"Absolute Ear": Natural geniuses for music.

We explain in detail the nature of this gift for understanding musical language.

The Absolute Earalso known as perfect earrefers to the ability to identify the frequency of an isolated auditory stimulus without the aid of a referential auditory stimulus (Moulton, 2014). (Moulton, 2014), thus, it could be defined in an informal way as the ability to read sounds.

An example of absolute hearing can be observed in great musical geniuses such as, for example, Mozart, Bach and Tchaikovsky or through contemporaries such as Stevie Wonder.

What abilities do people with Absolute Ear possess?

It can be affirmed that Absolute Ear is an ability that modifies the brain functioning of those who possess it (Veloso and Guimaraes). (Veloso and Guimaraes, 2013), consequently, such people have shown diverse abilities, such as:

• Identify the note/s in isolation or simultaneously with other notes.

• Reproduce perfectly a melody heard for the first time without the need of a score.

• Name the key of a piece of music.

• Singing or intoning a certain note without an external reference.

• Naming the notes of environmental sounds, such as a horn or the sound of an ambulance.

What is the estimated prevalence of people with Absolute Hearing?

The occurrence of people with Absolute Hearing is rare, the estimated prevalence is estimated to be 1 subject per 10,000 people, in addition to being more commonly observed in musicians with formal training (Veloso and Guimaraes (Veloso and Guimaraes, 2013).

It may seem much more common to us to possess Absolute Ear than the statistics show, but this may probably be because it tends to be confused with the Relative EarThere are people who are able to play a song with only having heard it once, but if to play such a melody they need a first reference tone of that same instrument, it is no longer a matter of Absolute Hearing but of Relative Hearing.

The Relative Ear is the ability to identify sounds with the help of a reference, a previous note in the case of the, a previous note in the case of music, on the other hand, people with Absolute Ear are able to "capture" that note in a vacuum (Moulton, 2014). An example of this is the following: Let us imagine that a person plays the musical note "D" with any instrument; the person with Absolute Ear is going to identify that auditory frequency and will identify it as a "D" without any previous reference note, but the person with Relative Ear will probably not get it right due to the fact that he/she will need a second musical note to establish the first pitch.

What factors is Absolute Hearing due to? Are we born with it or, on the contrary, can it be acquired?

This topic is currently generating a lot of controversy, since its origin is not known for sure. Certain studies believe that this ability is due to an innate talent based on genetics, while others believe that the acquisition of Absolute Ear requires early preparation during a critical period of development (between 2-5 years) associated with language development and regardless of genetic predisposition (Veloso and Guimaraes, 2013).

According to this approach, it is possible to consider an influence of both aspectsthat is, a confluence of genetic factors of human brain development together with environmental factors and early exposure.

Currently, cognitive neuroscience continues to investigate brain functions related to music perception and production in an attempt to locate new neural substrates and genetic correlations. Also, thanks to the support of neuroimaging technologies, such investigations are increasing, however, this fact, for the moment, is an open question.

Bibliographic references:

• Moulton, C. (2014). Perfect pitch reconsidered. Clinical Medicine, 14(5), 517-519.

• Veloso, F., and Guimaraes, M. A. (2013). O Ouvido Absoluto: bases neurocognitivas e perspectivas. Psico-USF, 18(3), 357-362.