Absolute pitch.

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How many of you have absolute (perfect) pitch? I read somewhere that it is particularly common among people with AS. I think this makes perfect sense in light of the often extreme sensory sensitivity and acuity, as well as the tendency to overfocus, and having those tendencies around the time of language acquisition could lead to that "style" of hearing music.

I have it, and it seems to be far more acute than all but one or two musicians I have ever known who also have it. It is a source of great joy and great frustration throughout my life. I have the kind of ear where, if you play chords on a piano (or any instrument), even very dissonant chords or clusters with up to 11 or more notes at once, I can immediately pick them apart. Among my many very intense interests and passions throughout my life, harmony and singing in harmony has always been among the most predominant obsessions. Little wonder that I find myself pursuing choral conducting and am obsessed with anything to do with choral music and a cappella ensemble singing of all types.

Not me. I would give anything to have the gift you have. Being able to pick chords apart - that's what I've been wanting to do for so long now! That way I could probably imagine the emotional resonance of the chord I was looking to play and immediately get a specific chord in mind with all the notes I should play, maybe? Ahhh! I would give anything! I would give up the ability to speak to have your ability!

I'm not sure it's accurate to say that perfect pitch is "particularly common" among people with AS; but, it's probably true that people with AS have it with far greater frequency than is found in the general population. Like purchase, I'd do just about anything for it as well!

I've always been curious about something, and no one's ever been able to give me a satisfactory answer: does equal temperament drive you nuts? Do you hear a piano, guitar, or whatever as always being slightly out of tune with itself? Is that why vocal, and not instrumental, music appeals to you so much? I'm not sure I'm expressing the question correctly, but I hope I'm doing well enough so that you know what I'm getting at... I'd love to know.

I don't have it; wish I did. A friend of mine who's blind has it, as well as a great singing voice.

I write and sing songs on my guitar (folk music is my passion) people have over the years remarked on what they say is an extradornary ability to 'hit all the right notes' with exact precision. Mind you tuning the dam thing does not come naturally.

I am also aware that I have complex sensory issues. The most distressing experience is singing in a church.........all i hear is discordant noise, it drove me nuts. In fact it drove me to the beautiful symphony of silence of the Quakers.

Interestingly, when i did go to chruch, I was unable to sing with others, my voice seemed to low all the time.

Thanks for starting this thread

That is a very astute question about equal temperament vs. just tuning! It doesn't drive me nuts at all, actually. But the fact that choral (a cappella) music is mostly in just intonation when done well is something I've always been fascinated with, and justly tuned chords always feel best to me. Most people with perfect pitch have tremendous difficulty with different tuning systems, transposing, and the like. For some reason, I don't have any problems with it and my ear seems to be every bit as flexible as it is precise. I think this may be partly due to having been involved in choral singing my whole life, which forced me to constantly contend with migrating pitch, transposing, and constant inaccuracies to adjust to. This way, my developmental path was forced to include the development of tremendous flexibility and tolerance out of necessity.

As for wishing you had it.....don't. The musical advantages are counterbalanced with having to live in a constant state of tolerance. Hearing what nobody else can hear does spectacularly little when it comes to professional success, and is frustrating and irritating most of the time. It's also no substitute for real talent and skill, of which I have surprisingly little.

RainingRoses: I actually defretted one of my electric guitars to get access to all the microtones. It's extremely fun to play a guitar which can actually be played in tune. More fun, however, to completely baffle people who try to play chords on it.

It's not that equal temperament grates on me, so much as my wanting to play the exact note I wish.

I wouldn't say my pitch was perfect. I can find notes, transpose, and get the pitch very easily in privacy, but I seem to get anxious on stage in front of a crowd and fumble around.

Though I'm a lead guitarist, I'm beginning to think my best talent is mixing sound. I've begun doing that for a local production company that brings in bands and I'm finding I can locate and kill feedback instantly and get great sound even when there is no time for a proper sound check. I seem to have an ear for what sounds good. This isn't as easy as it may sound. I've watched a lot of other people prove that for the wrong person a board with 80 buttons and knobs on it is 80 ways to screw up the sound.

i have it.

i can usually pick apart a four, sometimes five note chord, i can think of any frequency and produce it with my mouth (as far down as my range allows me, that is) and i can compose music for multiple instruments in my head.

Yes. I was told that I have it.

Nah. I'm great at tuning and playing by ear but I probably don't have it.

I only have perfect pitch for piano, so that doesn't really count. The note "G" always stood out because is has this grainy timbre. "A" is usually something I can hear, because it has a very smooth feel to it. "C" is next in my line of pitch discrimination; it has a plushy feel, like a velveteen pillow. Everything else is much less noticeable on a general level, but with piano it's easier for me to distinguish the other pitches. Does anyone else relate pitch to texture?

Chord and key discrimination is beyond my scope, but like most musicians, I can pick out modes and chord qualities (major/minor, augmented/diminished). If I really try hard, I can pick out the individual notes but I'm lousy at that.

Some people say if you start kids early enough, you can train perfect pitch, but I doubt that. It's more of an innate gift. Of course, relative pitch can always be learned.

If I had actually bothered to learn what the notes were called I would have it - to me notes are numbers, I have my own little system for identifying pitch.

If I had actually bothered to learn what the notes were called I would have it - to me notes are numbers, I have my own little system for identifying pitch.

I envy you. By numbers are you referring to the hertz frequency values, or is it more arbitrary?

No unfortunately not, it is more arbitrary - I wish I did know the hertz frequency values but I would have to learn the association as I would for notes.