# perfect pitch?

Category: Geeks r Us

## Post 1 by rdfreak (THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE-BLUE KANGA-KICKIN AUSIE) on Monday, 31-Dec-2007 5:09:07

sorry, didn't know what I should put this under exactly, Lol
copying text from an email list for anyone's interest:
As it seems most blind musicians have perfect pitch, I thought some of you
might be interested in doing this survey and taking the absolute pitch test.
since they have not realised yet that blind musicians are much more likely
to have perfect pitch than sighted musos, please include this fact in your
answers. I suspect their theory that it is genetic could be contradicted by
the high percentage of blind musicians with perfect pitch.
I've copied some info below, but for further details and the survey and
test, go to:
http://perfectpitch.ucsf.edu/ppstudy.html
Please feel free to circulate this within your networks.
University of California Absolute Pitch Study
What is absolute pitch?
Absolute pitch, commonly referred to as perfect pitch, is an intriguing
cognitive trait involved in music perception and is defined as the ability
to identify
the pitch of a musical tone without an external reference pitch. To be
considered an absolute pitch possessor, an individual must have the ability
to identify
pitches accurately and instantaneously.
Main objective
The primary goal of this study is to discover the genes that are involved in
the development of absolute pitch. This investigation will allow us to
better
understand the interplay of genetics and musical training in the development
of this cognitive trait. These findings may also be applicable to other
traits,
such as language ability, and, more broadly, to neurodevelopment.
The goals of this website are to inform the public about the University of
California Genetics of Absolute Pitch Study and to recruit individuals to
take
part in this study. This study is being conducted by the laboratories of Dr.
Jane Gitschier at the University of California, San Francisco and Dr. Nelson
Freimer at the University of California, Los Angeles. The study has been
approved by the UCSF Committee on Human Research. All information collected
on
individual participants will be kept confidential.
How to participate in the UC Genetics of Absolute Pitch Study
It is easy to participate in our study by filling in a brief survey and
taking our pitch-naming test
online.
Since we are attempting to unravel many factors that could contribute to the
development of absolute pitch, both absolute pitch possessors and
non-possessors
are needed for the study. Everyone's contribution is valuable.
If you indicate in the survey that you are willing to participate in the
study, we will need an e-mail address to contact you for follow-up. Some
participants
may be recontacted for further information about their family history of
absolute pitch. We may follow up on the answers to other survey questions as
well.
Some participants might also be invited to participate further by
contributing a DNA sample for our genetic study. This level of participation
is, of course,
optional.
After filling in the survey, you will be linked to a page informing you how
to take the pitch-naming test for absolute pitch. We use this auditory test
to objectively assess the pitch naming abilities of our study participants.
Our auditory tone test consists of two parts, one test of 40 "pure" tones
and
one test of 40 piano tones. Since some computer speakers have trouble
reproducing a few of the tones, we recommend the use of headphones during
the test
if you have any.
In each trial, a tone plays for 1 second, followed by a silent interval of 2
seconds. Participants record their guesses within the brief intervals by
clicking
on a screen keyboard. Tones are given in blocks of ten, allowing
participants to rest between blocks if needed. When you are finished, you
will be informed
of your score and if it exceeds a certain threshold, you meet our study's
criteria for being an absolute pitch possessor.
Filling in the survey and taking the pitch-naming test should take less than
20 minutes.

## Post 2 by blbobby (Ooo you're gona like this!) on Monday, 31-Dec-2007 9:04:22

Good post, thanks.
I suspect what blind musicians have is relative pitch--the learned ability to identify certain notes based on their nearness to notes the user has learned to identify.
This is not perfect pitch and can be learned by most people with a familiarity with music.
So, it'll be interesting to see what the study determines.
Bob

## Post 3 by bozmagic (The rottie's your best friend if you want him/her to be, lol.) on Monday, 31-Dec-2007 13:38:42

Hmmm, I dunno. Everyone who knows me very well, music teachers/tutors, my family and some friends have always commented on the fact I have perfect pitch. For example, I'm in the living room with mum watching TV and this stupid little saxophone theme tune's just played in the key of G major. Perfect pitch comes in damn useful for tracking down old favourite TV programs by the theme tunes or songs you remember really well from your early childhood. I also think I probably have Synaesthesia, an ability to "see" diferent colours, feel different textures, taste different things or smell different smells on hearing many different musical chords, contrary to the belief that only fully or maybe partially sighted people can have it. (I posted about Synaesthesia in another topic quite some time ago if anyone's interested?
Jen.

## Post 4 by bozmagic (The rottie's your best friend if you want him/her to be, lol.) on Monday, 31-Dec-2007 13:53:21

O, and is there perhaps a survey that applicants worldwide could take part in? I just checked out the website you mentioned in the first post and it didn't give you the option to change the country. It seems it's just for people within the US, which is a pity.
Jen.