Abstract
Objective: Sensitivity to scale and non-scale notes was examined in absolute pitch (AP) and non-absolute pitch (NAP) possessors using a mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm.
Methods: Twenty-six healthy subjects took part in the experiment (22 females, mean age: 21.7±1.6 years old). All participants took an AP test. Twelve participants possessed AP and could identify non-scale notes by naming neighboring scale notes. Fourteen participants were NAP possessors and failed to distinguish between scale and non-scale notes. Two tone pairs were constructed. In the “scale note” condition, standard stimuli were set to the scale note A4 (442 Hz), and deviant stimuli were set to the scale note B4 (496 Hz). The “non-scale note” condition included standard stimuli set to a non-scale note halfway between A4 and B4 (452 Hz) and deviant stimuli set to a non-scale note halfway between B4 and C5 (509 Hz).
Results: AP possessors started musical training earlier (3.4±1.0 mean years of age) than NAP possessors (9.2±8.1 mean years of age). In the scale note condition, MMN amplitude for the AP group was significantly smaller than that for the NAP group. The non-scale note condition did not differ significantly between groups.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that early musical training is needed to possess AP. Furthermore, possessors of AP processed scale notes pre-attentively than non-scale notes.
