Absolute Pitch - or the cat is meowing in A minor

Myth or Fact? - Are absolute pitch possessors particularly musical, is everyone born with perfect pitch, and can absolute pitch be learned? In this article, I will answer the top 10 questions I regularly receive about absolute pitch.

Absolute pitch is the rare ability to name or produce (e.g., when asked to sing) a tone without using a reference pitch. Less than 1% of the general population has absolute pitch, while the prevalence is significantly higher among professional musicians. Studies estimate that approximately 7.6% - 15% of music students and professional musicians have absolute pitch. On the other hand, relative pitch, the ability to analyze the relationships between tones (i.e., intervals and melodies) and explicitly name them with appropriate training, is present in most musicians and particularly well-developed compared to amateur musicians and non-musicians.

During my doctoral thesis (bio, media), I had the opportunity to meet many individuals with absolute pitch and conducted various neuroscientific, psychological, and cognitive/perceptual experiments at the Institute of Music Physiology and Musician's Medicine at the University of Music, Drama, and Media Hannover under the supervision of Professor Eckart Altenmüller. I examined a total of over 60 music students with absolute or relative pitch. Not only did I have questions I wanted to answer through my experiments, but many of the participants and people in my social circle also had questions about the mystery of absolute pitch.

In this article have listed the 10 most common questions about absolute pitch and answered them to the best of current research knowledge.

#1: Do I have absolute pitch and how can I test it?

First of all the one kind of absolute pitch does not exist. Absolute pitch is defined as the ability to name or generate musical tones without a reference pitch. In studies, tone naming is almost always used to test if someone has absolute pitch. There is no consensus on the percentage of correctly named tones required to classify someone as an absolute pitch possessor. Typically, a cutoff threshold is established that is set high enough to minimize the likelihood of chance success. However, even above the cutoff (and also below), there is considerable variability and variation among individuals. Studies often use artificial tones (pure sine waves) instead of realistic, complex tones produced by musical instruments and as seen in simpler online self-tests. Recognizing tones on real instruments, especially one's own familiar instrument, is often easier because it provides much more information, such as instrument-specific timbre related to pitch registers (e.g., open strings, tones with good or poor resonance). These additional cues help estimate the pitch of a tone. Therefore, even "true" absolute listeners often perform better on their own instruments than on unfamiliar ones.

However, not everyone who can name tones on their instrument is an absolute pitch possessor. This is particularly true for singers because muscle memory plays a crucial role in music performance, and unlike instrumentalists, singers do not have visual control over the spatial sense of the involved body part. Nevertheless, instrumentalists also often "feel" in their muscles where a tone should be produced on their instrument based on hearing alone. In scientific terms, this is referred to as "pseudo-absolute pitch". Genuine ("true") absolute pitch, on the other hand, is independent of the sound source, although accuracy is usually much better on familiar instruments. The easiest way to determine if someone has absolute pitch is through their description. Absolute pitch possessors are often unaware for a long time that they possess a unique ability, considering it to be completely natural. They have always been able to name notes by ear, and they don't need to think long—they simply "know" it.

Another phenomenon often observed is called "partial absolute pitch", where certain tones can be recognized or generated more accurately than others. Even highly precise absolute pitch possessors are typically less certain or less accurate with black keys, especially A# or G# (due to their proximity to the reference pitch A), and they may have difficulties with octave recognition or confusion. In very high and very low registers, most people's ability to recognize tones diminishes. Some absolute listeners can only recognize specific individual tones. On the other hand, being able to recognize only the reference pitch is not absolute pitch because this ability is heavily context-dependent, triggered by various factors (e.g., beginning of practice, rehearsal, concert), and limited to such an extent that it cannot be considered universally absolute. In very rare cases, absolute pitch is so absolute and "perfect" as the term "perfect pitch" suggests that a person can recognize all tones equally accurately, regardless of the instrument, and can even assign tonal qualities to non-musical sounds. However, such special abilities are often found in individuals with autism (see #7: Why do people with autism more often have absolute pitch?).

#2: Is absolute pitch innate?

