilities, achieved without a reference tone:<ref>{{cite book |author1=Parncutt, R. |author2=Levitin, D. J. |year=2001 |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians |chapter=Absolute Pitch |editor=Sadie, S. |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |isbn=1-56159-239-0}}</ref>
* Identify by name individual pitches played on various instruments.
* Name the [[key (music)|key]] of a given piece of tonal music.
* Identify and name all the tones of a given [[chord (music)|chord]] or other tonal mass.
* Name the pitches of common everyday sounds such as [[vehicle horn|car horns]] and [[Alarm device|alarms]].

Absolute pitch is distinct from [[relative pitch]]. While the ability to name specific pitches can be used to infer [[pitch interval|intervals]], relative pitch identifies an interval directly by its sound. Absolute pitch may complement relative pitch in musical listening and practice, but it may also influence its development.<ref name="Miyazaki, 2004">{{cite journal |first=Ken'ichi |last=Miyazaki |date=June 2004 |title=How well do we understand absolute pitch? |journal=Acoustical Science and Technology|volume=25 |issue=6 |pages=270–282 |doi=10.1250/ast.25.426 |doi-access=free |quote=AP and RP are actually very different modes of musical pitch processing, having incompatible features, and therefore it may be possible that one can interfere the development of the other, and vice versa.}}</ref>

There has been debate as to whether absolute pitch is learnable in adulthood.<ref name=Schmidt>{{cite journal|last=Schmidt|first=J. R.|title=Is absolute pitch learnable? Implicit and explicit absolute pitch|journal=Music Perception|date=2025|url=http://leadserv.u-bourgogne.fr/files/publications/001756-is-absolute-pitch-learnable-implicit-and-explicit-absolute-pitch.pdf}}</ref> Adults who possess relative pitch but do not already have absolute pitch can learn "pseudo-absolute pitch" and become able to identify notes in a way that superficially resembles absolute pitch.<ref>{{cite book |author=Levitin, D.J. |year=2008 |title=Music Meets Medicine, Proceedings of the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation |chapter=Absolute pitch: Both a curse and a blessing |editor1=Clockars, M. |editor2=Peltomaa, M. |pages=124–132 |publisher=Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation |location=Helsinki, Finland}}</ref> Some people have been able to develop accurate pitch identification in adulthood through training.<ref>{{cite journal |biorxiv=10.1101/355933 |doi=10.3758/s13414-019-01869-3 |title=Is it impossible to acquire absolute pitch in adulthood? |date=2020 |last1=Wong |first1=Yetta Kwailing |last2=Lui |first2=Kelvin F. H. |last3=Yip |first3=Ken H. M. |last4=Wong |first4=Alan C.-N. |journal=Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=1407–1430 |pmid=31686378 }}</ref>

==Scientific studies==

===History of study and terminologies===
Scientific studies of absolute pitch commenced in the 19th century, focusing on the phenomenon of musical pitch and methods of measuring it.<ref name=Ellis1876>{{Cite journal |date=November 6, 1876 |author=Ellis, Alexander J |title=On the Sensitiveness of the Ear to Pitch and Change of Pitch in Music |journal=Proceedings of the Musical Association|pages=1–32 |volume=3 |issue=1 |doi=10.1093/jrma/3.1.1 |url=http://www.aruffo.com/eartraining/research/articles/ellis76.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.aruffo.com/eartraining/research/articles/ellis76.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |access-date=August 24, 2010 }}</ref> It would have been difficult for the notion of absolute pitch to have formed earlier because pitch references were not consistent. For example, the note known as 'A' varied in different local or national musical traditions between what is considered as G sharp and B flat before the standardisation of the late 19th century. While the term ''absolute pitch'', or ''absolute ear'', was in use by the late 19th century by both British<ref name=Bosanquet1876>{{Cite book |year=1876 |author=Bosanquet, R.H.M |title=An Elementary Treatise on Musical Intervals and Temperament |place=London |publisher=Macmillan and Co |page=xiv |url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924022233088#page/n5/mode/2up |access-date=August 24, 2010 }}</ref> and German researchers,<ref name=vonKries>{{Cite journal |year=1892 |author=von Kries, J |title=Über das absolute Gehör |trans-title=About the perfect pitch |language=de |journal=Zeitschrift für Psychologie  |volume=3 |pages=257–79 |url=http://www.aruffo.com/eartraining/research/articles/kreis92.htm |access-date=August 24, 2010 }} [http://www.aruffo.com/eartraining/research/articles/kreis92e.htm Translation by Christopher Aruffo, www.acousticlearning.com]</ref> its application was not universal; other terms such as ''musical ear'',<ref name=Ellis1876/> ''absolute tone consciousness'',<ref name=Otto07>{{Cite journal |year=1907 |author=Abraham, O |title=Das absolute Tonbewußtsein und die Musik |trans-title=Absolute tone consciousness and music |language=de |journal=Sammelbände der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft |volume=8 |pages=485–90 |url=http://www.aruffo.com/eartraining/research/articles/abraham07.htm |access-date=August 25, 2010 }} [http://www.aruffo.com/eartraining/research/articles/abraham07e.htm Translation by Christopher Aruffo, www.acousticlearning.com]</ref> or ''positive pitch''<ref name="Copp 1916">{{cite journal|author=Copp, E.F. |year=1916 |title=Musical Ability |journal=Journal of Heredity|volume=7 |issue=7 |pages=297–305 |url=http://www.aruffo.com/eartraining/fletcher/copp.htm|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a110728 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> referred to the same ability. The skill is not exclusively musical.

