New study challenges the notion that absolute pitch can't be learned as an adult

Harmony & Theory
#1

The study is here.

This is an interesting development, especially since they include the methodology they use in the study. I’m not good at programming, but it feels like it should be reasonably easy to program something that can do something similar to this methodology.

It might be a bit of a white whale, but I’d love to be able to pick out notes without needing a reference pitch.

Notably the study appears to only have been about single notes rather than chords and harmonies which people with absolute pitch can definitely identify, but I’ll take being able to identify single notes just fine.

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#2

Nearly 20 years ago, I bought a product that claimed to teach you perfect pitch. It wasn’t the old school David Burgess one. I can’t remember exactly, but IIRC it had you try to associate certain tones with prominent tones in important recordings to you.

For example, I tried to associate B with the the first note of Choros No. 1 by Heitor Villa-Lobos. (I just tried to do this again and was off by one semi-tone).

I didn’t really stick with it, though.

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#3

I have never bought products or even thrown much time at this. But the few times I have dabbled I have done it with familiar recordings. Often when I try it “cold” and test myself I am a semi tone flat. Not sure what that tells me about myself lol!

Even if I start humming some favorite tune I haven’t listened to in a while, then bring up the recording, I’ll find the same thing has happened.

Anyway it’s always fascinated me. I need to read the article in the OP…

#4

From what I can tell, the method CactusWren described is a known phenomenon - even people who aren’t trained musicians will apparently usually sing a song they know in the “correct” key. Source for that here.

However, that is (from the research I’ve done) not an example of absolute or perfect pitch because you’re still mentally “comparing” a given pitch you hear to one you know; it’s still relative pitch.

Absolute pitch apparently means just being able to know what the pitch you hear is without having to compare it to anything; this was even brought up in the methodology mentioned in the article in the first post, how they worked as hard as possible to try to eliminate that as a factor in the study.

Of course, whether or not the students in the study in the original post are getting absolute pitch or not, it’s still an incredible achievement in ear training - I’d be happy to have relative pitch that let me identify any note within a fraction of a second of hearing it!

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#5

after finding out about italian solfeggio, i made up my mind a few years ago that this is most important. and i hypothesize that it spawned absolute pitch over time in those that practiced things in all keys.

#6

I’ve played classical guitar for a long time. I don’t have perfect pitch but every time I picked up the guitar and tuned it, always starting with the A-string and carefully tuning it, it eventually got ”stuck” in my brain. I have learned where it lays in my mouth and are able to sing an A before even starting tuning it. I also have done the David Burgee tape in later years. I am convinced that If you stick too his plan you will be able to hear more colors and pitches. It’s more about being present and not trying to ”think too much”. It’s more like a feeling of the different vocings and pitches. That’s at least my strong belief!

#7

Correct! In fact, researchers at University of Chicago had proven that 10 years ago in 2015! They also said perfect pitch is not as rare as people think. (I can’t include link for some reason, you can find it by Googling “university of chicago acquiring perfect pitch may be possible some adults”

Personally I don’t care too much for having perfect pitch but I’ve been training for interval identification. Hoping it can help me become better at improvisation. Often I play the melody in my head and I’d just guess where the next note is at. If I can feel the interval aka the distance, that would probably take a lot of the guessing work out lol

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#8

I agree. Interval training takes you a long way. And also being able to hear different colours like different dominant chords, and If you are at the second, forth ect step in the chord scale, will help out a lot. But of course, knowledge like prfect pitch, isn’t heavy to bare and will only give you another tool to express yourself. But I don’t think it is worth all the practice time…

I also believe playing Jazz standards helps a lot with both ear training and ”knowing your notes”.