A Proposed Study:

The Perfect Pitch Phenomenon

For many years, musicians and researchers alike have been searching for the explanation behind the ability of absolute pitch. A musician with this ability is able to recognize, name, and produce the pitch of a musical note without a reference pitch. Possessors of absolute pitch can also track the progression of keys and determine when music is recalled in the original key (Hantz, Kreilick, Marvin, & Chapman, 1997). Through the years of research on the origin of this talent, three main conclusions have surfaced.

The first of the three involves learning and experience. Robert Lundin and Allen (1962) did a study in which they trained adults on pitch naming and found that their subjects improved significantly, with one achieving absolute pitch. Research has also supported the belief that this ability requires a pitch memory acquired through experience and training at an early age (Wynn, 1992). Parncutt and Levitin (1999) made the statement, that like language, absolute pitch is developed early during a critical period from exposure to fixed pitches and pitch labels. They believed this critical time period to be before the age of six. This training plus motivation, time, and effort allows for absolute pitch to be learned.

The second explanation of this musical phenomenon points to family inheritance. An article in "Science Frontiers" reported that in a group of 126 perfect-pitchers, 5.5% had parents with perfect pitch and 26% had siblings thus gifted (Corliss, 1997). This statistic leads us to the belief that this ability runs through families. Gregersen (2001) found that out of 600 individuals with absolute pitch, 25% of their siblings possessed the talent also. Both of the above findings have sparked the interest of researchers who are now starting gene mapping to identify the relevant genes.

The final approach to absolute pitch is one that involves the structure and function of the brain. Knox (2001), recently reported a very new finding that there is an enlarged area on the left side of the brain which not only analyzes speech, but is now believed to discriminate among musical tones. He also reports that this enlargement maybe due to training. Musicians who have absolute pitch seem to show a relatively enlarged left planum template (Lenhoff, Perales, & Hickok 2001). Researchers are currently continuing the study of absolute pitch brain localization.

All three of these explanations of absolute pitch are valid and quite plausible. However, Gonzalez (1998) proposes that incorporating all three of these might be the better explanation. According to Gonzalez, a family influence leads to an early interest in music, which leads to cultivating that skill, which allows for the establishment of new circuits in the brain involved in pitch perception. The current study was designed to investigate this encompassing proposal involving learning, family inheritance, and brain development. This longitudinal study will involve thirty children. There will be three groups of five children each that will receive training; including one non-musical family group, one musical family without a history of absolute pitch group, and one musical family with a history of absolute pitch group. From the age of four to the age of eighteen, these children will receive musical training of various kinds. There will also be another three groups of five children with the same backgrounds as above that will not receive any training. The children will also undergo fMRI brain scans to investigate their brain development over the years of exposure to music. The hypothesis of interest is that individuals from a musical family with a history of perfect/absolute pitch have a greater likelihood of developing not only perfect pitch, but also an enlarged left planum template of the brain after fourteen years of training. This report describes an investigation of absolute pitch from the three angles of learning, family inheritance, and brain development.

Participants

The current study will involve thirty children who will be studied over fourteen years, from the age of four to the age of eighteen. There will be fifteen boys and fifteen girls. All participants will be screened for hearing deficits, neurological disorders, and prescription medications. There will be three groups of five that receive training throughout the fourteen years and there will be three groups of five who will not receive any training. For both the participants who receive training and for the participants who do not receive training, there will be one non-musical family group, one musical family group without a history of perfect pitch, and one musical family group with a history of perfect pitch. Parents will be required to give consent and will be kept well informed throughout the experiment.

Materials/Apparatus

The materials necessary for this experiment are extensive. The curriculum that the participants will be involved in incorporates the methods and the materials used in the Dalcroze Eurythmics from the Levine School of the Music (Tabletop Productions, 2002), the Harmony Road Music Course (Harmony Road Music, 2002), and Music for Young Children (Hood, 2002). For every six-month test, the random order of pure piano tones covering two octave ranges of twenty-four notes beginning at middle C and ending at high B will be from a well-tuned Baldwin piano. A microphone and a recorder will also be used during the testing of the production of pitch without the reference pitch. A fMRI scanner will be used every six months to determine the areas of the brain activated by the stimulus of classical music. Classical music will be played in the room of the fMRI scanner by a tape recorder.

Design

The current experiment will involve one between quasi-independent variable and one within independent variable. The quasi-independent variable involves family influence with three levels including non-musical, musical with a history of perfect pitch, and musical without a history of perfect pitch. The second independent variable is whether the subjects receive training or not. The dependent variable is performance over time, which will be measured every six months for a total of twenty-eight times. Therefore, this is a 28x3x2 mixed design, involving thirty students. The dependent variable will be measured in four ways. Subjects will be tested on pitch matching and pitch production every six months as two of the measures of performance over time. The other two measures involve the fMRI results of development of structure and function over time. The hypothesis is that individuals from a musical family with a history of perfect/absolute pitch will have a greater likelihood of developing not only perfect pitch, but an enlarged left planum template of the brain after the fourteen years of training.

Procedure

Children will begin a weekly individual, one-on-one training session at the age of four. (Researchers are aware that at least two months over each year of this study will be missed by each child due to various vacation times). The training program will be as follows:

1. Ages 4-6: For thirty minutes weekly, subjects will learn the basic building blocks of music (Harmony Road Music, 2002). The emphasis will be on ear training, solfege singing, keyboard activities, and pitch and rhythm awareness. Children will be introduced to the diatonic scale and to music vocabulary (Tabletop Productions, 2002). Other fundamentals that will be introduced include simple meter, phrase, dynamics, and music notation.