According to current research, the development of absolute pitch is likely dependent on both early musical training before the age of 7 and genetic factors. Studies with pairs of twins raised separately have shown that even with different musical education, in 8-15% of cases, both siblings exhibit similar levels of absolute pitch. In families of individuals with absolute pitch, there are often relatives in earlier generations who also had absolute pitch. However, numerous studies indicate that absolute pitch is significantly more common when musical training begins before the age of 7, and the earlier the training starts, the more likely it is to develop. According to one study, those who start at the age of 4 can reach up to 90% prevalence, but at least 30-60%. Many scientists argue for the theory that early musical training is as necessary as genetic predisposition for the acquisition or maintenance of absolute pitch. This theory suggests that absolute pitch develops during a sensitive period of brain development, which overlaps with the sensitive or critical period for language development in childhood. Learning experience and auditory ability before the age of 7 are also necessary for the development of language skills. Therefore, absolute pitch is likely partially dependent on early exposure to musical tones and their pitch names. However, there are indications that in genetically determined developmental disorders such as autism and Williams syndrome, the age of onset of musical training is not as crucial. This could suggest that with the appropriate genetic predisposition for absolute pitch or variations in neural connectivity in the brain, the sensitive period is less critical or extended into later stages of life. Interestingly, absolute pitch can also improve on unfamiliar instruments when one starts to learn them ("partial absolute pitch," see #1: Do I have absolute pitch and how can I test it?)—indicating that at least generalization is still possible in later stages of life for those who already possess absolute pitch.

#3: Is it true that all people are born with absolute pitch?

Since the early onset of musical training plays such a significant role in whether someone has absolute pitch or not (see #2: Is absolute pitch innate?), it is natural to consider whether we all originally possess this ability when we are born and simply lose it as a rule when we start musical training too late. In fact, a study conducted by psychologist Jenny R. Saffran showed that infants at the age of 8 months demonstrated absolute pitch perception. They exhibited surprise in an experiment when a three-note melody was transposed. Comparable studies have replicated this effect, indicating that adults tend to rely on relative pitch information in similar tasks, while children still predominantly employ absolute strategies. So, why is it that we may all be born with absolute pitch but lose this ability? The "perceptual shift theory" suggests that the sensitive period for the development of absolute pitch (see #2: Is absolute pitch innate?) coincides with a developmental phase of childhood in which children initially have a tendency to focus their perception on specific aspects of the environment. Around the age of 6 or 7, towards the end of the sensitive period for absolute pitch, a developmental leap occurs, and children start to perceive more holistically. The detailed aspects of the environment are integrated into a whole perception, and pieces of acquired information are processed relative to each other. From this point onwards, the development of absolute pitch becomes less likely.

#4: Do Asian people more frequently have absolute pitch because they speak tonal languages?

First, it should be noted that not all Asian languages are tonal languages, in which the meaning of words depends on the spoken pitch. While Chinese is a tonal language, Japanese and Korean are not. Many studies show that absolute pitch is more common among individuals of Asian ethnicity. However, this effect has also been found among Asian ethnicities that do not have tonal languages, as well as among Asians raised in English-speaking environments. Additionally, in tonal languages, the pitch contour is often more relevant than absolute pitch. Therefore, there must be other reasons. It is highly likely that environmental factors, particularly early musical training, contribute to the higher prevalence of absolute pitch among Asians. In Asian countries, music education often begins at a much earlier age (around 3-4 years old), well before the presumed sensitive developmental period relevant to absolute pitch (see #2: Is absolute pitch innate?). Moreover, teaching methods that involve solmization and explicit note naming or ear training (e.g., Suzuki method) are frequently employed in those countries. Thus, the notion of tonal languages playing a significant role in absolute pitch is a widespread myth.

#5: Is it true that you can train absolute pitch?

