Learning fast and accurate absolute pitch judgment in adulthood

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Perceived Practical Value of Absolute Pitch

  • Several musicians argue the reported result (≈7 notes at 90% accuracy with ~1.3–2.0s latency) is musically underwhelming compared to fast, accurate relative pitch.
  • Many say AP is mostly a “party trick,” with limited use beyond starting the first note; relative pitch handles almost all real-world tasks (playing by ear, ensemble tuning, composition).

Relative Pitch vs Absolute Pitch / Pitch Memory

  • Multiple comments stress that relative pitch is straightforward to train and becomes very accurate (e.g., tuning within a few cents) with modest practice.
  • A recurring clarification:
    • Pitch memory = recalling or recognizing specific notes or song start-pitches.
    • Absolute pitch (in the study’s sense) = quickly naming any heard note, in any octave, without references.
  • Some describe being able to reliably recall one or a few specific notes; others call this tonal memory, not full AP.

Can Adults Learn “Real” Absolute Pitch?

  • One camp insists AP cannot be acquired in adulthood; they point to critical-period and genetic findings, and note that this study’s result (partial, slow, error-prone, 7/12 notes) falls well short of typical AP benchmarks.
  • Others counter with anecdotes (self or family) suggesting note-name associations can be learned, likening it to late language learning: harder after childhood but not impossible.
  • A long meta-comment notes this same dispute recurs every AP thread: AP-havers asserting rarity/innateness vs trained-musicians insisting on a spectrum of learnable abilities.
  • Several point out the paper itself challenges older claims that adults never acquire any AP-like ability, but agree it doesn’t show “native-level” AP.

Costs and Downsides of Absolute Pitch

  • AP is described by some as a nuisance:
    • Small tuning differences (A=440 vs 442–443, drifting ensembles, detuned recordings) can be distracting or painful.
    • With age-related hearing changes, AP can “shift,” making everything sound wrong and diminishing musical enjoyment.
  • A few musicians with AP mention difficulties when ensembles transpose or instruments are tuned unusually.

Training Tools, Web Apps, and Ear Training

  • A commenter built an online pitch-identification tool (perfectpitch.study); users note that they start recognizing samples rather than pure pitch, and suggest varying instruments/timbres.
  • Others recommend web audio APIs (e.g., browser synths, tone.js, OpenEar) and commercial ear-training apps as better platforms for interval and chord recognition.
  • Some emphasize that interval, chord, and melodic ear-training (relative pitch) is far more beneficial for practical musicianship than AP drills.

Methodological / Conceptual Critiques of the Study

  • Commenters highlight that:
    • Participants averaged only 7/12 notes;
    • Mean error was still ≈1.5 semitones;
    • Performance generalized only partially across timbres.
  • Several argue this shows improvement in “pseudo-AP” or pitch categorization, not true AP.
  • Multiple people complain that the paper’s code is not publicly available, limiting reproducibility.