===Difference in cognition, not elementary sensation===
Physically and functionally, the auditory system of an absolute listener evidently does not differ from that of a non-absolute listener.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sergeant, D. |title=Experimental investigation of absolute pitch |journal=Journal of Research in Music Education|volume=17 |year=1969 |pages=135–143 |doi=10.2307/3344200 |issue=1 |publisher=Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 17, No. 1 |jstor=3344200|s2cid=144294536 }}</ref> Rather, "it reflects a particular ability to analyze frequency information, presumably involving high-level cortical processing."<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gregersen, P. K. |title=Instant Recognition: The Genetics of Pitch Perception |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics| volume=62 |year=1998 |pages=221–223 |doi=10.1086/301734 |pmid=9463341 |issue=2 |pmc=1376907}}</ref> Absolute pitch is an act of [[cognition]], needing memory of the frequency, a label for the frequency (such as "B-flat"), and exposure to the range of sound encompassed by that categorical label. Absolute pitch may be directly analogous to recognizing [[color]]s, [[phoneme]]s (speech sounds), or other categorical perception of [[Stimulus (physiology)|sensory stimuli]]. For example, most people have learned to recognize and name the color ''blue'' by the range of frequencies of the [[electromagnetic radiation]] that are perceived as [[light]]; those who have been exposed to musical notes together with their names early in life may be more likely to identify the note C.<ref name="Ref-1">{{cite journal |author1=Takeuchi, A. H. |author2=Hulse, S. H. |title=Absolute pitch |journal=Psychological Bulletin|volume=113 |year=1993 |pages=345–361 |doi=10.1037/0033-2909.113.2.345 |pmid=8451339 |issue=2}}</ref> Although it was once thought that it "might be nothing more than a general human capacity whose expression is strongly biased by the level and type of exposure to music that people experience in a given culture",<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=The Origins of Music|author1=Wallin, N.L.|author2=Merker, B.|author3=Brown, S.|date=2000|publisher=A. Bradford|isbn=9780262731430|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vYQEakqM4I0C&pg=PA13|page=13|access-date=August 16, 2015}}</ref> absolute pitch may be influenced by genetic variation, possibly an [[autosomal]] [[dominant gene]]tic trait.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Profita, J. |author2=Bidder, T. G. |title=Perfect pitch |journal=American Journal of Medical Genetics|volume=29 |year=1988 |pages=763–771 |doi=10.1002/ajmg.1320290405 |pmid=3400722 |issue=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Baharloo, S. |author2=Johnston, P. A. |author3=Service, S. K. |author4=Gitschier, J. |author5=Freimer, N. B. |name-list-style=amp |title=Absolute pitch: An approach for identification of genetic and nongenetic components |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics|volume=62 |year=1998 |pages=224–231 |doi=10.1086/301704 |pmid=9463312 |issue=2 |pmc=1376881| url=http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJHG/journal/issues/v62n2/970244/970244.web.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJHG/journal/issues/v62n2/970244/970244.web.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Theusch, E. et al."/><ref name="Drayna, D. et al."/><ref name="gregersen_2013"/>

