ABSTRACT
Absolute pitch (AP), sometimes called "perfect pitch," is typically defined as the ability to label or produce a pitch without reference to an external standard. The nature hypothesis holds either that AP is an innate processing strategy that is usually replaced with relational processing as children mature, or alternatively that AP is innate only in those few who possess specific genetic markers. The nurture side of the nature-nurture divide holds that AP is learned, possibly during a critical period in childhood. J. R. Saffran and G. J. Griepentrog's result contrasts with other studies showing strong evidence of relative-pitch strategies in infants, especially when the experimenters use more music-like stimuli, such as folk songs, that encourage relative-pitch processing. The prevalence of an A440 tuning norm in Western classical music means that each day as musicians engage in music performance and listening, they reinforce these culturally assigned pitch labels through implicit learning.
