Can Absolute Pitch Be Developed? Ads Saying "By Age 6" and What Research Really Shows

Why this topic is on your mind

“Absolute pitch by age 6!”: a phrase often seen in ads for piano classes and early ear training classes. In families with children around age 4, this coincides with the time they start thinking about whether to sign their child up for piano, so copy like this sticks in the mind. That is exactly why many questions come up before taking the step.

• What is absolute pitch an ability to do, in the first place? Is it something amazing?
• Is “by age 6” true? After that, can it never be acquired for the rest of one’s life?
• My child is 4. If he starts piano now, will he get absolute pitch? If not, is it “too late”?
• In the first place, is absolute pitch essential for doing music? Do all professional performers have it?
• Will we regret it if we don’t do intensive “ear training” early?

This topic is an area with a large gap between how research and advertising talk about it. That is why we set out, in order, “what research says and how far”, “which parts of the ads are exaggerated”, and “what parents should look at”.

What does the research say?

Research on absolute pitch is an area with a long history going back to the early 20th century. Here, we look at three factors that affect how easily absolute pitch is acquired, each through the main research.

Study A: People who started music early are more likely to have absolute pitch, but not “everyone”

A widely referred-to classic review of absolute pitch is a review published from Johns Hopkins University.

is still cited as a starting point for absolute pitch research.

The important points shown by this review are roughly as follows.

• The great majority of people with absolute pitch started musical training by around age 6
• On the other hand, not all children who likewise started training early acquire absolute pitch
• The prevalence of absolute pitch in the general population is very low, roughly 1/10,000, and limited even among musicians
• Musical success (recognition as a professional performer or composer) and having absolute pitch do not necessarily coincide

In other words, “having started early” can be one factor that raises the probability, but it is not a guarantee that “if you start early, you will definitely acquire it”.

Study B: Absolute pitch is dramatically more common among tone-language (Chinese) speakers

After that, what left a big impact in research on absolute pitch was a comparative study of conservatory students by the team of psychologist Diana Deutsch at the University of California, San Diego.

showed that even when starting musical training at the same age, the proportion with absolute pitch is far higher among tone-language speakers.

Specifically, in the group that started musical training at ages 4 to 5, about 60% of the Chinese conservatory students passed the absolute pitch test with high accuracy, while among the American English-speaking students the result was only about 14% under the same conditions. The authors interpret this difference as follows: in a tone-language environment, children need to use “absolute pitch information” to distinguish meanings from early childhood, so the groundwork for absolute pitch is naturally nurtured through language experience.

Turned around, this also means that in non-tone-language environments (including Japanese), the proportion acquiring absolute pitch is by no means high, even when starting music at ages 4 to 5. The reality research describes is that it is not something switched on by training alone, as the ad “Absolute pitch by age 6!” implies.

Study C: Infants originally hear sounds in an absolute way, which changes to relative as they grow

Another study with deep implications for thinking about absolute pitch is developmental research by an infant learning laboratory at the University of Wisconsin.

showed that infants tend to learn sequences of tones using “absolute pitch (what frequency a tone is)” as a cue. On the other hand, when adults did the same task, they instead learned using “relative pitch (the intervals between tones)” as a cue.

This result supported a developmental view that absolute-pitch-like processing may originally be present in everyone in infancy, and in the course of later development most people are reorganized toward “relative pitch”. If you reread “absolute pitch is a special talent” as “a state of having kept absolute processing of sound without going through the transition to relative pitch”, the research as a whole falls neatly into place.

Is there a critical period? Trainor (2005)’s summary

What is often cited as the basis for the ad copy “by age 6” is the concept of a critical period in musical development. A review that tackles this head-on is by Trainor of McMaster University.

summarizes absolute pitch roughly as follows.

• It is reasonable to understand the acquisition of absolute pitch as a gentle “sensitive period” rather than a strict “critical period”
• Musical experience up to roughly ages 3 to 6 is considered a time when the groundwork for absolute pitch is easily formed
• However, this “sensitive period” should be seen not as an age at which a clear door closes, but as a slope along which acquisition becomes gradually harder
• The influence of early experience is relatively clear for basic aspects of musical sense (recognition of rhythm and melody), but special aspects such as absolute pitch are not determined by training alone

In other words, the research summary is that a door does not close such that “once past the 6th birthday, absolute pitch can no longer be acquired at all”. On the other hand, it is indeed supported by research that musical experiences around ages 3 to 6 make it a rich time for a child’s relationship with music (not only for absolute pitch).

How to read the four studies

Let’s line up the four studies so far along the axes parents use to decide.

Reading them side by side shows that the ad copy “Absolute pitch by age 6!” cuts out just one side of the research and makes it look like a strong causal relationship. In reality, “early musical experience matters”, “but absolute pitch does not come from training alone”, “the influence of the language environment is extremely large”, and “the door does not close at 6”: these make up the somewhat gentler reality that research describes.

