Absolute (perfect) Pitch Test for Gifted Children in Music

cheungll

If a child learns music much faster than others, then he/she may have absolute (perfect) pitch. It means he/she can recognise the tones correctly and immediately like when he/she sees a number or colour. He/she may even be able to sing any tone (e.g. F# in 2nd octave) immediately without referring to any other tone.

If you want to find out if your child has this inborn capability, you can ask your child to take the test here:
http://perfectpitch.ucsf.edu
for the University of California Genetics of Absolute Pitch Study.

To name a few people who have perfect pitch: Aristo Sham Ching-tao 沈靖韜, Hayley Westenra (New Zealand singer), Gong Tianpeng (Peng Peng; now 14. He got full scholarship to Julliard at 9. See last week's SCMP article "Boy Wonder"); Chung Kyung Wha 鄭京和 (famous Korean violinist).

I saw some statistics showing that about 0.01% children have this inborn ability, which may slowly disappear if the children do not learn music or are not aware of it.

Sindy

where is it ? we are in hong kong wow.....

my girl may have perfect pitch...but i think that she is not inborn......most people may train it

cheungll

The test can be done on the internet from anywhere in the world, here:
http://perfectpitch.ucsf.edu/pptest_pre.php

You need to fill in a survey before the test.

Most absolute/perfect pitch is inborn. The child does not need to think when he/she hears the tone. Music learners can be trained to have relative pitch and recognise the tones quickly, but not so fast as those inborn with perfect pitch.

You can ask your daughter to do the test. If the score is A=1 and pure tone score > 25, piano tone > 28, then your daughter has perfect pitch.
   

Sindy

oh thanks , will try later

cheungll 寫道:
The test can be done on the internet from anywhere in the world, here:
http://perfectpitch.ucsf.edu/pptest_pre.php

You need to fill in a survey before the test.

Most absolute/perfect pitch is inborn. The child does not need to think when he/she hears the tone. Music learners can be trained to have relative pitch and recognise the tones quickly, but not so fast as those inborn with perfect pitch.

You can ask your daughter to do the test. If the score is A=1 and pure tone score > 25, piano tone > 28, then your daughter has perfect pitch.
   

christianmom

Regarding  "perfect pitch", my son had a precious experience last Saturday.  On that day, he had the Royal Schools of Music Cello Exam.  After the exam, the examiner came out with him and asked me if I knew my son had perfect pitch.  Then the examiner said " perfect pitch" was in-born.  He told me that my son was gifted in music and only 1 out of 20,000 people had "perfect pitch".  

I feel very thankful because the examiner is so good to let us know his talent.  We may not have the professional knowledge to recognize. My son had several piano exam before, but we had never met an examiner who was so keen to tell you the fact. Actually my son's music teacher and several people who have musical background had told me about his "perfect pitch".  But I don't believe until it is told by a professional musician.

Up till now, I have no knowledge to tell the details about "perfect pitch", but I just want to response that it should be in-born according to the examiner. Some of you may have the same experience like me before or in future.

cheungll

Hi Christianmom,

Nice to hear that your son has perfect pitch. Have your son tried this perfect pitch test? Which grade of the cello exam did your son take last Saturday? If your son has perfect pitch, he must be learning faster than other kids. How old is he? Is there any other family member with perfect pitch?

My younger daughter also has perfect pitch. She did the test and scored full marks (pure tone = 36 and piano tone = 36).  She plays the violin. But even she has perfect pitch, she doesn't have "perfect fingers" or "perfect tempo", so if she doesn't practise hard, she will still play out of tune.

junjunmimi

cheungll,

Thank you for your sharing.

My boy tried the test.  He scored pure tone=35.5 and piano tone=35.75, nearly perfect.

By the way, he plays piano and cello.

cheungll 寫道:

If you want to find out if your child has this inborn capability, you can ask your child to take the test here:
http://perfectpitch.ucsf.edu
for the University of California Genetics of Absolute Pitch Study.

cheungll

Hello Junjunmimi,

Nice to hear another perfect pitch boy. How old is your son? At what grade is he playing the piano and cello? Is he in any orchestra?

From other forums (ABRSM and violinist.com), it seems not many western people got very high scores even they have perfect pitch. Many got 28 or 30 etc. Only a few got over 30 in pure tone. I guess it's because western people don't learn music so diligently at an early age. By the time they recognise they have this ability, it has weakened to a certain extent.

Cheungll

christianmom

Hi cheungll

Congratulation to your daughter too!!  It's good for us to know our kid's strength and weakness so that we can help them develop their talent.

I don't know there is a test for perfect pitch until I read your mail.  My son has just done the test and he got 35 in pure tone and 36 in piano tone.

My son has learned cello for one year and had grade 3 exam last Saturday.  You are right, those who have perfect pitch should learn faster than the others.  His cello teacher said he could try grade 5 exam, but might only have a passing mark.  Since I don't want him to go too fast, I prefer to attend the grade 3 exam for the first time so that he may have a chance to get an excellent result like piano.  He has also learned piano for 3 years and will have the grade 6 exam in the coming Sept/Oct.

