Absolute or "perfect" pitch is the ability to identify a given sound by a note name and/or the ability to produce a note by its name without a reference pitch. Many scientists debate how people possess this unique talent as only about one in every ten-thousand people have this ability (Harris 2013). These rare and uniquely talented individuals have an understanding of music that most could only dream of. Some people believe that the possession of this gift is hereditary. Others insist that absolute pitch can only be developed between the ages of two and six, imploring that after this critical time in life, humans lose a portion in their process of thinking that is vital to gaining absolute pitch. Many of those who support this claim believe that after this time, acquiring the skill is very difficult. This paper manifests some of the benefits of having this ability and how musicians use it to broaden their spectrum in the musical realm.  The aim of this paper is to challenge the claim that absolute pitch is innate and explain that the skill is acquirable to all and methods on how one can achieve it. 

The purpose of this paper is to not only show how it benefits musicians, but also to provide information to others who may be asking the same question. Some people believe that perfect pitch is an inherited ability while others believe that it can only be developed between the ages of two and six (Svard 2013). This period is known as the critical period in which the brain is most compatible with learning the skill of absolute pitch. I on the other hand believe that absolute pitch is an acquirable skill at any age in which an individual can still hear. I found a couple of sources to support this belief and I intend to object the following claims: that absolute pitch is inherited and that absolute pitch can only be developed between ages two and six. Besides adding information to the research that others have already made, this paper offers methods on how an individual could potentially obtain perfect pitch after the critical period. Some of the information gathered in a couple of my interviews shines a light on procedures to follow to acquire absolute pitch. 

Absolute pitch helps enhance musical a person's musical caliber. Once an individual acquires absolute pitch, he or she unlocks a separate understanding of not only music, but sound as well. Abstract sounds such as horns, alarms, sirens, squeals, and even coins dropping to the floor can be identified by those who have this skill. This ability gives possessors of perfect pitch a special advantage in improvisational playing and or following singers. When a musician improvises, he or she plays notes randomly from the mind that are not scripted in a composition. If an individual has absolute pitch, he or she can reproduce whatever notes are in mind on their instrument without having to assume what the note is (Levine 2016).  Joshua Isaac says it is like having a musical keyboard that lights up when you play letting you know what works and what does not (Isaac 2016). 

 In addition to being able to identify any kind of sound, those who have absolute pitch also have the ability to practice perfectly. Perfect practice makes perfect. Individuals with perfect pitch can practice perfectly which is why many musicians who have perfect pitch are phenomenal instrumentalists. Things such as intonation, playing on pitch, and blending with others come natural to those who have absolute pitch. These individuals can serve as a tuner for their choirs and or ensembles as well as provide starting notes for acapella groups who would otherwise need a reference from an instrument. 

Absolute pitch was and still is a mind-boggling skill that very few were and are privileged to have. What is even more impressive is that fewer of these distinctive people understand the gift that they possess or even how they got it. Svard's article on absolute pitch declares that perfect pitch possessors say it just happens (Svard 2013). Many studies have been done to try and uncover the rare skill as well as experiments to figure out how one can acquire it. Few have had success with either one. Perfect pitch is a skill that is obviously hard to acquire at least cognitively. Once an individual is old enough to realize they have or even fathom the depths of a skill like absolute pitch, often times they are past the critical age stage and either have it or they don't. 

The critical age stage when related to the acquisition of absolute pitch is between the ages of two and six. After this point, it is hard to learn not only certain sound recognitions but also language. This signifies that in many ways people view developing perfect pitch after the critical stage as an impossible task. Another factor in the skepticism of developing absolute pitch is language. Tests have shown that those who speak tonal languages such as Mandarin possess absolute pitch more commonly than those who speak non- tonal languages such as American English (Deutsch 2006). Deutsch verifies that language can play a big factor into one's probability of acquiring perfect pitch. As a result of this level of trouble, many believe that the skill is innate (Hirshon 2013).  