After just a quick internet search, you can find numerous offerings for training programs claiming to teach absolute pitch. In my opinion, these trainings are nothing more than a waste of time and money, and it would be better to invest that time and resources into meaningful ear training. So far, no studies have been able to demonstrate successful and sustainable training of absolute pitch in adults. Only studies conducted on children, primarily in Asia (such as at the Japanese Yamaha Music School), have shown some success, as many music schools and teaching methods in those regions focus on ear training, imitation, and singing note names (see also #4: Do Asians have a higher incidence of absolute pitch due to tonal languages?). With appropriate methods, children apparently can learn absolute pitch successfully and permanently between the ages of 3 and 6, although the level of achievement varies widely on an individual basis, likely due to motivation, guidance, and genetic factors (see #2: Is absolute pitch innate?). Anecdotes from adults claiming to have acquired absolute pitch through years of training are mostly exaggerated and disproportionate compared to the effort invested. The benefits of absolute pitch, aside from its drawbacks, are not significant enough to justify spending years reciting note names for hours on end, and such accomplishments often remain limited to a few notes on one's own instrument. From a scientific standpoint, one can hardly speak of absolute pitch in these cases but rather a memory for timbre (see #1: Do I have absolute pitch and how can I test it?). It is much more worthwhile to invest time in memorizing musical pieces or engaging in meaningful ear training, such as chord, harmony, and interval training. These are the aspects that have practical relevance in musical practice.

#6: Are people with absolute pitch more musical or more intelligent?

In the field of music, the belief persists that practically all the great and well-known musicians of both the current and past generations possess (or possessed) absolute pitch. The implicit assumption that the higher the musical success, the more impressive the musical abilities, does not exclude absolute pitch. However, no studies have been able to demonstrate that individuals with absolute pitch are generally more musically gifted beyond their ability to identify pitches. Similar to the phenomenon of very young musical prodigies or so-called "savants" with autism (e.g., extraordinary mathematical abilities), the rare ability of absolute pitch captivates to such an extent that it and its possessors are categorized as "geniuses" and "exceptionally gifted." Implicitly, it is assumed that these individuals excel in multiple areas compared to "ordinary" people. Yet, just like with prodigies who exhibit exceptional musical abilities at a very young age, absolute pitch is not a guarantee of a musical career or further musical development. The prevalence of absolute pitch among professional musicians is mostly attributed to the fact that many of them started their musical training at a very early age, as absolute pitch is more likely to occur the earlier musical training begins in childhood (see #2: Is absolute pitch innate?). However, an early start in music alone does not ensure musical success, as environmental factors, proper practice, and talent also play significant roles. Consequently, there are unsuccessful early starters, just as there are successful late bloomers.

Furthermore, absolute pitch can even be a disadvantage in certain situations (see #8: Is it true that absolute pitch can be "detuned"? and #9: Is it true that individuals with absolute pitch struggle with intervals, transposition, and historical tuning?). There are also no studies that demonstrate the advantages of absolute pitch in other musical skills or auditory abilities. Even though some individuals may utilize their absolute pitch as a strategy for ear training tasks or easily recognize harmonic tones, trained musicians with relative pitch can usually perform just as well or sometimes even better (see #9: Is it true that individuals with absolute pitch struggle with intervals, transposition, and historical tuning?). Moreover, other musical aspects such as phrasing, sound shaping, emotional expression, creativity, stage presence, motor skills, endurance, and so on, are equally important for a musician's profession and stage success. It is often forgotten that many outstanding musicians and composers do not possess (or did not possess) absolute pitch, such as Robert Schumann and Richard Wagner.

#7: Why do people with autism have more often absolute pitch?

In my doctoral thesis, I explored the question of similarities (cognitive, neuropsychological, and character-related) between individuals with absolute pitch and those with autism. Occasionally, extremely precise and impressive abilities of absolute pitch have been reported in case studies and studies of developmental disorders, particularly autism and Williams syndrome. Furthermore, prior to the start of my doctoral research, two studies reported increased autistic personality traits among individuals with absolute pitch who are musicians. Moreover, several investigations in both populations have shown similar brain connectivity patterns related to overconnectivity and underconnectivity of the brain.

Autism encompasses a range of developmental disorders whose symptoms primarily affect social areas. Individuals with autism exhibit difficulties in social interaction and communication, repetitive behaviors, restricted interests, and hyper- or hyposensitivities of the senses. Various theories of autism attempt to explain these symptoms by emphasizing a tendency toward stimulus-driven perception (bottom-up), heightened perceptual or sensory abilities, and a focus on details. These theories include the weak central coherence theory, the enhanced perceptual functioning theory, and the hypersystemizing theory. Since the critical period for the development of absolute pitch overlaps with a period of detail-oriented perception during normal childhood development (see #3: Is it true that everyone is born with absolute pitch?), a detail-oriented "cognitive style," i.e., the disposition to process incoming sensory information in a specific way, could serve as a common framework for explaining the similarities.

