What follows is a short explanation of some of the more bizarre theories about perfect pitch and some suggestions about their validity. Of course, there is little known about the ability in a scientific sense, so there are some opposing theories, which are equally reasonable. These exist when it comes to uncertainties like whether it can be learned, for example. If it is possible to learn it, how should one go about such an endeavor? In other cases, the theories some people arrive at are simply beyond belief. This article describes the more outlandish theories. For more info, click: perfect pitch training.

A common misunderstanding is that there is no fundamental difference between relative pitch and perfect pitch. This is simply not so. Even a musician with the best possible skills in relative pitch needs a reference note to know the absolute pitch, which they are hearing. A high degree of relative pitch ability is important, some would say much more important than perfect pitch. This does not, however, develop perfect pitch. The two skills are completely separate.

There is a second strange theory about perfect pitch, that it is common-place in Asia. This idea is explained by the fact that some Asian languages are tonal. Some actually believe that one word in a language like Vietnamese has a different meaning depending on the pitch at which it is spoken. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what tonal languages are and a confusion between tone and pitch. Many Asian languages, like Chinese, Cantonese, or Thai, use the tonal inflection of the vowel to create different meanings. In other words, the way the tone rises or falls. Cantonese has five inflections, including fall-then-rise and rise-then-fall. Perfect pitch has nothing to do with the meaning of a word. Some studies have researched the alleged perfect pitch abilities of everyday Asian people and come up with the results, which one would expect by common sense. The pitch, which words are spoken at is sometimes the same on consecutive days and other times it is not. Perfect pitch is not present, no matter how the statistics of a survey like this may be presented to try to show something significant. More information can be found here: learning perfect pitch.

Another theory is that perfect pitch is all about recognizing and memorizing familiar sounds. The bell on the microwave, for example. This means that whenever he heats up some tomato soup, he can recall pitches from this reference tone until such time as his doorbell rings, which he also knows the note for. He will then know where he is from the doorbell until the phone rings and so on. As well as being an insane amount of work, this is simply not perfect pitch. Every musician has short term tonal memory. A person who has perfect pitch, however, could be taken to another planet for a week and still know what the pitches are.

Short term tonal memory cannot be relied upon, which leads to another theory. The idea that the sense of perfect pitch is altered by illness. There may be some illnesses able to damage the brain or hearing, in which case the ability will be affected. However, if someone claims to have perfect pitch and is having an “off day” due to a cold, this should not affect their ability to recognize the notes. Mozart was sick for most of his life. It is important to be wide awake and in good health to be able to concentrate in learning perfect pitch, but this is another issue.

The final odd theory to be addressed is that there is a perfect pitch gene. It may not seem like a mad theory but there really is little evidence to even suggest that perfect pitch is purely genetic. Perfect pitch does not run in families to any significant degree. Musicians who do not have perfect pitch often find that their child does. Why? Because the child has grown up in a musical environment. Genetics certainly plays a part in who we are in every aspect. However, there are other, bigger influences in some cases. More information can be found here: what is perfect pitch?.

Digital Arts@Google: R. Luke DuBois and Scott Draves

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