Perfect Pitch: Is it a Nurtured Trait?

The opinions about perfect pitch vary from expert to expert. The definitions seem to be varied, too. Generally speaking, perfect pitch it the ability to hear a note, and then identify not only that note, but to identify any note that's sounded. That sounds simple enough. The debate, however, is whether the talent is inborn or trained.

One thing every expert seems to agree upon is the fact that true perfect pitch is accompanied by early exposure to music. That means musical training by or before the age of six. Again, the experts disagree on exactly what "training" means. Some feel that mere exposure to music is all that's needed. Others believe that the child must have a basic knowledge of the scale, forming their base on identifying one note, and placing all other notes by the distance from the key note they have memorized.

Perfect pitch, in more detail, implies the ability to identify and name individual pitches played on different instruments, the ability to name the key of a given piece of tonal music, to identify and name all of the chords of a given chord or other tonal mass, to sing a given pitch without external reference, and/or to name the pitches of common everyday sounds like car horns or telephone sounds.

Relative pitch, a step below perfect (sometimes called "absolute pitch"), pitch can be learned. It is possible, with continued practice, to listen to a single, known note, once, and then be able to identify other notes by their vibratory frequencies-as related to the single, known note.