![]() ![]() ![]() It is very likely that Beethoven had AP, seeing as the famous composer was deaf by the age of forty-six and continued to compose music. Many famous musicians have been endowed with AP. Therefore, I (as a man with RP) cannot remember auditory occurrences as accurately as someone with AP. Upon reflecting on this memory, the individual with RP will only remember the phenomenon of an eagle cry, but the individual with AP will be able to recall the specific pitch of the cry (an A# for example). The man with AP internally associates the pitch of the eagle cry to its’ corresponding musical note name. ![]() They stop to rest at a river, when an eagle suddenly takes off from the top of a distant pine tree and produces a sharp cry. Imagine an individual with RP accompanying an individual with AP on a forest stroll. These memory processing distinctions (AP, RP and amusia) have spawned within me a crisis of memory. Estimates of AP frequency across the world range from 1 in 1500 people to 1 in 10 000. It is simply the ability to identify a note without the assistance of a reference note: a specialized proficiency in memory. Melodies are simply not processed into the memory.ĪP can seem otherworldly, but there are no tricks at play. Some people with amusia are incapable of recognizing the melodies to familiar songs such as “Happy Birthday” (Karanam). This results in off-key singing and out-of-tune playing. Such people cannot comprehend any difference between similar pitches. A very small subset of the population has amusia, commonly referred to as tone deafness. The reference note resembles Aristotle’s notion of the “present institution” which allows us to “hunt up the series (of kineseis)” or search up and down the scale when we are recollecting a musical note (Aristotle). ![]() It works by Aristotle’s concept of recollection: “Acts of recollection, as they occur in experience, are due to the fact that one movement has by nature another that succeeds it in regular order” (Aristotle). RP is the most common way of processing pitch. This individual must first be told the name of a reference pitch (C for example), and then (by simply counting up one note on the scale) they can deduce that the unknown pitch is a D. To demonstrate this, imagine a musician with RP is tasked with identifying a specific unknown pitch (D for example) after being told only the note name. You see, like almost every musician, I have relative pitch (RP), meaning I can identify a pitch only after comparing it to a reference note. It was a paranormal talent as if she was seeing through walls. By studying tonal memory, we gain a clearer insight into the absorption of sound within our memories, and realize what elements of sound become dislodged from our memories or go unperceived by our brains.Īfter experiencing my friend’s unusual faculty, I was bewildered. We should all familiarize ourselves with the concept of tonal memory in order to understand the vast differences in how people perceive sound and music, from individuals with relative pitch (RP) to those with AP and even rare faculties like synesthesia. It was magic this was the night that I recognized the importance of tonal memory. I then gave her the names of random notes such as A or C# and listened as she hummed the correct pitches back to me. She instantly responded with the correct note, and was able to repeat the task over and over again to my giddy amusement. I asked her what the name of the note was. I asked her to turn her back to me, and played a D note on my guitar. I was thrilled I had never met someone with such a skill. I soon discovered that my fiddling companion had perfect pitch formally known as absolute pitch (AP). Casually, she brushed off my request, explaining that she tunes by ear. I was using a digital tuner that clips on to an instrument when I was finished I asked the fiddler if she would like to borrow the tuner. She was a member of our four-piece traditional folk music ensemble. On a stool beside me sat a teenage musician, tuning her fiddle. One summer evening in 2018 I was tuning my guitar for a music show. ![]()
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