James Schmidt: “Is Absolute Pitch Learnable?”

James Schmidt, University of Bourgogne (Frankrike):

“Is Absolute Pitch Learnable?”

Absolute pitch (AP) is the ability to identify and name an isolated tone by ear. The review begins with a brief overview of AP and the seeming bizarreness of its rarity. I then consider some reasons why AP learning may be inherently more difficult than typically assumed. First, the simplicity of what needs to be learned could be overstated if not taking into consideration the diversity of auditory stimuli (e.g., varying in timbre and octave) within each pitch class. A further reason for the rarity of AP could simply be the lack of extensive appropriate training. I then discuss implicit AP, which seems to be possessed by most, even non-musicians. Implicit AP refers to the ability to identify pitches absolutely at a more unconscious level but the inability to verbally label them. The review then considers growing evidence against the notion that AP is essentially unlearnable without the right genetic endowments and/or early music education. Procedures that might inhibit or facilitate AP learning are discussed. Incidental (i.e., non-intentional) learning may be particularly effective in training this difficult-to-acquire skill. A new multifactorial perspective of AP acquisition is presented along with some open questions for future research.