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.

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.
   

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.

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

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.

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.

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.
  

cheungll

poem4：
請看PM.

cheungll