The Absolute Ear , also known as the perfect ear , refers to the ability to identify the frequency of an isolated auditory stimulus without the aid of a reference auditory stimulus (Moulton, 2014) , so it could be informally defined as the ability to read sounds.

An example of absolute hearing can be seen in great musical geniuses such as Mozart, Bach and Tchaikovsky or through contemporaries such as Stevie Wonder.

What skills do people with Absolute Hearing have?

It can be stated that e l Absolute Ear is a skill that modifies the brain functioning of those who possess it (Veloso and Guimaraes, 2013), therefore, such people have shown various skills, such as:

  • Identify the note(s) in isolation or simultaneously with other notes.
  • Perfectly reproduce a melody heard for the first time without the need for a score.
  • Name the key of a piece of music.
  • Singing or intoning a certain note without an external reference.
  • Name the notes of environmental sounds, such as a horn or the sound of an ambulance

What is the estimated prevalence of people with Absolute Hearing?

The occurrence of people with Absolute Ear is rare, the estimated prevalence is 1 subject per 10,000 people, in addition to being more commonly observed in musicians with formal training (Veloso and Guimaraes, 2013).

It may seem much more common to have Absolute Ear than the statistics show, but it may probably be due to the fact that it tends to be confused with Relative Ear , since there are people who are able to play a song just by listening to it once, but if in order to play such a melody they need a first reference tone of that same instrument, it is no longer Absolute Ear but Relative Ear.

The Relative Ear is the ability to identify sounds with the help of a reference , a previous note in the case of music, whereas people with Absolute Ear are able to “capture” that note in the void (Moulton, 2014). An example of this is the following: Imagine that a person plays the musical note “D” with any instrument; the person with Absolute Ear will identify that auditory frequency and will identify it as a “D” without any previous reference note, but the person with Relative Ear will probably not get it right because he will need a second musical note to establish the first tone.

What factors are responsible for the Absolute Ear? Are we born with it or, on the contrary, can it be acquired?

Currently this topic generates a lot of controversy, either because or because its origin is not known for sure. Some studies believe that this ability is due to an innate talent based on genetics, while others believe that the acquisition of Absolute Hearing requires early preparation during a critical period of development (between 2-5 years) associated with language development and without taking into account genetic predisposition (Veloso and Guimaraes, 2013).

According to this approach, one can consider an influence of both aspects , that is, a confluence of genetic factors of human brain development together with environmental factors and early exposure.

Currently, cognitive neuroscience continues to investigate the brain functions related to music perception and production by trying to locate new neural substrates and genetic correlations. Also, thanks to the support of neuroimaging technologies, such research is increasing, however, this fact, for the time being, is an open question.

Bibilographic references:

  • Moulton, C. (2014). Perfect pitch reconsidered. Clinical Medicine, 14(5), 517-519.
  • Veloso, F., and Guimaraes, M. A. (2013). Ouvido Absoluto: neurocognitive bases and perspectives. Psycho-USF, 18(3), 357-362.