===Influence by music experience===
Evidence suggests that absolute pitch sense is influenced by cultural exposure to music, especially in the familiarization of the [[Equal temperament|equal-tempered]] [[musical scale|C-major scale]]. Most of the absolute listeners that were tested in this respect identified the C-major tones more reliably and, except for B, more quickly than the five "black key" tones,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Miyazaki, K. |title=The speed of musical pitch identification by absolute-pitch possessors |journal=Music Perception |volume=8 |issue=2 |year=1990 |pages=177–188 |doi=10.2307/40285495|jstor=40285495 }}</ref> which corresponds to the higher prevalence of these tones in ordinary musical experiences. One study of Dutch non-musicians also demonstrated a bias toward using C-major tones in ordinary speech, especially on syllables related to emphasis.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Braun, M. |title=Absolute pitch in emphasized speech |journal=Acoustics Research Letters Online|volume=3 |year=2002 |pages=77–82 |doi=10.1121/1.1472336 |issue=2|doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Linguistics===
Absolute pitch is more common among speakers of [[tonal language]]s, such as most dialects of [[Chinese language|Chinese]] or [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], which depend on pitch variation to distinguish words that otherwise sound the same—e.g., [[Standard Mandarin|Mandarin]] with four possible tonal variations, [[Cantonese]] with nine, [[Southern Min]] with seven or eight (depending on dialect), and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] with six.<ref name=jasa138th>{{cite journal |last1=Deutsch |first1=D. |last2=Henthorn |first2=T. |last3=Dolson |first3=M. |title=Tone Language Speakers Possess Absolute Pitch |journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America |year=1999 |volume=106 |issue=4 |page=2267 |url=http://www.acoustics.org/press/138th/deutsch.htm |doi=10.1121/1.427738 |bibcode=1999ASAJ..106.2267D |access-date=August 16, 2007 |archive-date=October 14, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014151404/http://acoustics.org/press/138th/deutsch.htm|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=jasa148th>{{cite journal | last1 = Deutsch | first1 = D. | last2 = Henthorn | first2 = T. | last3 = Marvin | first3 = E. | last4 = Xu | first4 = H. | title = Perfect Pitch in Tone Language Speakers Carries Over to Music | journal = The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America|year= 2005 | volume = 116 | issue = 4 | page = 2580 | doi = 10.1121/1.4808626 |bibcode = 2004ASAJ..116.2580D}}
*{{lay source |template=cite web |author=Diana Deutsch |title=Perfect Pitch in Tone Language Speakers Carries Over to Music: Potential for Acquiring the Coveted Musical Ability May be Universal at Birth |website=American Institute of Physics |url=http://www.aip.org/148th/deutsch.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050205050633/http://www.aip.org/148th/deutsch.html |archive-date=February 5, 2005}}</ref> Speakers of [[Sino-Tibetan languages]] have been reported to speak a word in the same absolute pitch (within a quarter-tone) on different days; it has therefore been suggested that absolute pitch may be acquired by infants when they learn to speak a tonal language<ref name="deu-2004">{{cite journal |author1=Deutsch, D. |author2=Henthorn T. |author3=Dolson, M. |title=Absolute pitch, speech, and tone language: Some experiments and a proposed framework |journal=Music Perception|volume=21 |pages=339–356 |year=2004 |doi=10.1525/mp.2004.21.3.339 |issue=3|url=http://philomel.com/pdf/MP-2004-21_339-356.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://philomel.com/pdf/MP-2004-21_339-356.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref> (and possibly also by infants when they learn to speak a [[Pitch accent|pitch-accent language]]). However, the brains of tonal-language speakers do not naturally process musical sound as language;<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Gandour, J |author2=Wong, D. |author3=Hutchins, G. |name-list-style=amp |title=Pitch processing in the human brain is influenced by language experience |journal=NeuroReport|volume=9 |year=1998 |pages=2115–2119 |doi=10.1097/00001756-199806220-00038 |pmid=9674604 |issue=9 |s2cid=19317553 |url=http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~gandour/publications/neurp_98.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060912000200/http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~gandour/publications/neurp_98.pdf |archive-date=September 12, 2006 }}</ref> such speakers may be more likely to acquire absolute pitch for musical tones when they later receive musical training. Many native speakers of a tone language, even those with little musical training, are observed to sing a given song with consistent pitch. Among music students of East Asian ethnic heritage, those who speak a tone language fluently have a higher prevalence of absolute pitch than those who do not speak a tone language.<ref name="phil-jasa-2006">{{cite journal |author=Deutsch, D. |author2=Henthorn, T. |author3=Marvin, E. |author4=Xu H-S |name-list-style=amp|title=Absolute pitch among American and Chinese conservatory students: Prevalence differences, and evidence for a speech-related critical period |journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America|volume=119 |pages=719–722 |year=2006 |doi=10.1121/1.2151799 |pmid=16521731 |issue=2|bibcode = 2006ASAJ..119..719D | url=http://philomel.com/pdf/JASA-2006_119_719-722.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://philomel.com/pdf/JASA-2006_119_719-722.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="deu-2009">{{cite journal |author1=Deutsch, D. |author2=Dooley, K. |author3=Henthorn, T. |author4=Head, B. |title=Absolute pitch among students in an American music conservatory: Association with tone language fluency |journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America|volume=125 |pages=2398–2403 |year=2009 |doi=10.1121/1.3081389 |pmid=19354413 |issue=4|bibcode = 2009ASAJ..125.2398D | url=http://philomel.com/pdf/JASA-2009_125_2398-2403.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://philomel.com/pdf/JASA-2009_125_2398-2403.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="phil-588">{{cite journal |author1=Deutsch, D. |author2=Li, X. |author3=Shen, J. |name-list-style=amp | title=Absolute pitch among students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music: A large-scale direct-test study | journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America| volume=134 |issue=5 | pages=3853–3859 | year=2013 | doi=10.1121/1.4824450 |pmid=24180794 |url=http://philomel.com/pdf/JASA_2013_134_3853-3859.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://philomel.com/pdf/JASA_2013_134_3853-3859.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|bibcode = 2013ASAJ..134.3853D}}</ref>

African level-tone languages—such as [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]],<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Connell, B. |author2=Ladd, D. R. |title=Aspects of pitch realization in Yoruba |journal=Phonology|volume=7 |year=1990 |pages=1–29 |doi=10.1017/S095267570000110X|s2cid=62215611 }}</ref> with three pitch levels, and [[Mambila language|Mambila]],<ref>{{cite journal |author= Connell, B. |title=The perception of lexical tone in Mambila |journal=Language and Speech|volume=43 |year=2000 |pages=163–182 |doi=10.1177/00238309000430020201 |pmid= 11064955 |issue= 2|s2cid=27622788 }}</ref> with four—may be better suited to study the role of absolute pitch in speech than the pitch and contour tone languages of East Asia.

Speakers of European languages make subconscious use of an absolute pitch memory when speaking.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Braun, M. |title=Speech mirrors norm-tones: Absolute pitch as a normal but precognitive trait |journal=Acoustics Research Letters Online|volume=2 |year=2001 |pages=85–90 |doi=10.1121/1.1376728 |issue=3 |url=https://pubs.aip.org/asa/arlo/article-pdf/2/3/85/7860320/85_1_online.pdf }}</ref>