Various people believe that the most optimal time to acquire absolute pitch is between ages two and six (teVelde 2012). This is due to the critical period that is associated with the development of vitals such as language and sound recognition. Children in this age category, are more receptive of things like language and sounds (teVelde 2016). Since absolute pitch refers to an ability to identify sounds, many suggest that it is best to acquire the skill during this time frame. 

 Following this period, several doubt that individuals can develop perfect pitch with great success. I however assert that absolute pitch can be developed at any stage in life by anyone who can hear and has functioning memory. One tactic that increases the chances of someone learning this ability is auditory working memory categorization (Hedger 2015). Working memory categorization is essential for developing perfect pitch because it associates a person's memory of a particular thing to a category of things similar to it. Thus, if an individual can make a particular sound concrete in their mind, that individual can acquire perfect pitch. This process is known as auditory working memory categorization (Hedger 2015).  

As I stated earlier, auditory working memory categorization allows a person to make a particular sound concrete in their mind. It is said that one with good auditory working memory categorization has a higher chance of developing absolute pitch than one who does not have good auditory working memory categorization (Hedger 2015).  This memory form serves as a tester of one's ability to prosper in sound development all together which includes not only perfect pitch but also relative pitch. Relative pitch is the ability to identify a sound after being given a reference. For example, if I were to be given a middle C on the piano as a reference, and then given another note, I would be able to identify the second note based upon an evaluation in my mind from one sound to the next. I have what is known as relative pitch. Auditory working memory categorization works directly with relative and absolute pitch and intends to predict a person's success rate to obtain perfect pitch at any age (Hedger 2015). With this intent, auditory working memory categorization assists my claim: If good auditory working memory categorization makes it easier to acquire absolute pitch, then anybody that has good auditory working memory categorization can develop perfect pitch. 

Kevon Scott, a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston Massachusetts supports Hedger's claim about absolute working memory categorization. While interviewing Scott, he explained how he has recently picked up the challenge of learning absolute pitch and his current progress. Scott says, "I'm relatively close. I can identify the 'common' white keys (C, F, and G) and the black keys on the piano easily now" (Scott 2016). He credits his success to auditory working memory categorization. Most of what he does for homework is complete transcriptions of works by artists. Kevon describes a transcription as, "An accurate reproduction of one's musical work without a tutorial" (Scott 2016). In order to complete these transcriptions, Scott uses his ear to figure out what notes are being played and memorize their sequence to reproduce the work on his own instrument. Doing this enhanced his auditory working memory categorization and now certain sounds just stick out to him. Scott claims that after transcribing Cory Henry's rendition of Spain, certain notes just became apparent and anytime he hears an A natural, he immediately knows it and what octave it is played in. He showed his excitement by saying, "I feel like I will have perfect pitch by the end of the semester" (Scott 2016).

The interview with Scott highlights the power of auditory working memory categorization and how it could assist individuals in developing absolute pitch. According to our interview, he claims that he only recently began focusing on his auditory working memory categorization. In extension, Kevon is past the claimed critical age to learn perfect pitch. After I made him aware of the critical age period and his opportunity, he became even more driven to achieve absolute pitch than he was before. He claims that a few of students at Berklee have absolute pitch and that their knowledge of music and abilities are beyond remarkable. He mentions that in their aural skills classes these students get perfect scores on each assignment and that he aspires to be one of these students soon. With his recent indulgence in auditory working memory categorization, Scott believes that he can and will obtain absolute pitch very soon. 

My interview with Scott, proves that auditory working memory categorization helps people who are pursuing the skill of absolute pitch then the question arises, what about people who have absolute pitch? To answer this question, I interviewed a couple of individuals who have absolute pitch. These two individuals are Joshua Isaac and Sandy Levine who happily agreed to be interviewed to add to my paper so that the others could have a peek into the mind of people who possesses perfect pitch. 

