Absolute pitch (AP), widely referred to as perfect pitch, is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of an external reference.
Correct identification of the pitch need not be expressed linguistically; AP can also be demonstrated in auditory imagery or sensorimotor responses, for example by reproducing on an instrument a tone that has been heard (without "hunting" for the correct pitch).
Possessors of absolute pitch have it in varying degrees. Generally, absolute pitch implies some or all of the following abilities, in the absence an external standard:
- Identify by name individual pitches (e.g. A, B, C♯) played on various instruments
- Name the key of a given piece of tonal music just by listening (without reference to an external tone)
- Identify and name all the tones of a given chord or other tonal mass
- Accurately sing a named pitch without an external reference
- Name the pitches of common everyday sounds such as car horns and alarms
People have absolute pitch ability and relative pitch ability in varying degrees. Relative and absolute pitch work together in actual musical listening and practice, but strategies in using each skill vary.
Read more about Absolute Pitch: Correlation With Musical Talent, Relative Pitch
Famous quotes containing the words absolute and/or pitch:
“The absolute has moved into the fortress of the absurd.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“People do not know the natural infirmity of their mind: it does nothing but ferret and quest, and keeps incessantly whirling around, building up and becoming entangled in its own work, like our silkworms, and is suffocated in it: a mouse in a pitch barrel.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)