===Perception===
Absolute pitch is the ability to perceive [[pitch class]] and to mentally categorize sounds according to perceived pitch class.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Rakowski, A. |title= Categorical perception in absolute pitch |journal=Archives of Acoustics Quarterly |volume=18 |year=1993 |pages=515–523}}</ref> A [[pitch class]] is the set of all pitches that are a whole number of octaves apart. While the boundaries of musical pitch categories vary among human cultures, the recognition of octave relationships is a natural characteristic of the mammalian auditory system.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Morest, D.K. |title=The laminar structure of the medial geniculate body of the cat |journal=Journal of Anatomy|volume=99 |year=1965 |issue=Pt 1 |pages=143–160 |pmid=14245341 |pmc=1261468}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Cetas, J.S. |author2=Price, R.O. |author3=Crowe, J.J. |author4=Velenovsky, D.S. |author5=McMullen, N.T. |title=Dendritic orientation and laminar architecture in the rabbit auditory thalamus |journal=The Journal of Comparative Neurology|volume=458 |year=2003 |pages=307–317 |doi=10.1002/cne.10595 |pmid=12619083 |issue=3|s2cid=11430632 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Imig, T.J. |author2=Morel, A. |title=Tonotopic organization in ventral nucleus of medial geniculate body in the cat |journal=Journal of Neurophysiology|volume=53 |year=1985 |pages=309–340 |pmid=3973661 |issue=1|doi=10.1152/jn.1985.53.1.309 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Cetas, J.S. |author2=Velenovsky, D.S. |author3=Price, R.O. |author4=Sinex, D.G. |author5=McMullen, N.T. |title=Frequency organization and cellular lamination in the medial geniculate body of the rabbit |journal=Hearing Research|volume=155 |year=2001 |pages=113–123 |doi=10.1016/S0378-5955(01)00257-X |pmid=11335081 |issue=1–2|s2cid=1027272 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Wright, A.A. |author2=Rivera, J.J. |author3=Hulse, S.H. |author4=Shyan, M. |author5=Neiworth, J.J. |title=Music perception and octave generalization in rhesus monkeys |journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: General|volume=129 |year=2000 |pages=291–307 |doi= 10.1037/0096-3445.129.3.291 |pmid=11006902 |issue=3|url=http://www.brainmusic.org/MBB91%20Webpage/Evolution_Wright.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.brainmusic.org/MBB91%20Webpage/Evolution_Wright.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Braun, M. |author2=Chaloupka, V. |title=Carbamazepine induced pitch shift and octave space representation |journal=Hearing Research|volume=210 |year=2005 |pages=85–92 |doi=10.1016/j.heares.2005.05.015 |pmid=16181754 |issue=1–2|s2cid=32333789 }}</ref> Accordingly, absolute pitch is not the ability to estimate a pitch value from the dimension of pitch-evoking frequency (30–5000&nbsp;Hz),<ref name="Ref-1"/> but to identify a pitch class category within the dimension of pitch class (e.g., C-C{{music|sharp}}-D&nbsp;... B-C).

An absolute listener's sense of hearing is typically no keener than that of a non-absolute ("normal") listener.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Fujisaki, W. |author2=Kashino, M. |title=The basic hearing abilities of absolute pitch possessors |journal=Acoustical Science and Technology|volume=23 |year=2002 |pages=77–83 |doi=10.1250/ast.23.77 |issue=2 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Absolute pitch does not depend upon a refined ability to perceive and discriminate gradations of sound frequencies,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Oakes, W. F. |title=An experimental study of pitch naming and pitch discrimination reactions |journal=The Journal of Genetic Psychology|volume=86 |year=1955 |pages=237–259 |pmid=13263528 |issue=2 |doi=10.1080/00221325.1955.10532197}}</ref> but upon detecting and categorizing a subjective perceptual quality typically referred to as "chroma".<ref>{{cite journal |author=Bachem, A. |title=Various types of absolute pitch |journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America|volume=9 |issue=2 |year=1937 |pages=146–151 |doi= 10.1121/1.1915919 |bibcode = 1937ASAJ....9..146B}}</ref>{{clarify|reason=The introduction of a subjective "sound color" element here is potentially very confusing. It is a matter of pitch isn't it?|date=October 2016}} The two tasks— of identification (recognizing and naming a pitch) and discrimination (detecting changes or differences in rate of vibration)— are accomplished with different brain mechanisms.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Tervaniemi, M. |author2=Alho, K. |author3=Paavilainen, P. |author4=Sams, M. |author5=Näätänen, R. |name-list-style=amp |title=Absolute pitch and event-related brain potentials |journal=Music Perception |volume=10 |issue=3 |year=1993 |pages=305–316 |doi=10.2307/40285572|jstor=40285572 }}</ref>

===Special populations===<!-- [[Template:Human group differences]] links here -->
The prevalence of absolute pitch is higher among those who are blind from birth as a result of [[optic nerve hypoplasia]].