Joshua "Josh" Isaac is an undergraduate music and sound engineering student at Winthrop University. Josh says he noticed he had a special ability at around the seventh grade but did not really understand his skill. Isaac believes that absolute pitch is an acquired skill. He states, "My mother and father noticed that I would respond based upon the music playing in the house and things of that sort I of course did not know that what I experienced with music was unique" (Isaac 2016). Around seventh grade, Isaac declares sounds begun to stick out to him. The refrigerator's hum gave off a very specific sound to his ear and subsequently other objects such as the microwave, air conditioning unit, and cable box. However, he could not understand why these sounds stuck out to him more than the average person. During this realization, Josh was not able to identify the notes by name quite yet but soon after noticing his sound capabilities improved. He says within about a week, he was able to pair those sounds with note names. Now Isaac can effortlessly reproduce anything he hears subconsciously. "It isn't even a thought now" says Isaac, "I now know the pitch of the things that I hear immediately" (Isaac 2016). 

Isaac admits he had to fine tune his ability. He worked at in until he could also identify multiple notes at one time and their octaves as well. To do this he said he focused on one sound at a time. He would memorize that a specific song starts with the note F and the car horn is a B, things of that sort. After assembling the pitches as concrete sounds in his mind, he was able to pair similar sounding notes to his concrete pitches. Josh recalls the memory of being in church as someone was singing and saying "Oh that sounds like Ab!" (Isaac 2016). With this outburst serving as proof of the realization of his skill, Isaac not only confirms that absolute pitch is learnable, but that auditory working memory categorization plays a big role in its development as well. 

For Josh, things related to sound just started to click. He remembers that day in the seventh grade vividly and how much different music is for him now. However, he did not make a conscious decision to acquire absolute pitch. Sure, he worked to enhance and identify pitches but sound to his ear stuck out noticeably. The next person I interviewed had a much different experience. 

Sandy Levine is a professional musician who attended Benedict College and South Carolina State University as an undergraduate student. Levine says his mother would sing hymns around the house and his brother sang and played instruments as well. However sounds never just stuck out to him like they did for Josh. Early in his childhood, Sandy started playing the drum set as soon as he could walk and never had any special recognition with pitch. During his latter teenage years, Sandy decided to learn the keyboard and the organ respectively. Sandy declares, "I wanted to learn fast and I saw this thing online about perfect pitch which would allow me to do that" (Levine 2016). After being introduced to this skill, Levine says he would listen to his family members sing and try to associate their pitch with other arbitrary sounds throughout the house. He then would sing the note to himself and run to a keyboard nearby to check to see if his thoughts were right. He admits that it was hard at first because he would fail miserably, sometimes several semi-tones off. "I would get so discouraged because I didn't understand why I kept getting it wrong" (Levine 2016). One day this all changed. His brother began playing his bass guitar and Sandy claims he immediately said C sharp. His brother looked up startled and asked "How did you know that?" Levine responded "I just know" (Levine 2016). From this day forward, he claimed to have absolute pitch. As a result, Levine has been challenged on his ability on several occasions. He states, "At school, professors would question me, other musicians would question me, and anybody else who I told I had it" (Levine 2016). Now whenever asked about his ability, Sandy replies, "I just remember what the notes sound like" (Levine 2016).

Josh and Sandy both had different experiences with absolute pitch. Josh experienced something special with sound and just noticed it one day similar to what Svard said in her article about perfect pitch possessors. Sandy developed his perfect pitch over time in his teenage years which supports my claim that absolute pitch is an attainable skill at any age. Both musicians are extremely appreciative of their gifts. Levine says "I can help my brother tune his bass on the spot and I can sing songs in the pitch they are recorded in without a reference" (Levine 2016). Josh describes his absolute pitch like this: "I see every note before I sing it or play it. Like I said before, it's just like having a keyboard that lights up with the notes in my head" (Isaac 2016). Levine's testimony of acquisition of the skill proves my assertion that perfect pitch is developed and that this development can take place at any stage in life. Josh and Kevon's interviews prove that absolute working memory categorization are essential in pitch development. Based upon these studies, I conclude that absolute pitch can be acquired at any age.  