Is absolute pitch needed for music in the first place?

So far we have looked at “whether absolute pitch can be acquired”. But there is another, more important question: “Is absolute pitch really needed for doing music?”

Many professional musicians do not have absolute pitch

What has been shown repeatedly in the review by Takeuchi & Hulse (1993) and later surveys of musicians is the fact that many professional performers, composers, and conductors active on the world stage do not have absolute pitch.

In fact, what is used every day in musical practice is relative pitch (the ability to hear how much higher or lower a note is than a reference tone). Matching pitch with other instruments in an ensemble, playing transposed sheet music, adding harmony in improvisation: relative pitch, not absolute pitch, does the main work in tasks like these.

Absolute pitch even has “inconvenient sides”

It may seem surprising, but research has also pointed out that absolute pitch is not always an advantageous ability.

• It is easy to feel uncomfortable with transposition (playing in a different key)
• It is easy to feel strong discomfort with sounds at a different reference pitch, such as the tuning of period instruments (a little lower than today)
• In situations like “the whole choir has gone down a semitone”, it becomes hard to hear it as harmony

Absolute pitch is a specialized ability to “name notes instantly”, and it does not in itself guarantee a high level of musicality or expressiveness.

Absolute pitch is “handy to have, but completely fine without”

The summary based on the research as a whole is that “absolute pitch is one handy tool to have. Without it, you can still enjoy music deeply and work as a professional perfectly well”. Ways of talking such as “without absolute pitch you can’t be a first-rate musician” or “children without absolute pitch are missing out” are not supported by research.

Even so, is there value in starting piano at 4?

Reading this far, you may feel “so there’s no point in rushing to start piano?” But this is an important fork in the road. The summary from the research as a whole is that while the motive of “starting piano to get absolute pitch” is hard to support with research, if you start piano “to enjoy music itself”, around age 4 is a very good time.

Value 1: A rich time for developing musical sensitivity

What Trainor’s review shows is that there is indeed a sensitive period in which basic musical senses such as rhythm, melody, and harmony develop, not only absolute pitch. Coming into contact with lots of music around ages 3 to 6 and making sounds oneself lays the foundation for a rich relationship with music, regardless of whether one has absolute pitch.

Value 2: Becoming comfortable with the instrument itself

When children start touching the piano around age 4, a sense that “the instrument isn’t scary” and “making sounds is fun” develops naturally. Their psychological distance from the instrument is closer than for children who start later: this is a real benefit, independent of absolute pitch.

Value 3: The basics of relative pitch and listening develop

What develops day to day while learning piano is not absolute pitch but relative pitch and an ear for distinguishing high and low, loud and soft, and long and short sounds. This is a practical ability for continuing with music, and a lifelong foundation for ensembles, singing, and moving to other instruments.

What to do if you actually go ahead

Based on the research, here are perspectives that help when bringing music to a child around age 4.

1. Reset the goal from “getting absolute pitch” to “becoming someone who can enjoy music”

This is the biggest starting point. If you think “it’s pointless unless he gets absolute pitch”, the weekly lesson becomes a place for evaluation. If you reset the goal to “becoming someone who can enjoy music for life” and “becoming someone who isn’t afraid of instruments”, you can stay patient even through periods of slow progress.

2. Make the most of “the musical experiences you already have at home”

Before deciding whether to attend a class, musical experience at home is a big foundation in the first place. Singing together, listening to all sorts of music on CDs or streaming, clapping along to rhythms in the kitchen: everyday musical experiences like these build the basics of music, regardless of whether a child has absolute pitch.

3. Do more “singing, playing, and listening” rather than “special absolute pitch training”

Some classes promote chord identification training billed as “absolute pitch training”. We don’t reject it, but in research terms it can’t be said that “this training will definitely produce absolute pitch”. Rather, increasing the basic musical experiences of singing, playing, and listening makes it easier to build a rich relationship with music.

4. Instead of the urgency of “by age 6”, look for “a design that can continue for a long time”

In research terms, “whether your child can keep engaging with music for 10 or 20 years” matters more than “the density up to age 6” for a child’s musical life. When choosing a class too, prioritizing a form your child can keep attending without strain, rather than an intensive short-term camp style, results in a longer connection with music.

5. Have the courage to withdraw if your child resists

Taking a resisting child every week with the ad’s “By age 6!” on your back: this is a structure that research also cannot recommend. That is because if a child comes to dislike music itself, not only absolute pitch but their musical life beyond it moves further away. If you decide from the start that “if it isn’t fun, we’ll look for another way to be involved”, the time spent continuing also becomes much healthier.

6. Internal links: related summaries too

When thinking about absolute pitch and early music education, articles with a broader context are also helpful. “Are the effects of piano and music education real?” covers the evidence on music education in general, and “What does eurhythmics develop? (Japanese)” sets out musical experiences from younger ages. “The pitfalls of early education” also sets out how to deal with “By age ○!” style ads themselves.

Closing dialogue