Abstract
Absolute pitch (AP) is defined as the ability to identify or produce a musical pitch without reference to an external pitch. In this study, two questions concerning this ability are examined. The first is about the phonetic encoding of AP, while the second is concerned the relationship between AP accuracy and method of encoding. In three experiments, a speech syllable sung in a musical pitch was used to interfere with AP identification. The accuracy rates for the syllable interference condition were compared with those for a non-interference condition. The results indicate that an inaccurate AP group experienced greater interference from the speech syllable than an accurate AP group and a non-AP group, and that identification accuracy for pitch declined to the level of the non-AP group. These suggest that the inaccurate AP group could only, or mainly, use a phonetic encoding process to perceive AP, whereas the accurate AP group could use additional cues.