Absolute pitch is considerably more common among those whose early childhood was spent in [[East Asia]].<ref name="greg">{{cite journal |author1=P. K. Gregersen |author2=E. Kowalsky |author3=N. Kohn |author4=E. Marvin |title=Early childhood music education and predisposition to absolute pitch |journal=American Journal of Medical Genetics|volume=98 |pages=280–282 |year=2000 |doi= 10.1002/1096-8628(20010122)98:3<280::AID-AJMG1083>3.0.CO;2-6 |pmid=11169569 |issue=3}}</ref><ref name="deu_2006">{{cite journal |author1=D. Deutsch |author2=T. Henthorn |author3=E. W. Marvin |author4=H.-S. Xu |title=  Absolute pitch among American and Chinese conservatory students: Prevalence differences, and evidence for a speech-related critical period|journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America|volume=119 |pages=719–722 |year=2006 |doi=10.1121/1.2151799 |pmid=16521731 |issue=2|bibcode = 2006ASAJ..119..719D | url=http://www.philomel.com/pdf/JASA-2006_119_719-722.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.philomel.com/pdf/JASA-2006_119_719-722.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="deu_2006b">{{cite journal |author=Deutsch, D |title=The enigma of absolute pitch |journal=Acoustics Today|year=2006 |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=11–19 |doi= 10.1121/1.2961141|url=http://philomel.com/pdf/Acoustics_Today_2006.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://philomel.com/pdf/Acoustics_Today_2006.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="deu_2007">{{cite journal |author1=Henthorn, T. |author2=Deutsch, D. |name-list-style=amp|title=Ethnicity versus Early Environment: Comment on 'Early childhood music education and predisposition to absolute pitch: Teasing apart genes and environment' by Peter K. Gregersen, Elena Kowalsky, Nina Kohn, and Elizabeth West Marvin (2000) |journal=American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A|volume=143A |pages=102–103 |year=2007 |doi=10.1002/ajmg.a.31596 |pmid=17163519 |issue=1|s2cid=17543272 | url=http://philomel.com/pdf/AJMG_2007.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://philomel.com/pdf/AJMG_2007.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|doi-access=free }}</ref> This might seem to be a genetic difference;<ref name="zlab">{{cite journal |author=Zatorre, R. |title=Absolute Pitch: A model for understanding the influence of genes and development on neural and cognitive function |journal=Nature Neuroscience |volume=6 |issue=7 |pages=692–5 |url=http://www.zlab.mcgill.ca/docs/Zatorre_2003.pdf |access-date=July 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307140045/http://www.zlab.mcgill.ca/docs/Zatorre_2003.pdf |archive-date=March 7, 2008 |url-status=dead |pmid=12830161 |year=2003 |doi=10.1038/nn1085 |s2cid=7431996 }}</ref> however, people of East Asian ancestry who are reared in North America are significantly less likely to develop absolute pitch than those raised in East Asia,<ref name="deu_2007"/> so the difference is more probably explained by experience. The language that is spoken may be an important factor; many East Asians speak tonal languages such as Mandarin, Cantonese, and Thai, while others (such as those in Japan and certain provinces of Korea) speak pitch-accent languages, and the prevalence of absolute pitch may be partly explained by exposure to pitches together with meaningful musical labels very early in life.<ref name="deu_2006"/><ref name="deu_2006b"/><ref name="deu_2007"/><ref name=deu_2004>{{cite journal |author1=Deutsch, D. |author2=Henthorn, T. |author3=Dolson, M. |name-list-style=amp |title=Absolute pitch, speech, and tone language: Some experiments and a proposed framework |journal=Music Perception|volume=21 |year=2004 |pages=339–356 |doi=10.1525/mp.2004.21.3.339 |issue=3| url=http://www.philomel.com/pdf/MP-2004-21_339-356.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.philomel.com/pdf/MP-2004-21_339-356.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Absolute pitch ability has higher prevalence among those with [[Williams syndrome]]<ref name="lenhoff">{{cite journal |author=Lenhoff, H. M. |author2 = Perales, O. |author3=Hickok, G. |name-list-style=amp |title=Absolute pitch in Williams syndrome |journal=Music Perception|year= 2001 |volume=18 |pages=491–503 |doi=10.1525/mp.2001.18.4.491 |issue=4}}</ref> and those with an [[autism spectrum disorder]], with claims estimating that up to 30% of autistic people have absolute pitch.<ref name="Sacks, O. 2007"/><ref name="heaton">{{cite journal |author=Heaton, P. |author2=Hermelin, B. |author3=Pring, L. |name-list-style=amp |title=Autism and pitch processing: A precursor for savant musical ability |journal=Music Perception |year=1998 |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=291–305 |doi=10.2307/40285769|jstor=40285769}}</ref><ref>Frith, U. How Cognitive Theories Can Help Us Explain Autism. Speech. UC Davis Mind Institute. Video available, 4/5 down the list: http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindinstitute/videos/video_autism.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104143955/http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindinstitute/videos/video_autism.html |date=November 4, 2011 }}</ref> A non-verbal piano-matching method resulted in a correlation of 97% between{{Clarify|reason=In which direction? 97% of persons with ASD having absolute pitch or 97% of persons with absolute pitch being on the autism spectrum? Or was there a score on a pitch-matching test and a score on an autism-detection test (e.g., Asperger Questionnaire), and was the test geared toward specificity or sensitivity?|date=April 2016}} autism and absolute pitch, with a 53% correlation in non-autistic observers.{{Clarify|reason=Correlation between what and what? Does "in" mean "between"/"among" here? "In the minds of"? Observers of what?|date=April 2016}}<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Kupferstein, H. |author2=Walsh, B. |title=Non-Verbal Paradigm for Assessing Individuals for Absolute Pitch |journal=World Futures|volume=72 |issue=7–8 |pages=390–405 |year=2014 |doi=10.1080/02604027.2014.989780|s2cid=142283540 }}</ref> However, the converse is not indicated by research which found no difference between those with absolute pitch and those without on measures of social and communication skills, which are core deficits in autistic spectrum disorders. Additionally, the absolute pitch group's [[autism-spectrum quotient]] was "way below clinical thresholds".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dohn|first1=Anders|last2=Garza-Villarreal|first2=Eduardo A.|last3=Heaton|first3=Pamela|last4=Vuust|first4=Peter|date=May 30, 2012|editor-last=Krueger|editor-first=Frank|title=Do Musicians with Perfect Pitch Have More Autism Traits than Musicians without Perfect Pitch? An Empirical Study|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=7|issue=5|pages=e37961|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0037961|issn=1932-6203|pmc=3364198|pmid=22666425|bibcode=2012PLoSO...737961D|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Nature vs. nurture===
Absolute pitch might be achievable by any human being during a [[critical period]] of auditory development,<ref name="Sakakibara, 2004">{{cite journal |author=Sakakibara, A. |year=2004 |title= Why Are People Able to Acquire Absolute Pitch Only During Early Childhood?|journal=The Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology|volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=485–496|doi=10.5926/jjep1953.52.4_485 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Chin, 2003">{{cite journal |author=Chin, C. |year=2003 |title= The Development of Absolute Pitch: A Theory Concerning the Roles of Music Training at an Early Developmental Age and Individual Cognitive Style|journal=Psychology of Music|volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=155–171 |doi=10.1177/0305735603031002292|s2cid=145615433 }}</ref> after which period [[cognitive]] strategies favor global and relational processing. Proponents of the critical-period theory agree that the presence of absolute pitch ability is dependent on learning, but there is disagreement about whether training causes absolute skills to occur<ref name="Oura & Eguchi, 1982">{{cite journal |author1=Oura, Y. |author2=Eguchi, K. |year=1982 |title=Absolute pitch training program for children |journal=Music Education Research |volume=32 |pages=162–171}}</ref><ref name="Sakakibara, 1999">{{cite journal |author=Sakakibara, A. |year=1999 |title=A longitudinal study of a process for acquiring absolute pitch |journal=The Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology|volume=47|pages=19–27 |doi=10.5926/jjep1953.47.1_19 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Miyazaki, 2006">{{cite journal |author=Miyazaki, K. |year=2006 |title=Learning of absolute pitch by children |journal=Music Perception|volume=24 | issue=1 |page=63 |doi=10.1525/mp.2006.24.1.63|last2=Ogawa |first2=Yoko}}</ref><ref name="Lau, 2004">{{cite journal |author=Lau, C.K. |year=2004 |title=The acquisition of absolute pitch for the mainstreamed, special educational needs and academically talented under Lau Chiu Kay Music Educatherapy |journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America |volume=116 |issue=4 |page=2580 |bibcode=2004ASAJ..116.2580L |doi=10.1121/1.4785301}}</ref> or lack of training causes absolute perception to be overwhelmed and obliterated by relative perception of [[interval (music)|musical intervals]].<ref name="Abraham_1901">{{cite journal |author=Abraham, O. |year=1901 |title=Das absolute tonbewußtsein |journal=Sammelbände der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft |volume=3 |pages=1–86}}[http://www.aruffo.com/eartraining/research/articles/abraham01.htm Full text] [http://www.aruffo.com/eartraining/research/articles/abraham01e.htm Full text (English)]</ref><ref name="Saffran and Griepentrog, 2001">{{cite journal |author=Saffran, J. R. |author2=Griepentrog, G. J. |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |title=Absolute pitch in infant auditory learning: Evidence for developmental reorganization |journal=Developmental Psychology|volume=37 |pages=74–85 |doi=10.1037/0012-1649.37.1.74 |pmid=11206435 |issue=1 |url=http://elias.it.helsinki.fi/psyko/Opetus/HYPsykol.nsf/e9472accfeea83abc2256c4c0049705b/7a21adcc12795596c2257203003caf04/$FILE/Minna-9-Saffran01DevPsy.pdf }}{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

