Perfect Pitch / Relative Pitch and Hearing Protection

an essay by Jack Grassel

Since I have "Perfect Pitch" , my hearing is intact, and I have done research regarding the same and have taught many classes in "Ear Training", people constantly ask me about it. In an effort to reduce emails, here is much of what I know about it. Instead of trying to develop Perfect Pitch, time could be better spent improving the many other areas of musicianship. I feel that the bottom line is perfect pitch does not make a musician superior, just different than one who does not have it.

Q. Is it possible to develop "Perfect Pitch" as an adult?
A. Absolutely not! I nor anyone I know has ever seen any evidence of this. I have not seen one example that the perfect pitch development courses for sale in magazines produce perfect pitch. As an experiment, I taught the principles from a mail order perfect pitch course in an ear training class for one year to talented students. The results were poor to non-existant. The students and I both felt that our time could have been better spent improving our musicianship in other areas in addition to practicing standard relative pitch ear training.

As a result of interviews I conducted with people that have perfect pitch, it seems that the ability to develop perfect pitch dissappears after the age of four and a half. In his book Perfect Pitch,

Nicolas Slonimsky states: "My contention, based on numerous observations and experiments, is that perfect pitch is an innate capacity, which cannot be cultivated."

Q. What is "Perfect Pitch"?
A. The ability to recognize and produce any pitch without the aid of any sound source. The ability to instantly know the quality and make up of a group of pitches sounded simultaneously. Most of the people I've tested who said they had perfect pitch did not have it.

Q. How many people have it?
A. 6% of children taking music lessons in elementary schools. 7% of students studying music in U.S. universities. 15% of musicians in major U.S. orchestras. 32.1% of Asian university students. It has been observed that PP runs in families about 20% of the time, occurring in either a parent or a sibling. In contrast, for musicians who do not have PP, the likelihood that one of their family members has PP is only about 1-2%. The rate of appearance of perfect pitch in the broad population of children taking lessons in public schools is about 1 in 1500. In some schools, over half the Asian students reported perfect pitch! *

This band was together for 2 years and made very special music. Everyone had perfect pitch. We formed the band after making the "Tracks" CD with Mel Rhyne who has perfect pitch.

Q. What are the pros of having "Perfect Pitch"?
A. Having PP is not a prerequisite for outstanding musicianship, however, in many cases it leads to faster musical learning. Children with PP display interest in music early, which may result in parents starting musical training at a very young age resulting in a head start over peers. An electronic tuner is not needed to tune instruments since the PP person is a "human tuning fork".

Q. What are the cons of having "Perfect Pitch"?
A. Unaccompanied choirs tend to "go flat" during a performance. The PP person has much stress and difficulty singing out of tune with the rest of the choir, especially while reading notes on paper. The musician with it is somewhat of a "sighted person among a sea of blind". Since there are so few people with this gift, the musician can appear crazy because he or she is the only one in an ensemble that hears everything that happens. This gift cannot be turned off, so every sound, 24 hours a day, becomes a musical event which may torment the musician his or her entire life. To a person without Perfect Pitch, a car passing by is just that. A person with Perfect Pitch hears the same car as cluster of pitches eminating from the tires, car body and wind which triggers memories of songs containing those pitches. However, when performing music he or she may have the ability to create a superior performance. There is also the possibility that the PP person may perform poorly do to sonic distractions in the performance environment. The musician without PP probably is more consistant in performance. The person with "Perfect Pitch" is most effective in an ensemble where every musician has this gift.

Many musicians are driven mad by "Perfect Pitch" because they are too sensitive to live in the present world and may exibit intolerant behavior (Jaco Pastorius, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker, etc.)

The PP person can be "thrown off" by wrong notes or chord changes played be other members of an ensemble. For their own survival, PP musicians make sure they only play with the finest musicians.
One person reported having difficulty looking at music in one key and singing in another. With training, many of us have overcome such problems, even "turning off" our absolute pitch if necessary.

Q. What are some of the possibilities?
A. A person with PP often performs solitary feats for entertainment, but will talk about such things only with another perfect pitch person. These things don't help in a musical performance but make the daily life of the PP person unique.

Q. How do you explain the inconsistancies in perfect pitch from day to day?

A. I asked this question of Dr. Albert McLain who treats musicians. He said that the ingestion of caffeine, aspirin and wintergreen can cause daily changes in the function of the delicate membranes of the ear. In tests I conducted on myself, I found this to be true. Caffeine would make my perfect pitch run sharp up to a half a step. It can take months of freedom from these substances for the ears to function consistantly.

