An Investigation Into the Nature of Absolute Pitch

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An Investigation Into the Nature of Absolute Pitch

• By Jennifer Lancaster

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Relative Pitch

• Music has a key and tonal center
• For instance C major?
• C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
• The tonic of this scale is C
• When this scale is played or a tone from it is
  given as a reference, people with RP can identify
  pitches from it

• This identification is done through interval
  recognition
• Intervals are the distances between each of the
  pitches (see next slide)
• Music students are trained in this

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Intervals
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Absolute Pitch

• Needs no reference tones to identify and recall
  pitches
• Automatic
• Most people are told that this is unattainable
• Most people are taught about disadvantages in
  having AP

• Remember not to confuse this with well-developed
  RP or vocal tension pitch
• No one really knows where this ability comes from
• Four basic theories

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Absolute Pitch Theories

• Heredity- inherited through
  genetics
• Imprinting-learned only through a
  critical period during childhood
• Learning-anyone can learn at any time
• Unlearning-all born with potential, but
  its taught out of us

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Sample Survey Questions

• 1. Do you have a memory for all 12 pitches? 
• 2. Are you confident in your ability to identify
  them immediately? 
• How has your case of absolute pitch been
  confirmed or documented? 
• What happens in your mind as you recognize a
  pitch?
• Does it take more thinking to place the pitch in
  its correct octave? 
•  
•  

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(questions continued)

• 6. Do you associate pitch with colors?
• 7. Are the colors consistent every time?
• 8. Do the different timbres of instruments throw
  you off?
• 9. What are the advantages and disadvantages of
  having absolute pitch?
•  10. Did you have a piano or keyboard instrument
  in your home as a child? Did you play it?

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(questions continued)

•  11. Are there any other people in your family
  that claim to have absolute pitch?
• 12. Do you believe your ability comes from a
  memory for different pitch heights/levels, or
  from some other quality in pitches that helps you
  differentiate between them?

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David Burges Color Hearing Approach

• Color hearing does not have anything to do with
  synethesia (a rare phenomenon in which people
  hear music and see colors)
• Coloring hearing program does not train through
  flashing colors in front of subjects eyes

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Burge suggests that there is another element to
absolute pitch, beyond the normal way pitches
are identified (tone height)
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Color Hearing Program

• Hearing the deep characteristics of each
  individual pitch
• Some identify F as twangy or Eb as mellow
• This program was implemented in an Ohio study
  that yielded positive results
• First exercise has subjects play chromatic scale
  and listening for characteristics of each pitch
  and draw a color diagram
• This is to cross relate the senses of sight and
  sound

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As a child, we were taught to identify
colors. The majority of us know that this is
red this is blue.
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Why dont we learn to identify pitches?
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With Burges program, one learns to identify
pitches as one might learn to identify colors.
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Challenges In Dealing With AP In This Experiment

• Eliminating RP cues
• We will use pitches that are all the same
  distance apart from each other
• Distractions between test items
• Motivation
• Possible incentives
• Useful skill

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Our Experiment

• Small scale (6-10 subjects)
• Learn 6 pitches
• Training run for 2 months
• Pretest and Posttest

• Deep listening activities
• Describing pitches
• Drills on pitches
• 20 minutes per day
• Subjects have partners