One or more genetic [[Locus (genetics)|loci]] could affect absolute pitch ability, a predisposition for learning the ability or signal the likelihood of its spontaneous occurrence.<ref name="Theusch, E. et al.">{{cite journal |author1=Theusch, E. |author2=Basu, A. |author3=Gitschier, J. |name-list-style=amp |year=2009 |title=Genome-wide Study of Families with Absolute Pitch Reveals Linkage to 8q24.21 and Locus Heterogeneity |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics|volume=85 |pages=112–119 |doi= 10.1016/j.ajhg.2009.06.010 |pmid=19576568 |issue=1 |pmc=2706961}}</ref><ref name="gregersen_2013">{{cite journal |author=Gregersen, P.K. |author2=Kowalsky, E. |author3=Lee, A. |author4=Baron-Cohen, S. |author5=Fisher, S.E. |author6=Asher, J.E. |author7=Ballard, D. |author8=Freudenberg, J. |author9=Li, W. |name-list-style=amp| title=Absolute pitch exhibits phenotypic and genetic overlap with synesthesia | journal=Human Molecular Genetics| volume= 22 | issue=10| pages= 2097–104| year=2013 | doi=10.1093/hmg/ddt059| pmid=23406871 | pmc=4707203}}</ref><ref name="Drayna, D. et al.">{{cite journal |author1=Drayna, D. |author2=Manichaikul, A. |author3=DeLange, M. |author4=Snieder, H. |author5=Spector, T. |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |title=Genetic correlates of musical pitch recognition in humans |journal=Science|volume=291 |pages=1969–1972 |doi=10.1126/science.291.5510.1969 |pmid=11239158 |issue=5510 |bibcode=2001Sci...291.1969D|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1231183 }}</ref>

