A Theory of Instrument-Specific Absolute Pitch

Frontiers in Psychology
Lindsey Reymore, Niels Chr Hansen

Abstract

While absolute pitch (AP)-the ability to name musical pitches globally and without reference-is rare in expert musicians, anecdotal evidence suggests that some musicians may better identify pitches played on their primary instrument than pitches played on other instruments. We call this phenomenon "instrument-specific absolute pitch" (ISAP). In this paper we present a theory of ISAP. Specifically, we offer the hypothesis that some expert musicians without global AP may be able to more accurately identify pitches played on their primary instrument(s), and we propose timbral cues and articulatory motor imagery as two underlying mechanisms. Depending on whether informative timbral cues arise from performer- or instrument-specific idiosyncrasies or from timbre-facilitated tonotopic representations, we predict that performance may be enhanced for notes played by oneself, notes played on one's own personal instrument, and/or notes played on any exemplar of one's own instrument type. Sounds of one's primary instrument may moreover activate kinesthetic memory and motor imagery, aiding pitch identification. In order to demonstrate how our theory can be tested, we report the methodology and analysis of two exemplary experiments conducted...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 27, 2021·Frontiers in Psychology·Angel David BlancoRafael Ramirez

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Software Mentioned

Pro Tools
Oboist
ISAP
R
Vocal Pitch Monitor
Cubase
Qualtrics
stats
MASS
Android app “

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