There are so few people who have Perfect Pitch, that it is difficult to study the development of it.
Everyone has varying degrees of basic hearing ability.

Here is the most amazing PP adventure I've experienced. One time I was to accompany Luciano Pavarotti on classical guitar at one of his concerts. I knew that he specified in his contract that the orchestra needed to tune to A 438. Before Luciano appeared at the rehearsal, I heard the oboist produce an A 440 to tune the orchestra. I didn't say anything and kept my guitar tuned to A 438. (The "Perfect Pitch" person usually learns to keep his mouth shut since he's in the minority) Mr. Pavarotti came out and proceeded to start the rehearsal. After a few bars, he stopped the orchestra and reprimanded the oboist for tuning the orchestra to A 440. The oboist played an A 440 and said it was A 438. Then Luciano sang a perfect A 438, and had the orchestra tune to him.

Recommendations to those that have it:
Protect yourself. Always have earplugs. Select your apartment or house carefully. Get a quiet car. Associate with those that have "Perfect Pitch" and discuss it when "normal people" are not present because they usually ask you to perform tricks. I've met a few married couples where both the partners have it. They say they enjoy the support of someone who understands the advantages and the problems.

Recommendations to those who do not:
Don't waste your time and money trying to develop it. Don't buy a perfect pitch development course. Work on "Relative Pitch" instead. You can leave it on the stage when done working. Relative pitch doesn't require you to be "on call" to music 24 hours a day. There is much more to being a musician than having PP. You can be a great musician without it.

Q. Is there anything that can be done to reduce tonnitus? (Ringing noises in the ears)

A. First of all, you need to stop exposing your ears to the loud sounds which cause tonnitus. This condition will confuse you when hearing pitches whether you have perfect pitch or not and can practically drive you crazy. In experiments done on myself, I've found that ingesting Ginkgo Biloba can eliminate or reduce tonnitus by increasing blood flow to the cranium. The problem is that Ginkgo isn't standardized and varies greatly, even with different bottles of the same brand. If you take too much, you can get a terrible headache. If you don't take enough, there will not be the desired effect. I purchased some while in Mexico and it worked best. In the United States try the various premium brands available in a health food store.

Q. How do you know when to use protection?

A. Whether you have perfect pitch or not, you need to vigilantly protect your hearing: Hearing loss may be caused by a one-time exposure to an extremely loud sound (such as an explosion) or by exposure to loud sounds over months or years. It is irreversable. If you are uncomfortable with the volume, damage may be happening.

Loudness, or sound intensity, is measured in decibels (dB). The scale runs from 0 dB (which is the faintest sound a human ear can detect) to more than 180 dB (the noise of a rocket during launch).

Decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale, meaning that every time the intensity increases by units of 10, each increase is 10 times the lower figure. So 40 decibels is 1000 times as intense as 10 dB.
Experts believe that prolonged exposure to sounds above 85 dB without any protection can damage your hearing.

30	a whisper	100	power saw; power drill, kitchen blender
50	the sound of heavy rainfall	115	sandblasting
60	normal conversation	130	race-car noise
70	rush-hour traffic,	140	jet engine
85	RISK LEVEL, loud television, stereo, sounds louder than normal conversation, a live band	150	fireworks
90	subway train; lawn mower; back up warning signals on trucks, leaf blower, an amplified concert	170	shotgun blast

There are four levels of ear protection.

1.	"Pro Plugs" let in the most sound. They are a clear plastic unit that fits invisibly into the ear. It has a tiny hole that lets sound in. It is possible to play music with these installed, but the protection is minimal. www.proplug.com
2.	Yellow foam remove about 40% of the sound and much of the high end.
3.	Pink Rubber removes about 60% of the sound which is great for industrial protection around power tools or rock concerts.
4.	Headphone type ear protectors with additional pink ear plugs should protect you from any assault.

Have ear protection with you at all times. Wipe the plugs daily with alchohol to reduce the risk of ear infection.