2. Ages 7-9: For thirty minutes weekly, individuals will begin keyboard repertoire with a higher level of difficulty (Hood, 2002). The reading of music will also become more difficult with a stress on rhythmic acuity, beat, duration, and tempo. Instruction will also stress aural perception, melodic reading, notation, and dictation (Tabletop Productions, 2002).

3. Ages 10-13: For thirty minutes weekly, each student will further develop and build on the repertoire from above. Subjects will especially concentrate on sight-reading, ear training, dictation, and recognition of tonal chord progressions (Tabletop Productions, 2002).

4. Ages 14-18: For thirty minutes weekly, subjects will develop musical skills such as ear training, memory training, musical reading and writing (Harmony Road Music, 2002). Participants will develop an extension of the knowledge of harmony and form with the aid of works in different musical styles. They will also become acquainted with major composers and their place in music history.

The testing of skills will occur every six months (twenty-eight times total over the fourteen years) at each level of training. Participants will be tested over pitch matching and producing pitch. To test pitch matching, subjects will be presented with random order pure piano tones covering a two octave range of twenty-four notes beginning at middle C and running chromatically upward to high B. After each pure tone, they will hear two tones; one will be the correct match to the pure tone and one will be a half step above or below the pitch. Correct and incorrect responses will be recorded. To test the skill of producing pitch participants will be asked to correctly produce any pitch in the above mentioned two octave range of twenty-four notes without a reference pitch played beforehand. Correct and incorrect responses will again be recorded.

An fMRI scan will be conducted on each subject every six months to look at both structure and function. Each time a high resolution single scan will be taken as classical music is played in the room. These scans will be used as a background to highlight the brain areas which are activated by music. Then a series of low resolution scans will be taken. For some of these scans, music will be presented, and for some of the scans, the music will be absent. The images will be analyzed using the subtraction technique to determine the relationship between a particular function and brain activity.

A 28x3x2 mixed ANOVA will be run for both time, pitch-matching, and pitch-producing. Examination of the performance on the musical tests over the fourteen years will support the hypothesis that individuals from a musical family with a history of perfect/absolute pitch have a greater likelihood of developing not only perfect pitch, but also an enlarged left planum template of the brain after eighteen years of training. I expect to see the performance on the pitch matching to be about the same for all three groups that receive training; however those children with a family history of perfect pitch will perform more accurately on the pitch producing than the other two training groups. The groups without training will find these tests more difficult and will show less accuracy than those who have had the training for these tasks. However, the children in the no training groups that come from musical families are likely to experience music in some capacity because it is likely that parents with a musical background will introduce their children in some way to music (although they will have been screened for any formal training). The fMRIs will show more activity, development, and growth in the left planum template in the participants that receive this formal training throughout the years. This part of the brain will be slightly larger for these participants than it is for those without out the experience of training.

The current experiment would be a longitudinal study that would ultimately try to resolve the perfect pitch phenomenon. This perceptual mystery is one that would be very difficult to conclusively explain. The only way to thoroughly study this mystery would be to do a longitudinal experiment such as this that incorporates the influences of training and family influence. Some problems that might face a researcher doing this study would be money and time for a project of this magnitude. The researcher would also find it quite difficult to keep the commitment of participants for this fourteen year time span. It would also be hard to control for experiences with music outside of the training sessions. Despite all of the possible pitfalls, this would be a very interesting and informative study. It would not only serve to answer the age old question of the origin of perfect pitch, but it would also allow us to see a great deal about the development of the brain through musical training.

Corliss, W. R. (1997). Is perfect pitch favored by natural selection?. Science Frontiers Retrieved on March 5, 2002, from http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf111/sf111p07.html

Gonzalez, V. (2001). Early training and perfect pitch. University of California at San Francisco Retrieved on March 5, 2002, from http://www.victorg/ITSA.UCSF.edu

Gregersen, P. (2001). Studies of genetic influence on absolute pitch. North Shore University Hospital/NYU School of Medicine Retrieved on March 5, 2002, from http://www.provide.net/~bfield/absgenes.html

Hantz, E. C., Kreilick, K. G., Marvin, E. W., & Chapman, R. M. (1997). Absolute pitch and sex affect event-related potential activity for a melodic interval discrimination task. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 102, 451-460.

Harmony Road Music. (2002). Online course description. Harmony Road Music Course Retrieved on April 24, 2002, from http://www.harmonyroadmusic.com/review.htm

Hood. (2002). Mrs. Hood's music for young children. Music for Young Children Retrieved on April 24, 2002, from http://www.astridhood.believer.ca/classes.html

Knox, R. A. (2001). The musician's brain. Boston Globe Retrieved on March 5, 2002, from http://syy.oulu.fi/tbl/VOL1/700-799/b1742.html

Lenhoff, H. M., Perales, O., & Hickok, G. (2001). Absolute pitch in Williams Syndrome. Music Perception, 18, 491-503.

Lundin, R.W. & Allen, J.D. (1962). A technique for training perfect pitch. Psychological Record, 12, 139-146.

Parncutt, R. & Levitin, D.J. (1999). Absolute pitch. Grove Dictionary Retrieved on March 5, 2002, from http://ww2.mcgill.ca/psychology/levitin/grove.html

Tabletop Productions. (2002). Spring 2002 course schedule. Levine School of Music &endash; Dalcroze Eurythmics Retrieved on April 24, 2002, from http://www.levineschool.org/Dalcroze.htm

Wynn, V. T. (1992). Absolute pitch revisited. British Journal of Psychology, 83, 129-131.