The majority of adults can learn to have absolute pitch

[Michael Neverisky]

I heard once that the New England Conservatory teaches some kind of absolute pitch to its students, and that they use a “fixed do” Sol feige method. But I haven’t confirmed this.

I earned an undergraduate degree from NEC way back in 1980. We had "ear training" classes which aided in the development of relative pitch. Recognizing intervals when you hear them either linearly in a melody or when played together in a chord. At that time, and things may have changed over the decades, there was no academic emphasis on perfect pitch.

As an aside: I chose to not become a professional musician and followed a different career path. But I will forever be grateful for the skills and knowledge gained in the training that I employ every day in pursuit of my hobby.

[Jim Bevan]

When did "absolute pitch" become a commonly-used term?
I have decent enough "memory pitch" – I can tune a newly-strung mandolin up to pitch 'cuz I can remember/"visualize" what a G-chord sounds like, and I know folks that I consider having "perfect pitch" who can tell me, without hesitation, what note that door-hinge squeak was, but, "absolute pitch" – any difference between that and perfect pitch?

And, while I'm here, a bit of a side-track: I've always wondered why it seems that women (with no musical training) can sing a tune in the "correct" (original) key way more often than men seem to be able to do. Maybe it helps that their voice-ranges are usually closer to what they're duplicating? (A test involving a Bing Crosby song might shed some light... )

[jim simpson]

Jim,
My wife doesn't play an instrument or sing out except when I overhear her when she doesn't realize it. Having said that, she has always been acutely aware of others who are even slightly off pitch (flat or sharp). She has always had such an ear for music, i rely on her input for any number of scenarios where I trust her opinion before my own.

[doorall]

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[Ivan Kelsall]

I disagree that you can 'learn' to have perfect pitch any more than you can learn to have a good singing voice - IMHO - you're born with either or not !. If you have a poor singing voice,you can train it to make it 'better than it was',but it'll never be 'good' in the way we understand those born with a good voice are. However - in many cases it's all relative to the musical genre(s) you'll be singing in. ''Some genres'' don't demand too much of a voice to begin with.

With 'perfect pitch' - you either have it to begin with,or you don't. Being able to reproduce a 'perfect' note without any mistake is very rare. If a musician is familiar enough with their instrument,then i'd expect them to become familiar with the individual 'notes' & the way that they sound. Over time,this familiarity might enable them to name specific notes on hearing them - but it's not ''perfect pitch'' - it's simply 'familiarity' with the notes. It's that fact that enables me to 'copy' Bluegrass tunes pretty easily - i've learned where the ''sounds'' are on the fingerboard.

I don't have anything like 'perfect pitch',but i can hear a tune new to me,& mostly pick upo the key that it's in,simply because it sounds similar to tunes that i already play - i just recognise the 'sound',however i don't always get it right,something that if i did have 'perfect pitch' i'd mostly get right every time,
Ivan

[farmerjones]

Playing fretless instruments, one pretty much has to have a sense of relative pitch, but I would not enjoy nor pursue a sense of perfect/absolute pitch. Everything leads me to believe it to be a curse over a blessing. I mean a typical acoustic piano would be a nightmare.

[dadsaster]

Relative pitch is enough to hear if someone is out of tune. Absolute pitch seems like a lot of work to be able to impress people at a bar.

I knew a woman who had absolute pitch. She could name every note in a 7 note chord on a piano and could hear when a note was off by as little as 2 cents. This ability mostly caused her to be irritated by other people's playing.

[CarlM]

It has to be at least partially learned. A was not always 440. So a person has to learn whatever standard is used. Then the question is whether they can unlearn it if the standard reference changes. That is why I have a little difficulty understanding what the term means.