It follows from this perspective on AP that the genetic/biological contributions (presumably existing to varying degrees throughout the larger population) give rise to a number of interacting features, including the ability to retain isolated information, a cognitive predilection towards field-independent/narrow attention processing, and perhaps an auditory system capable of rendering unusually salient and rich descriptions of the stimuli. Ultimately, it is likely that these cognitive inclinations interact with developmental, tuitional and genetic contributions in a propitious confluence of factors, each with its weighted contribution to the emergence of a variety of AP proficiencies. Indeed, recent evidence has shown AP proficiency to be correlated with field-independent and sequential processing ( and references therein). This is consistent with the suggestion that one of the crucial factors in determining whether or not one develops AP may be a global cognitive predilection that affects the way in which some people distil and process the information impinging upon their senses. What if it were a musical-domain manifestation of more general features of cognition? The most typical report from possessors of AP is that they acquired the ability effortlessly and incidentally, even assuming that everyone else was hearing what they heard until they were told otherwise. This possibility has broader appeal still if one considers that absolute pitch is perhaps not perfectly cognitively self-encapsulated and uniquely musical (as it has usually been described). Add to that the fact that not all who are exposed to equivalent musical tuition develop clear forms of AP and you have the motivation for a number of questions about the interaction between genetics and environment. The necessary cognitive components required to execute a typical absolute pitch task (which can be easily operationalized for musicians) are such that AP becomes a model with which one can explore perceptual and mnemonic faculties and further the larger endeavor of mapping functional specialization in the brain. As we will see shortly, a brain functional magnetic resonance imaging study comparing musicians with and without AP published recently in BMC Neuroscience by Schulze and colleagues now fits another piece to the puzzle.Īs scientists, why should we care about what seems to be a musical quirk? Most would agree that where there is a difference in behavior, there must be a neural correlate to this difference, perhaps qualitative or merely quantitative. A comprehensive review of the factors influencing the likelihood of acquiring AP is far beyond the scope of this brief commentary, although the two most frequently mentioned are early musical training (particularly during an early developmental phase during which there is relatively preserved affinity for absolute information), and a predisposing biology, the nature of which is still largely speculated. This is referred to as perfect or absolute pitch (AP). In other words, they possess some sort of internal template, a stable representation of pitches to which they can compare the incoming signal and subsequently identify the notes by name, by sounding them on an instrument, or other responses. A small minority of musicians, however, can identify all the notes 'absolutely', each in isolation and without reference to any other note. This ability is referred to as relative pitch. If given the information that the root note is 'D', any trained musician will be able to compute the rest of the note names by identifying the intervallic distances between each note of the melody and the root (or any other note that has been determined), yielding D, A, B, C, D, E, C, D, E, D. We are able to discern this because the pattern of intervallic relationships (of both pitch and time) forms the melody, no matter the starting pitch. When played with the right rhythm and attitude, these musical intervals will be recognized by many people as the main thematic refrain from So What, by Miles Davis. Root, fifth, sixth, flatted seventh, octave, ninth, flatted seventh, octave, ninth, octave.
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