Absolute Pitch and Tone Deafness

Abstract

Individuals who are unable to judge tone intervals correctly or play music or sing songs with the correct tone intervals, although they have no physiological problems, are called “cognitive tone deaf” in this paper in order to discriminate them from those who have physiological defects. What, and why, do the cognitive deaf people find difficult in music? The discussion focuses on : (1) two characteristics of tonal pitch—tone height and tone chroma ; (2) two kinds of pitch sensitivity—absolute pitch and relative pitch ; and (3) categorical perception in music. It was found that cognitive deaf people cannot perceive pitch or tone intervals categorically and as a result they retain pitch and tone intervals in the sensory memory, which is very short-lived and unstable. Accordingly, the cognitive tone deaf easily forget correct pitch and tone intervals because of their memory system. The findings further suggested that if cognitive deaf people acquire relative pitch, their musical performances will improve.