Researchers have been trying to teach absolute pitch ability in laboratory settings for more than a century,<ref name="Meyer_1899">{{cite journal |author=Meyer, M. |year=1899 |title=Is the memory of absolute pitch capable of development by training? |journal=Psychological Review|volume=6 |pages=514–516 |doi=10.1037/h0069034 |issue=5| url=http://www.aruffo.com/eartraining/research/articles/meyer99.htm|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and various commercial absolute-pitch training courses have been offered to the public since the early 1900s.<ref>{{cite book |author=Maryon, E. |year=1924 |title=The Science of Tone-Color |publisher=C. C. Birchard & Co. |location=Boston |url=http://www.greylodge.org/occultreview/glor_003/Marcotone.pdf |access-date=September 5, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106221633/http://www.greylodge.org/occultreview/glor_003/Marcotone.pdf |archive-date=November 6, 2006 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> In 2013, experimenters reported that adult men who took the antiseizure drug [[valproate]] (VPA) "learned to identify pitch significantly better than those taking placebo—evidence that VPA facilitated critical-period learning in the adult human brain".<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.3389/fnsys.2013.00102| pmid=24348349| title=Valproate reopens critical-period learning of absolute pitch| year=2013| last1=Gervain| first1=Judit|author-link1=Judit Gervain| last2=Vines| first2=Bradley W.| last3=Chen| first3=Lawrence M.| last4=Seo| first4=Rubo J.| last5=Hensch| first5=Takao K.| last6=Werker| first6=Janet F.| last7=Young| first7=Allan H.| journal=Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience| volume=7| page=102| doi-access=free| pmc=3848041}}</ref> However, no adult has ever been documented to have acquired absolute listening ability,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Levitin, D. J. |author2=Rogers, S. E. |name-list-style=amp |title=Absolute pitch: Perception, coding, and controversies |journal=Trends in Cognitive Sciences|volume=9 |year=2005 |pages=26–33 |doi=10.1016/j.tics.2004.11.007 |pmid=15639438 |issue=1 |s2cid=15346652 |url=http://www.zainea.com/absolpitch.pdf |access-date=June 11, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060322032152/http://www.zainea.com/absolpitch.pdf |archive-date=March 22, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> because all adults who have been formally tested after AP training have failed to demonstrate "an unqualified level of accuracy... comparable to that of AP possessors".<ref>{{cite journal |author=Takeuchi, A. H. |author2=Hulse, S. H. |name-list-style=amp |title=Absolute pitch |journal=Psychological Bulletin|volume=113 |issue=2 |pages=345–61 |year=1993 |doi=10.1037/0033-2909.113.2.345 |pmid=8451339}}</ref>

===Pitch memory related to musical context===

While very few people have the ability to name a pitch with no external reference, pitch memory can be activated by repeated exposure.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ben-Haim|first1=Moshe Shay|last2=Eitan|first2=Zohar|last3=Chajut|first3=Eran|title=Pitch memory and exposure effects|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance|date=February 2014|volume=40|issue=1|pages=24–32|doi=10.1037/a0033583|pmid=23875573|url=https://zenodo.org/record/931677}}</ref> People who are not skilled singers will often sing popular songs in the correct key,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Levitin, D. |year=1994 |title=Absolute memory for musical pitch: evidence from production of learned melodies |journal=Perception & Psychophysics|volume=56 |pages=414–423 |pmid=7984397 |issue=4 |doi=10.3758/BF03206733 |s2cid=17723148 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and can usually recognize when TV themes have been shifted into the wrong key.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Schellenberg, E. Glenn |author2=Trehub, Sandra E. |name-list-style=amp |year=2003 |title= Good pitch memory is widespread |journal=Psychological Science|volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=262–266 |doi=10.1111/1467-9280.03432 |pmid=12741751|s2cid=31453643 }}[https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/fileadmin/w3trehub/publications/006.pdf Full text]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Members of the Venda culture in South Africa also sing familiar children's songs in the key in which the songs were learned.<ref>{{cite book |author=Blacking, John |year=1995 |title=Music Culture and Experience |chapter=Music and Historical Process in Vendaland |editor=Reginald Byron |pages=136 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=0-226-08829-4}}</ref>

This phenomenon is apparently unrelated to musical training. The skill may be associated more closely with vocal production. Violin students learning the [[Suzuki method]] are required to memorize each composition in a fixed key and play it from memory on their instrument, but they are not required to sing. When tested, these students did not succeed in singing the memorized Suzuki songs in the original, fixed key.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Saah, Victoria |author2=Marvin, Elizabeth West |year=2004 |chapter=Absolute memory of learned melodies in children trained by the Suzuki violin method |title=Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition|pages=736–739 |chapter-url=http://www.icmpc8.umn.edu/proceedings/ICMPC8/PDF/AUTHOR/MP040009.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810004816/http://www.icmpc8.umn.edu/proceedings/ICMPC8/PDF/AUTHOR/MP040009.PDF |archive-date=August 10, 2011 }}</ref>

===Possible problems===
Musicians with absolute perception may experience difficulties that do not exist for other musicians. Because absolute listeners are capable of recognizing that a musical composition has been transposed from its original key, or that a pitch is being produced at a nonstandard frequency (either sharp or flat), a musician with absolute pitch may become confused upon perceiving tones believed to be "wrong" or hearing a piece of music "in the wrong key". The relative pitch of the notes may be in tune to each other, but out of tune to the standard pitch or pitches the musician is familiar with or perceives as correct. This can especially apply to [[Baroque music]], as many Baroque orchestras tune to A&nbsp;= 415&nbsp;Hz as opposed to 440&nbsp;Hz (i.e., roughly one standard [[semitone]] lower than the ISO standard for concert A),<ref name="Sacks, O. 2007">{{cite book |author=Sacks, O. |year=2007 |title=Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain |url=https://archive.org/details/musicophilia00oliv |url-access=registration |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4000-4081-0}}</ref> while other recordings of Baroque pieces (especially those of French Baroque music) are performed at 392&nbsp;Hz. Historically, tuning forks for concert A used on keyboard instruments (which ensembles tune to when present), have varied widely in frequency, often between 415&nbsp;Hz to 456.7&nbsp;Hz.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ellis |first1=Alexander |title=On the History of Musical Pitch |journal=Journal of the Society of Arts |date=March 5, 1880}}</ref>