My son is 9 years old and we don't have any family member with perfect pitch.  I agree that they should practise more to polish their skill even though they have perfect pitch.  If not, the result is not remarkable.  

cheungll

Hi Christianmom,

I think having perfect pitch helps learning strings instruments to a greater extent than the piano, which has fixed tones any way.

My younger daughter started learning the piano at 4 and the violin at 5. She took grade 8 violin exam at 9, and then ATCL and LTCL at 10. Now she is 11. As for the piano, she's learning more slowly. She took grade 4 at 9 and this summer she'll take grade 7.

My elder daughter (without perfect pitch) started learning the piano also at 4. She took grade 7 exam last summer at 12. She started playing the flute since P.6 and took grade 3 exam last summer.

Apparently perfect pitch helps my younger daughter learn music much faster. And yet, practice is still the key, no doubt about it.

christianmom

Hi cheungll

It's good for both of your daughters start early to learn musical instruments.  They can complete all the exams at early age and move on to learn other interest activities.  Do they join any orchestra?

I agree that how talent the child is, practice is still the key.   Usually girls are better than boys because they are more self-discipline.  Since my son has little homework, he can spend more time to practise everyday.  But this situation will not last long because he will have more school work to do when advanced to upper class.

junjunmimi

It's great to share the learning experience of our kids.

My boy is 10.  He started learning piano at 4 and passed his grade 8 last year.  As for the cello, he started at 5 and just took the grade 7 last week.

I found that he can memorise the pieces fast, which speeds up his learning process.  However, he is lacking that kind of patience to do all those details required by the pieces. What he always does best is the aural part in the exam, which he used to get very high or full marks.

Other than the “perfect pitch” in hearing, I found my boy can also sing out a note with “perfect pitch”.  Therefore, he can sight sing a piece exactly without reference to a piano.  

cheungll

Hi christianmom,
My younger daughter is a member of her school's orchestra and the HK Children's Symphony Orchestra organised by Dr. Yip Wai Hong. They just had 2 concerts in City Hall and Tsuen Wan Town Hall last weekend. When my elder daughter gets grade 5 in flute, perhaps she'll join the school orchestra. After grade 8, she may join the HK Children's Symphony Orchestra if she manages to find time.

Many music teachers say after grade 8 it's the real beginning of learning music, so there's still a long way to go.  

cheungll

Hi junjunmimi,

My daughter also learns a piece quickly, but does not pay much attention to the details. Her teacher once commented that she could play a piece to 70 marks in 2 weeks while others might take a month to learn it. But then she would not put in the effort to play it to 90 marks. She learned her lessons when she lost in the school music festivals several times and got comments that she hadn't paid enough attention to the score. Now she's getting better, when she was preparing for the diploma exams. Besides, her teacher is more demanding than before at this level.

Yes perfect pitch helps sight singing. My daughter can sing out the score exactly too. Sometimes I'd think if she had specialised in singing instead of the violin, then perhaps it'd be easier for her and for us, because playing the violin involves the violin, the bow, and her fingers.

But my daughter did not do well in the aural part of her grade 8 exam (only 13/18). I think she could not answer the questions about the music history and form/texture etc well. Another thing is she is not very fluent in spoken English. I guess she didn't elaborate her answers to the level of details required.

christianmom

Hi chuengll

According to you and junjunmimi's message, my son still has a long way to go as he started late to learn musical instruments. I hope he can join the orchestra in one day to widen his experience.

I find it is not easy to get full mark in aural test because one question is the music history.  Last year when my son attended the grade 5 piano exam, he could only get 15/18 in his aural test though his teacher thought he should get a full mark.  Regarding the attention to details, the same for my son, he has room for improvement though he could get 28 & 29 in the three exam pieces.  Similiar in the HK School Music Festival, though he could get the 2nd place in Grade 6 piano solo this year, he could do better if he played more details.  In the past few weeks, his teacher required him to put a clip on top of his hand when playing  scales to polish his fingering.  Everyday he needed to practise for half an hour just for this.  Therefore "perfect pitch" doesn't help my son too much in his skills.

Papa2000

Hi,

My child's piano tone score is more than double of the pure tone score.  How should I interpret this result?

cheungll

Hi Papa2000,

According to the website of the study, if the score is A=1 and pure tone score > 25, piano tone > 28, then your child has perfect pitch.

If your child's piano tone score is near to 30 and is  more than double of the pure tone score, then I guess although your child does not have perfect pitch, he/she has been learning the piano well and has good relative pitch to recognise the piano tones.
  

Papa2000

Hi cheungll, thanks a lot.  

cheungll

poem4：
請看PM.

cheungll

lilyma

cheungll,

how about pure tone 32 and piano tone 36?