New research challenged the decades-old belief that perfect pitch is a rare God-gifted musical ability.
According to HealthDay, findings of the study published in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review debunk the widely held belief and reveal that adults without rare musical abilities can develop perfect pitch after training.
The author of the study, Yetta Wong, said in the news release, “Our findings provide compelling evidence that absolute pitch is not limited to a select few. With focused training, adults can acquire this remarkable skill, much like how they learn other complex cognitive skills.”
For this study, researchers selected 12 adult musicians with different levels of musical experience who completed an eight-week-long, more than 12 hours per day training program.
After completing the training program, they were exposed to over 11 pitches; on average, and without any assistance, they were able to correctly identify seven pitches, resulting in an accuracy of 90% or above.
The co-author of the study, Alan Wong, noted, “This research has significant implications for our understanding of musical cognition and learning and opens doors for musicians of all ages to explore and develop their musicality to its fullest potential.”
Furthermore, after the final level of training, all participants in the study completed multiple tests to reduce any accidental success, and at the end, two of the participants gained all 12 pitches, similar to the people who were naturally born with perfect pitch.
