Do you possess absolute pitch hearing? Take a test from the University of California

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You have absolute pitch when you can listen to a random tone and name the note that goes with it, without needing to hear an external reference tone. Precious few people possess this talent. It is often seen as the Holy Grail for musicians, but the truth is that it is not all that useful, often even disturbing for the people that are "blessed" with it.

The lack of absolute pitch hearing has certainly not kept people from becoming extremely good musicians. Some talent for playing an instrument or using one's voice and lots and lots of sweat and suffering seem to be the most important requirements for becoming a great musician.

There is a lot of discussion on the subject of absolute pitch. Is absolute pitch the result of nurture or nature, i.e. is it genetic, defined by genes, or is it something everybody can learn, with lots of practice?

Absolute pitch seems to run in families. This may indicate a genetic component. Researchers for the University of California, San Francisco, are trying to find the genes that are responsible for this talent, if they exist at all.

You can help by taking their test on the web. The website contains quite a bit of information with respect to absolute pitch and is most certainly worth visiting.

I had some technical problems with the test, and in spite of my misgivings, I have had to switch to Internet Explorer, it is not compatible with my version of Opera.

I have the distinct impression that absolute pitch is not much more than the ability to remember the name that a certain pitch has been given by tradition. Therefore, it has much more to do with the ability to remember pitch than with hearing pitch, but there may be more to it. It is certainly a fascinating subject.

And by the way, I failed miserably on the test. The fact that I hate tests may not be entirely foreign to that result, but I just might take it again some time in the future. I find the subject quite fascinating.