In my research work, I investigated this using professional musicians and music students. In general, individuals with absolute pitch exhibited more autistic traits than those with relative pitch, replicating the results from previous studies. Additionally, absolute pitch individuals performed better in tests requiring them to discern musical details and not be distracted by the musical context. The observed effects suggest that individuals with absolute pitch tend to have a processing style that is more focused on details and less contextually integrated compared to those with relative pitch.

Furthermore, measurements of brain activity (electroencephalography) revealed that individuals with absolute pitch exhibited less communication between widely separated brain regions and the two hemispheres. Similar findings are regularly reported in studies on autism and are summarized under the terms "integration deficit" or "underconnectivity hypothesis." The more pronounced the autistic traits were in my study participants, the more pronounced these characteristics tended to be.

Of course, these traits are by no means as extreme as in autism since none of my participants had a diagnosed autism spectrum disorder. However, they do indicate commonalities between the two conditions, suggesting at least some overlap in genetic predisposition, such as the formation of connections in the brain, perceptual style, and certain personality traits.

#8: Is it true that absolute pitch can become detuned?

Many individuals with absolute pitch perceive tones as higher than they actually are. Therefore, they consistently label tones one or two semitones higher or play them by ear lower than they should be played. The tendency for a "misaligned" absolute pitch increases with age and when musical activity decreases. This is another potential disadvantage of absolute pitch.

Regular musical activity, especially with external reference such as a tuner or music partners, can help maintain the tone labeling system. However, the phenomenon of the ear becoming "out of tune" is not specific to individuals with absolute pitch. Even individuals without absolute pitch undergo this change because it is closely related to physiological changes in the inner ear, particularly associated with aging. As the basilar membrane in the inner ear, on which the hair cells that encode the frequency of tones and send signals to the brain are located, becomes more elastic with age, the representation of tones shifts. The same tones then stimulate different nerves, which in turn activate different neurons in the brain. The tone is perceived differently. In individuals without absolute pitch, the same process occurs, but they may not notice it in terms of note names. In very unfavorable cases, absolute pitch can also become unevenly detuned, especially when there is hearing loss in both ears or when one ear experiences a sudden hearing loss. Either tones are perceived at different heights in both ears (diplacusis), or - possibly due solely to the elasticity processes - tones are estimated to be different distances from the correct pitch depending on their frequency. However, it is unclear how common such cases occur in musicians with absolute pitch but without hearing loss as they age.

#9: Is it true that individuals with absolute pitch have difficulties with intervals, transposition, and historical tuning?

Many individuals with absolute pitch report difficulties when singing or playing in the correct pitch or when correctly playing notes when it is necessary to transpose a melody or play in a historical tuning. Studies have also shown that it is possible to "detune" the absolute pitch of participants by chronically altering the pitch of a musical pieces over time. True absolute pitch possessors naturally associate tones with note names, allowing them to quickly identify and reproduce them. It is therefore not surprising that many absolute pitch possessors recognize intervals by deciphering the individual tones and then "calculating" the interval. For many of them, learning to recognize intervals based on their auditory properties may not be necessary. Consequently, individuals with absolute pitch may lack the ability to sing or play based on intervals (relative pitch) and instead rely on absolute pitch cues. In fact, individuals with absolute pitch performed worse when asked to identify intervals where the first note was incorrectly pitched. The same applies to comparing melodies in terms of interval similarity when the melodies are transposed into different keys. However, when the intervals are not unusually tuned, individuals with absolute pitch outperform individuals with relative pitch regardless of timbre, key, or whether a tonal context was given beforehand. These results suggest that individuals with absolute pitch rely on tonal chroma and corresponding pitch labels when judging tonal intervals, and with this additional cue, they can outperform individuals with relative pitch. However, when intervals or melodies are presented in an unusual appearance (e.g., different tuning), interval recognition may be compromised if relative pitch is not adequately trained or if absolute pitch becomes confused.

#10: Do you yourself have absolute pitch?

