Experimental Investigation of Absolute Pitch

ABSOLUTE PITCH IS DEFINED here as the ability to identify and name the pitch of a musical note from its sound alone, without reference to any other note which has been previously sounded. Many theories have been advanced to provide an explanation of the trait, but writers have generally fallen into two groups: 1. Those with a phenomenalistic attitude, who have attributed possession of the gift to some hereditary factor. 2. Those who, particularly in more recent years, believe that it is dependent upon behavior and learning. Some of the theories that fall in the former group have been based on the assumption of a gift of hearing in the absolute pitch subject. There is nothing, however, in any of the theories of hearing that have received serious support which could provide any explanation of absolute pitch; supporters of hearing theory for the trait have been unable to give an account of the mechanism of judgment. They have similarly provided no satisfactory explanation as to why the one particular point on the continuum of pitch that has been arbitrarily selected by man in the recent past for his musical purposes should have any more significance for an inborn gift of hearing than any other. Another version of the hearing theory is that the possessor of absolute pitch has a superior sensitivity to the quality of a musical note. Again there is difiiculty in describing the precise mechanism of this sensitivity, coupled with the problem of accounting for the way in which the brain might deal with the superior signal, or remember pitch from it. The behaviorist camp has likewise presented several different arguments, including imprinting (6), vocal practice (5), and even that the trait does not exist at all, but is the tail end of pitch discrimination ability (8). No explanation has been offered, however, as to the origins of the behavior on which the trait depends, and writers have tended to embark instead on a dispute as to whether or not it is capable o£ development by training. The work re-ported here is part of a more extended study of the foundations on which previous theories have been based, and of the etiology of musical behavior; it hopes to trace, from a developmental point of view, the growth of perceptive activity and to determine the true nature of absolute pitch

Absolute (philosophy · Absolute pitch · Art · Audiology · Cognitive psychology · Epistemology · Linguistics · Literature · Musical · Musical tone · Nothing · Perception · Pitch (Music · Possession (linguistics · Relative pitch · Medicine · Music Technology and Sound Studies · Neuroscience and Music Perception · Philosophy · Psychology

• The Savant Syndrome

  Leon K Miller•Psychological Bulletin•1999

  Añadir item

• Psychology for Musicians

  A Lehmann, Andreas C Lehmann et al.•Psychology for Musicians•2007

  Añadir item

• Is Absolute Pitch Learnable? Implicit and Explicit Absolute Pitch

  James R Schmidt•Music Perception An Interdisciplina…•2025

  Añadir item

• L'oreille absolue

  Open Access•Sylvie Vangenot•Musicae Scientiae•2000

  Añadir item

• L'oreille absolue partielle chez les musiciens

  Open Access•Ana Laucirica•Musicae Scientiae•2005

  Añadir item

• Early Childhood Musical Development

  Open Access•Grover Welch, Graham F Welch•Research Studies in Music Education•1998

  Añadir item

• The Effects of Age, Singing Ability, and Instrumental Experiences on Preschool Children's Melodic Perception

  Open Access•Jonny H Ramsey•Journal of Research in Music…•1983

  Añadir item

• Absolute pitch in infant auditory learning

  Jenny Saffran, Jenny R Saffran et al.•Developmental Psychology•2001

  Añadir item

• Rhythm and pitch in music cognition

  Carol L Krumhansl•Psychological Bulletin•2000

  Añadir item

• "A critical review of the literature on "absolute pitch

  D M Neu, Daniel Neu•Psychological Bulletin•1947

  Añadir item

• The Social Psychology of Music

  Adolph S Tomars, Paul R Farnsworth•American Sociological Review•1958

  Añadir item