Analogies For Perfect Pitch

Training to learn perfect pitch is a controversial topic. For example, it is not known for sure if one is born with the ability or learns it when very young. Most agree, it is learned at a very young age. Many people believe it is a skill, which can be acquired while others disagree, even when presented with evidence to the contrary.

There are a few analogies to describe the experience and mechanism of perfect pitch, which are often offered in an attempt to understand how one might learn the skill. Most widespread is the color analogy. People who have perfect pitch experience the sound of the twelve notes differently from the majority of people. Each individual note has its own character, which sets it apart, this is distinct from its pitch. The character of the note is what allows it to be recognized and remembered. The analogy with colors is that each note has a pitch color, so the spectrum of frequency that we hear is divided into pitch colors, rather like the spectrum of light we see is perceived as colors. This describes the experience of perfect pitch quite well. However, it cannot describe the psychology or biology of what is actually going on. It is well known how the eye sees color, there are sets of three cones on the retina. One for green, one red, and one for intensity. The brain receives the three signals, subtracts the green and red from the total to get blue. Everyone can see colors and it is part of the biology of the eye. The cones in some retinas are not as good as the majority of people and so they are considered to be color blind. There is no such division of frequency ranges in the ear. The ear does not contain any such biological system and so the analogy does not hold up.

Another analogy is that the notes of perfect pitch are learned in the same way as the phonemes in language Phonemes are the short sounds, which make up words. The sounds of c or d. In a way, these are like the notes of a melody, if a melody is like a sentence. However, a time frame is required for a phoneme to exist. A phoneme is created from the variation of sound over the time period taken to pronounce the phoneme. There is no specific time requirement for the recognition of a note by perfect pitch. It does not matter how long the note is played for, it will be recognized the same.

The recognition of a harmonic spectrum of a sound is more similar to recognition of notes by perfect pitch. This is by the dimension of frequency, rather than time. The ability to hear different instruments and recognize them is one example. Each instrument creates a different harmonic spectrum. Another example is the ability to identify a particular person's voice. A person's voice is always instantly recognized, no matter what they say. Their voice has a specific timbre, recognized instantly without thinking. This ability is actually quite amazing, when one thinks about it. These sounds do contain other characteristics, though, which is the one flaw in the analogy. There are extra cues in the way a person speaks or the noises an instrument makes (as well as the tonal sounds). These may also help the recognition in some cases. It is the most suitable analogy,