![]() ![]() Indeed, it was found that a similar neural population was engaged when listening to complex tones spaced by one octave ( Briley et al., 2012). This is in line with the perceived similarity between tones spaced by octaves (“octave equivalence”) present in the general population, presumably due to phase-locked synchronization across auditory neurons that detect periodicities spanning octaves. Importantly, this implies that musicians with AP do not recognize tones by frequency (or periodicity). This suggests that AP actually consist in the ability to categorize pitch chroma. In contrast, musicians without AP reasonably recognized pitch height, but not pitch chroma. In an example given in Figure 1, musicians with AP showed frequent octave errors but very accurate pitch chroma recognition. Interestingly, it has been long known ( Bachem, 1955) and consistently confirmed in recent behavioral studies ( Miyazaki, 1988 Takeuchi and Hulse, 1993 Deutsch and Henthorn, 2004 Deutsch, 2013) that some musicians with AP, who can correctly and rapidly name the pitch chroma of a given tone, make frequent mistakes in pitch height 1. But it could be due to an early commencement of formal musical training that influences both AP and musical ability ( Miyazaki, 2004). Correlation between AP and general musical ability may be found sometimes. For musical performance in non-standard tunings, such as “Baroque pitch” (reference pitch of 415 Hz, unlike the modern standard of 440 Hz), having AP could even be a disadvantage. (2015a)-except for some cases, such as musical composition, conducting, or group-wise improvisation in Jazz. Unlike a common impression due to historically famous musicians who had AP, this ability is not necessarily beneficial in musical professions-“more akin to a party trick than a useful skill,” as stated by Van Hedger et al. Lastly, we list open questions and potential ideas to address them.Ībsolute pitch (AP) is often defined as “the ability to identify the pitch of isolated tones using musical pitch labels or to produce the pitch of any tones designated by note names without comparing to any reference pitch” ( Miyazaki, 2004), which is believed to be acquired by predisposition (neural resources) and musical training during a critical period in early childhood ( Zatorre, 2003). We review relevant behavioral and neuroimaging evidence that supports each notion. A major distinction between the two views is that whether the AP uses unique auditory processing (i.e., APC) that exists only in musicians with AP or it is rooted in a common phenomenon (i.e., APM), only with heightened efficiency. Two different models on how the perceptual subprocess works have been proposed: either via absolute pitch categorization (APC) or based on absolute pitch memory (APM). ![]() In this review, we focus on the nature of the perceptual subprocess of AP. AP can be viewed as comprising of two subprocesses: perceptual (processing auditory input to extract a pitch chroma) and associative (linking an auditory representation of pitch chroma with a verbal/non-verbal label). While there have been behavioral and neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of AP, how the AP is implemented in human brains remains largely unknown. Research Group for MEG and EEG-Cortical Networks and Cognitive Functions, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, GermanyĪbsolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability of musicians to identify the pitch of tonal sound without external reference. ![]()
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