I am a synesthete. Synesthesia is generally the predisposition to connect different sensory experiences, such as hearing and seeing. I will definitely write a separate post about it. In short, synesthesia is about as rare as absolute pitch, and most individuals have multiple forms of synesthesia. Among other types, I have sound-color synesthesia. Which senses are linked and the specific associations, such as which color corresponds to which sound, are highly individual. The same sound may be blue for me and red for someone else. Some people experience the associated sensory perception, such as color, as being in the space around them or on the object itself (called "projectors"), while others experience it in their minds or only in their imagination (called "associators"). If the associations in a musical synesthesia are very categorical (similar to absolute pitch), e.g. perceives every G as red, every A as blue, and every C as black, then this form of synesthesia is like a visual absolute pitch, and the individual performs comparably in absolute pitch tests.

However, my synesthesia is predominantly influenced by overtones, making it more intricate and complex. The color of a tone is usually composed of the fundamental pitch and the first three overtones (octave, fifth, fourth), with the colors of the fundamental pitches and middle octaves (also considered as overtones) being dominant. For example, a deep cello G is dark red with some green (fundamental pitch is red, octave is green, fifth is beige, fourth/second octave is red). Moreover, this perception can be altered by the timbre of different instruments (especially in terms of brightness and texture). The tuning of the instrument and the precise pitch within the category are also determined by brightness and color gradients. Due to these factors, G is not always red, and red is not always G. E, C, and E♭ are also frequently red and A and B can contain red due to some overtones. Harmonies and chords can also have additional distinct colors (for example, fourths are often blue). Therefore, the associations in my synesthesia are not definitive and are not solely based on absolute musical aspects, so by definition, it is not absolute pitch. However, I am familiar with the phenomenon that the perceived colors no longer match the notated colors when the choir's pitch decreases or is tuned differently. And just like individuals with absolute pitch, I have had this synesthesia for as long as I can remember, and I perceive the colors without conscious thought. In fact, overthinking can interfere with perception. :-)

More about synesthesia coming soon - Stay tuned!

Hören Tiere absolut?

Animals are known to have better hearing than humans, at least in terms of frequency range and hearing thresholds. Some animal species have been studied to determine whether they perceive or use absolute or relative pitch information for communication. Studies have shown that, for example, wolves and rats can recognize group members based on absolute pitch information. Starlings and rhesus monkeys are more advanced in this regard: they primarily utilize absolute pitch information but can also use relative information, and monkeys can even recognize octaves as equivalent—an especially advanced ability of relative pitch. The fact that absolute pitch is the norm in animals and that only higher-level animals consider relative pitch information further indicates that relative pitch is the more essential ability for humans. This may also be a reason why music holds such high significance for humans: music consists of melodies, and melodies are, by definition, relative, as they depend on the relationship between tones.

By the way, my cat Smilla can recognize my voice and footsteps from a great distance. Unfortunately, I cannot determine whether she utilizes relative or absolute information for this.

Sources and Further Reading

• Altenmüller, E., & Klöppel, R. (2015). Die Kunst des Musizierens: von den physiologischen und psychologischen Grundlagen zur Praxis. Schott Music.

• Hulse, S. H., & Cynx, J. (1985). Relative pitch perception is constrained by absolute pitch in songbirds ( Mimus, Molothrus, and Sturnus ). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 99(2), 176–196.

• Wenhart, T., Bethlehem, R. A., Baron-Cohen, S., & Altenmueller, E. (2019). Autistic traits, resting-state connectivity, and absolute pitch in professional musicians: shared and distinct neural features. Molecular autism, 10, 1-18.

• Wenhart, T., & Altenmüller, E. (2019). A tendency towards details? Inconsistent results on auditory and visual local-to-global processing in absolute pitch musicians. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 31.

• Wenhart, T., Hwang, Y. Y., & Altenmüller, E. (2019). Enhanced auditory disembedding in an interleaved melody recognition test is associated with absolute pitch ability. Scientific reports, 9(1), 7838.

• Wenhart, T. (2019). Absolute pitch ability, cognitive style and autistic traits: a neuropsychological and electrophysiological study (Doctoral dissertation, Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover).

• Wright, A.A. et al. (2000) Music perception and octave generalization in rhesus monkeys. J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 129, 291–307