To find an interactive loudness scale and for more online resources, visit www.parade.com

* Thanks to : AP News (Genetics of Absolute Pitch Study), Dr. Ranit Mishori, Peter K. Gregersen, (Principal Investigator, Division of Biology and Human Genetics, New York School of Medicine) Elena Kowalsky, (research assistant) Nina Kohn, Dr. Albert McLain Jr, Elizabeth West Marvin: Division of Biology and Human Genetics and Biostatistics, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, NY and Department of Music Theory, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. and

professional musicians with perfect pitch: Jeff Pietrangelo, John Price, Jill Jensen, Glen Asch and Richard Boukas.

Here is a recent letter which I've reproduced here:

"Hi Jack,
My name is 'KR'. I'm a musician, now in my 39th year as a professional musician. I first started music 50 years ago, when I was four. I have been very fortunate and grateful to have been blessed with Perfect Pitch.
When I first started learning the piano, I went home from my piano teacher wondering how I was going to find Middle 'C' on my own piano. I did this by playing the notes of my piano until I found it. How did I find it? I recognized the sound. I thought everybody was able to do this. It wasn't until I was nine that I found out everybody didn't have Perfect Pitch.

Over the years, I have watched other musicians struggle with exams and studies especially 'Ear Training', writing and scoring. When they asked me how I 'did it', I did my best to analyze what I did to help them. I have spoken to people with 'Relative Pitch' and asked them how they work out Pitch analysis. Having heard their reply, I then adapt it to the way I perceive Perfect Pitch. I find Perfect Pitch as a 'Tone Colour'. I have them listen to something in 'C' followed by the same arrangement in 'Db', so they could hear the difference in 'Tone Colour'.

Once, I de-tuned my electric piano down half a tone just before one of my students came around. This guy was older than myself and had only just started learning music. But when he started to play my piano, he soon noticed 'something' different. I then explained what I did, and why. As he understood the 'why' he noticed the difference, he was able to develop Perfect pitch.

Like 'Relative Pitch', I suggested he related the sound of one note to a color, or something else he could associate with. I believe everyone has Perfect Pitch. It's just the 'awareness' of having it that they may not have. It's been great for me for things like transcribing, learning techniques of instruments, speeded up transcribing and dictation, and many other things. The only disadvantage I found was when I started to play Bb Tenor Saxophone, a 'transposing' instrument. I soon got used to transposing to Bb and adopted the same technique to learning Eb and F, and indeed now, I can see a full score and hear it.
Yours truly,
'KR'"

Here's my response:

Hi "KR",
Thank you for relating your perfect pitch experience. I enjoy hearing from others who have it. (Although I can't see if you really have perfect over email.) I receive a lot of email and try to respond personally to every letter but occasionally run out of time. Everyone has the ability to distinguish sounds differently. I define Perfect Pitch as the ability to:

1. produce a perfectly in tune A440 (or any other tone) at anytime in the midst of out of tune sounds without the aid of an external device. And then if one becomes a musician and develops musical skills to a high level:
2. transcribe chord changes upon one hearing without an instrument.
3. transcribe each note in a huge cluster of notes without an instrument.
4. be able to improvise instantly on a song if the chord changes are played.
5. would have no need for an ear training class.

I have had a few very brilliant students after an entire year of daily study with a "perfect pitch course" become able to tell the difference between Eb and F# (most of the time) which I and they felt at the end of the year had been a waste of time. Those 350 hours could have been spent improving other areas of musicanship that are more important. Telling the difference between two pitches is not perfect pitch.

One of my college instructors who is the principal bassist in a major symphony walked around listening to a tuning fork for a year trying to remember A440. After an entire year he still couldn't hit the note accurately, gave up, and used his time more productively.

In the huge city that I work in where there are about 3,000 professional musicians, I know only of 4 players that can do all the things musicians with perfect pitch can do. I run into a lot of people that say they have perfect pitch and when I test them, I find out that they don't have it to the degree mentioned above.

Your experience is very typical, and very similar to mine. I was about 12 when I was tested and informed by an instructor that I was different than the other people I was performing with. Up until then, I didn't know what perfect pitch was. If you learn what perfect pitch is at age 12 doesn't mean you acquired it at that age. It means that you just learned why you are different than most people.

I disagree with you when you say that everyone has perfect pitch. In my testing, the ability to develop it disappears after the age of 4 and a half, continues at a diminished level until about age 5 and then is gone for the rest of one's life. However, there are so few people with this ability that it is difficult to have enough subjects to study to make a totally conclusive statement.

NOTE: If you are going to experience color, you must use your eyes. If you are going to experience sound, you must use your ears. "Hearing colors" is an advertising gimmick. (You see colors. You hear sounds.)