This is a brief paper on some of the crazy ideas surrounding the phenomenon of perfect pitch and the opinion of this author on these. There is still a lot to be learned on the subject of perfect pitch and so disagreeing theories are to be expected, where sometimes both viewpoints have merit. These exist when it comes to uncertainties like whether it can be learned, for example. How can it be learned? However, some ideas on the topic are just plain crazy. 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. It is not the case. Someone who has relative pitch skills needs a reference note before being able to tell which note they are hearing, even when their skills are developed to the maximum level. 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 skills are totally different.
There is a second strange theory about perfect pitch, that it is common-place in Asia. The tonal nature of some Asian languages being given as a reason for this. 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 not true and is not how tonal languages work. In languages like Chinese, it is the tonal shape of the vowel, which changes the meaning, not the absolute pitch. In other words, the way the tone rises or falls. In Cantonese, it may rise then fall or fall then rise. The meaning is not altered by the absolute pitch. Studies into this area have shown nothing significant. Sometimes, people repeat words in the same pitch from one day to the next and sometimes they do 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 idea is that perfect pitch involves knowing the pitches in your environment and keeping track of them. For example, the pitch of the beeper on a microwave. So, the person has a sense of pitch when it beeps, which he retains until the next familiar sound, like the doorbell. This next sound keeps him in tune until the phone rings, and so on. There is no benefit to living your life like this and it is not perfect pitch. Every musician has short term tonal memory. Someone who has perfect pitch, knows a tone he hears randomly just after waking up and could be locked in a room for days with no sound and still be able to identify a pitch.
Short term tonal memory cannot be relied upon, which leads to another theory. The notion that perfect pitch awareness is changed by sickness. Obviously, if an illness leads to madness or deafness, perfect pitch may be affected. However, having the flu is not sufficient to excuse a person making a mistake in identifying a clear pitch, assuming they have claimed to have perfect pitch. Illness was a big part of Mozart's life, for example. 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 last theory to be discussed is the one of a perfect pitch gene. This may not seem as crazy as some other ideas, but there is not compelling evidence that there should be a gene for perfect pitch. There is not a strong evidence of the skill being hereditary. More often, a non-perfect pitch musician finds that hi child has it. The obvious conclusion is that the musical environment, in which the child grew up, was the important factor. Genetics may play a role in almost every part of the human condition, but in the case of perfect pitch, there are more important factors. You can read more about this at: what is perfect pitch?
A common misunderstanding is that there is no fundamental difference between relative pitch and perfect pitch. It is not the case. Someone who has relative pitch skills needs a reference note before being able to tell which note they are hearing, even when their skills are developed to the maximum level. 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 skills are totally different.
There is a second strange theory about perfect pitch, that it is common-place in Asia. The tonal nature of some Asian languages being given as a reason for this. 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 not true and is not how tonal languages work. In languages like Chinese, it is the tonal shape of the vowel, which changes the meaning, not the absolute pitch. In other words, the way the tone rises or falls. In Cantonese, it may rise then fall or fall then rise. The meaning is not altered by the absolute pitch. Studies into this area have shown nothing significant. Sometimes, people repeat words in the same pitch from one day to the next and sometimes they do 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 idea is that perfect pitch involves knowing the pitches in your environment and keeping track of them. For example, the pitch of the beeper on a microwave. So, the person has a sense of pitch when it beeps, which he retains until the next familiar sound, like the doorbell. This next sound keeps him in tune until the phone rings, and so on. There is no benefit to living your life like this and it is not perfect pitch. Every musician has short term tonal memory. Someone who has perfect pitch, knows a tone he hears randomly just after waking up and could be locked in a room for days with no sound and still be able to identify a pitch.
Short term tonal memory cannot be relied upon, which leads to another theory. The notion that perfect pitch awareness is changed by sickness. Obviously, if an illness leads to madness or deafness, perfect pitch may be affected. However, having the flu is not sufficient to excuse a person making a mistake in identifying a clear pitch, assuming they have claimed to have perfect pitch. Illness was a big part of Mozart's life, for example. 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 last theory to be discussed is the one of a perfect pitch gene. This may not seem as crazy as some other ideas, but there is not compelling evidence that there should be a gene for perfect pitch. There is not a strong evidence of the skill being hereditary. More often, a non-perfect pitch musician finds that hi child has it. The obvious conclusion is that the musical environment, in which the child grew up, was the important factor. Genetics may play a role in almost every part of the human condition, but in the case of perfect pitch, there are more important factors. You can read more about this at: what is perfect pitch?