Variances in the sizes of intervals for different keys and the method of tuning instruments also can affect musicians in their perception of correct pitch, especially with music synthesized digitally using alternative tunings (e.g., unequal [[well temperament]]s and alternative meantone tunings such as [[19 equal temperament|19-tone equal temperament]] and [[31 equal temperament|31-tone equal temperament]]) as opposed to [[12-tone equal temperament]].{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} An absolute listener may also use absolute strategies for tasks that are more efficiently accomplished with [[relative pitch|relative strategies]], such as transposition<ref name="miy_1993">{{cite journal |author=Miyazaki, K. |title=Absolute pitch as an inability: Identification of musical intervals in a tonal context |journal=Music Perception |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=1993 |pages=55–72 |doi=10.2307/40285599|jstor=40285599}}</ref> or producing harmony that is [[microtonal music|microtonal]] or whose frequencies do not match standard 12-tone equal temperament.<ref>{{cite book |author=Harris, G. B. |year=1974 |title=Categorical perception and absolute pitch |publisher=University of Western Ontario |location=Ontario}}</ref> It is also possible for some musicians to have displaced absolute pitch, where all notes are slightly flat or slightly sharp of their respective pitch as defined by a given convention.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} This may arise from learning the pitch names from an instrument that was tuned to a concert pitch convention other than the one in use (e.g., A&nbsp;= 435&nbsp;Hz, the [[Paris Opera]] convention of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as opposed to the modern Euro-American convention for concert A&nbsp;= 440&nbsp;Hz). Concert pitches have shifted higher for a brighter sound. When playing in groups with other musicians, this may lead to playing in a tonality that is slightly different from that of the rest of the group, such as when soloists tune slightly sharp of the rest of the ensemble to stand out or to compensate for loosening strings during longer performances.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Synesthesia===
Absolute pitch shows a genetic overlap with music-related and non-music-related [[synesthesia]]/[[ideasthesia]].<ref name=gregersen_2013/> They may associate certain notes or keys with different colors, enabling them to tell what any note or key is. In this study, about 20% of people with absolute pitch are also synesthetes.

==Correlations==
There is evidence of a higher rate of absolute pitch in the [[autistic]] population.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mottron|first1=Laurent|last2=Bouvet|first2=Lucie|last3=Bonnel|first3=Anna|last4=Samson|first4=Fabienne|last5=Burack|first5=Jacob A.|last6=Dawson|first6=Michelle|last7=Heaton|first7=Pamela|date=2013|title=Veridical mapping in the development of exceptional autistic abilities|journal=Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews|volume=37|issue=2|pages=209–228|doi=10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.11.016|issn=1873-7528|pmid=23219745|doi-access=free}}</ref> Many studies have examined pitch abilities in autism, but not rigidly perfect pitch, which makes them controversial. It is unclear just how many autistic people have perfect pitch because of this. In a 2009 study, researchers studied 72 autistic teenagers and found that 20 percent of the teenagers had a significant ability to detect pitches. Autistic children are especially sensitive to changes in pitch.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Perfect Pitch: Autism's Rare Gift {{!}} Interactive Autism Network |url=https://iancommunity.org/ssc/perfect-pitch-autism-rare-gift |access-date=November 18, 2022 |website=iancommunity.org |language=en}}</ref>

===Correlation with musical talent===
Absolute pitch is not a prerequisite for skilled musical performance or composition. However, there is evidence that musicians with absolute pitch tend to perform better on musical transcription tasks (controlling for age of onset and amount of musical training) compared to those without absolute pitch.<ref name="phil-446">{{cite journal | author=Dooley, K. |author2=Deutsch, D. |s2cid=13958792 |name-list-style=amp| title=Absolute pitch correlates with high performance on musical dictation | journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America| volume= 128 | issue=2| pages= 890–3| year=2010 | pmid=20707458 | doi=10.1121/1.3458848 |bibcode = 2010ASAJ..128..890D}} [http://philomel.com/pdf/JASA-2010_128_890-893.pdf PDF Document]</ref> It was previously argued that musicians with absolute pitch perform worse than those without absolute pitch on recognition of musical intervals;<ref name="miyazaki">{{cite journal | author=Miyazaki K. | title=Perception of relative pitch with different references: Some absolute-pitch listeners can't tell musical interval names | journal=Perception & Psychophysics| volume=57 | issue=7 | pages= 962–970 | year=1995 | doi=10.3758/bf03205455| pmid=8532499| doi-access=free }} [https://doi.org/10.3758%2FBF03205455 PDF Document]</ref> however, experiments on which this conclusion was based contained an [[Artifact (error)|artifact]] and, when this artifact was removed, absolute pitch possessors were found to perform better than nonpossessors on recognition of musical intervals.<ref name="phil-473">{{cite journal |author1=Dooley, K. |author2=Deutsch, D. |s2cid=2840110 | title=Absolute pitch correlates with high performance on interval naming tasks | journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America| volume=130 | issue=6 |pages=4097–4104 | year=2011 | doi=10.1121/1.3652861 | pmid=22225064 | bibcode=2011ASAJ..130.4097D}} [http://philomel.com/pdf/JAS004097.pdf PDF Document]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Ear training]]
* [[Levitin effect]]
* [[List of people with absolute pitch]]
* [[Psychophysics#Discrimination|Discrimination]]
* [[Tonal memory]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* Comprehensive historical [http://www.aruffo.com/eartraining/research/phase11.htm bibliography of absolute pitch research], 1876–present
* Another [https://web.archive.org/web/20080513025334/http://www.nslij-genetics.org/apbib/ bibliography of absolute pitch], with +300 papers

{{Music cognition}}
{{Pitch (music)}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Absolute Pitch}}
[[Category:Music cognition]]
[[Category:Music psychology]]
[[Category:Pitch (music)]]
[[Category:Cognitive musicology]]