It's something your newborn has in common with
Frank Sinatra! A person with perfect pitch can recognise or sing a tone
without needing another for comparison.
'Perfect pitch' is also known as 'absolute pitch'.
Facts about perfect pitch
All babies are born with perfect pitch.
American scientist Diana Deutsch has discovered
your perception of pitch varies, depending on where you were born.
5% of autistic people have perfect pitch.
It occurs more frequently among blind people
than sighted.
On average, about 1 person in 10,000 has perfect
pitch.
Perfect pitch alone is no guarantee of musical
ability.
Research by Dr Oliver Sachs shows perfect
pitch is very common amongst 'savants' (individuals with exceptional
mathematic, mechanical, musical, or artistic talents, but serious deficiencies
in other human attributes).
Famous people with perfect pitch
Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) Italian conductor,
equally well-known for his passionate, strict conducting and his outbreaks
of rage.
Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) Legendary singer,
actor and 'Rat Pack' celebrity.
Johann Sebastien Bach (1685-1750) Composer.
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) American conductor,
composer and musician.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Composer
and child prodigy.
Yngwie Malmsteen (b.1963) Long-haired Swedish
musician.
Yo-Yo Ma (b.1955) World-famous cellist, recently
featured on the soundtrack of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Perfect pitch in practice
The 5 yr-old Frederick Ouseley (1825-1889)was
able to say 'Papa blows his nose on G' and that the clock struck in
B minor. He went on to become Professor of Music at Oxford University.
By 7 yrs old, Mozart knew that the violin
he was playing was tuned 'half a quarter of a tone' sharper than he
remembered the violin of his father's friend Schachtner.
Sir Herbert Oakeley (1830-1903) Professor
of Music at Edinburgh University, was capable of telling exactly the
key of a pig's squeal.
